In reviewing my last five years of stock market success, I must admit that the most important thing that needs to be learned - is how to pull the plug when a trade goes wrong. As a matter of fact, I am going to quote myself here... "If you can not get good at pulling the plug when a trade goes wrong...then you should not be trading!"



I have often been asked many questions about my 3 x 5 card system and how I protect my trading plan, that I have decided to extend that information in this article.

I use a number of important things to help me to get out of a trade that does not move in the direction I had hoped.

1. I have my broker set alarms for me on the stock and the option so that I have a back-up plan if my phone or my computer server is down.

2. I then set alarms on my stock in my REAL TIME MARKETS, to go to my cell phone and my computer. This immediately alerts me to pay attention and see if I need to pull the plug. Usually I get this information about two minutes before my broker calls me. Real Time Markets is a paid service on my site.

3. I then put the trade in ETA to follow through with it as I update my charts each day. ETA software can be purchased on my site.

4. And last, but very important to me, I fill out a 3 x 5 card as my back up memory. You see if I am not able to look at a chart and get a feel for the market and the stock when my trade alarm goes off, my 3 x 5 card is my back up brain to make sure I follow my plan. When this alarm goes off, I need to look at my 3 x 5 card to get a visual of what is going on, because I swear my brain actually stops working! I draw pictures to get me back in the saddle fast, recalling the trade and my plan so that I can act appropriately.

On the next 1/4 of the card I explain why I am in this trade:

On the last half of the card I draw a vertical line down the middle.

On the left side:

I draw support and resistance lines.

I draw an arrow in the direction I want the stock to go and put what I did. Example: arrow down, buy put. Arrow up, buy call.

On the right side:

I put the cost of my option in the left middle and draw a circle around it. If I want the stock to go down, I would draw an up arrow with the word COST and a down arrow with the word PROFIT.

I would put my stock alarm prices for both pulling the plug when a trade goes wrong and a profit if it goes right. I also put an option cost and an option profit amount for a goal.

On the back of the card I put notes as the days go by, if I am still in the trade.

In my LEAPS classes, I spent time showing you how to not only do this, but how to buy insurance so you do not have any significant loss in any of your trades, and how to identify the prices to set for your alarms. This class is fully loaded to give you complete confidence in trading any strategy in just two days training. Never again will you trade in fear, but in complete peace and confidence. Learn how to select better candidates and what actually makes a good candidate, and then have a complete step by step system to get you up and running in the market. This two day class is where I have been able to retire students to live a lifestyle of time and financial freedom.

Happy Trading!

Darlene with BetterTrades