Optencis
A trading plan is a short document, written when you are calm, that decides in advance everything you would otherwise decide under pressure: which assets, which hours, which setups, how much per trade, how many trades, and when the session ends. Discipline is not a character trait; it is the habit of following a plan that exists. Without a written plan there is nothing to follow, and every trade becomes a fresh negotiation with yourself.
The plan applies to binary options exactly as it applies to forex or CFDs. The product changes the details, an expiry instead of a stop-loss, a fixed payout instead of a variable profit, but not the structure. Below, each section of a one-page plan, with the values a beginner might choose.
Section 1: what you trade
One or two assets, named. Not “currencies”, but EUR/USD and gold. Each asset has its own rhythm, and you will only learn it by watching the same chart for weeks. Real-market assets first: prices on OTC assets are set by the broker and behave differently.
Section 2: when you trade
Two things: the hours and the exclusions. Hours: a fixed window, for instance 13:00 to 16:00 UTC, when London and New York overlap and EUR/USD is most active, as shown by our market hours tool. Exclusions: the 15 minutes before and after a major release on the economic calendar, unless news trading is your method, and any day when you are tired, ill or upset.
Section 3: what a valid trade looks like
This is the heart of the plan, and it should be concrete enough that another trader could check your trades against it. Example: “An upward trade is valid when the 15-minute chart shows an uptrend, higher highs and higher lows, the price has pulled back to the 20-period moving average or to a support, and a bullish candle has closed. Expiry: 15 minutes. The mirror image for a downward trade.” Our articles on reading a trend and support and resistance give the building blocks.
Also write what is not a valid trade: no trade in a range, no trade against the trend, no trade in the first minute after the previous one.
Section 4: how much
A fixed share of your capital per trade, 1% to 2%, recalculated at the start of each week, never during a session. With $500, that is $5 to $10 per trade. The calculator in our article on trade size gives the figure for any balance. The amount does not change after a win, and above all it does not change after a loss.
Section 5: when you stop
- Daily loss limit: 5% of the capital, or three losses in a row. Session over, platform closed.
- Maximum trades per session: five, for instance. Good trades are rare; a limit forces you to wait for them.
- Weekly limit: 10% of the capital. Reaching it means a week off and a full reading of the journal.
These limits are what makes a losing streak survivable. Our article on losing streaks shows how often they happen even to good traders.
Section 6: the routine
Before the session: calendar checked, levels drawn, plan reread. During: one line in the journal before each trade, one after. After: platform closed, result noted, no “one last trade”. Once a week: the journal read, win rate per setup compared with the break-even win rate. Once every 50 trades: a decision about the plan, and at most one change.
A filled-in example
| Section | Value |
|---|---|
| Assets | EUR/USD, gold |
| Hours | 13:00 to 16:00 UTC, Monday to Thursday |
| Exclusions | 15 min around US CPI, NFP, Fed decisions; any day of fatigue |
| Setup | Pullback to the 20 MA in a 15-minute trend, confirming candle closed |
| Expiry | 15 minutes |
| Amount | 1% of capital, fixed for the week |
| Stop | 3 losses in a row or 5% for the day; 10% for the week |
| Max trades | 5 per session |
| Review | Every Sunday; plan change every 50 trades at most |
How to make yourself follow it
- Print it and keep it next to the screen. A plan in a file you never open does not exist.
- Score the plan, not the money. At the end of each session, count the trades that followed the plan. A day with five planned trades and a small loss is a good day. A day with a win on an unplanned trade is a bad day with a lucky result.
- Make the stop physical. Close the platform, leave the room. The urge to continue fades in minutes; the losses it causes do not.
- Change the plan only on paper, only on Sundays. Any change you want to make during a session is an emotion looking for a justification.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a trading plan be?
One page. If it is longer, you will not reread it before each session, and a plan that is not reread is not followed.
Should the plan change when I move from demo to real?
No. That is the point of the demo: to test the plan you will use with real money, with the real amounts. If it has to change at that moment, it was not tested.
What if my plan gives very few trades?
That is normal and usually good. Three valid trades a week with a measured edge do more than thirty trades without one. The free course’s lesson on a trade from A to Z walks through a full planned trade.
Binary options and leveraged products are high-risk: you can lose all the money you invest. Read our binary options guide and our risk disclosure before trading.
