🛡️ Action Rules — Your Automatic Risk Watchdog

Imagine you have ten open positions in your portfolio at the same time. One of them has been moving against you for weeks — but you don't notice, because you don't check your journal every single day. By the time you finally do, the loss has long since crossed the threshold at which you would actually have exited. This is exactly the scenario action rules are made for.

Action rules are an automatic watchdog over your open trades. Instead of manually checking every day whether a position is "getting out of hand," you set your thresholds once — and the app flags a need for action the moment one of them is reached. You see at a glance which trades require your attention, and you can calmly leave the rest alone.

Important: an action rule does not act on its own. It is not a robo-trader that automatically executes orders. It warns you and suggests an action — but the decision whether to close, roll or simply take a closer look is always yours. This is by design: your judgment remains irreplaceable.

That sounds simple — and it is. The art lies in finding the right thresholds for your personal risk profile. If you don't yet have a feel for sensible metrics and percentages, take a look at the chapter — The 1R Rule: there you'll learn how to determine your maximum risk per trade (1R) — a number you can later use directly as a threshold in your action rules.

Every action rule is built from the same components — whether you're defining a simple loss threshold or a more complex combination of several conditions. The diagram below shows the structure of a rule in its simplest form:

The example reads like this: "If the loss on a position reaches or exceeds 100% of the premium collected, then that's an urgent signal — recommended action: close the position." Each component has a clear role:

• Metric — what is being measured. sTraderZ.com offers 15 metrics: from loss % and unrealized P&L through days to expiration (DTE) to strike distance and credit capture. You'll find the full list when creating a new rule.
• Operator — the comparison rule: ≥ (greater than or equal to), ≤ (less than or equal to), = (exactly equal) or between two values.
• Value — the threshold at which the rule triggers. A number you choose deliberately and to fit your strategy.
• Severity — how urgent the need for action is. Three levels: Info (just so you know), Warning (act soon), Urgent (act now).
• Recommended action (optional) — a hint as to what you might do: close, roll, adjust or observe. You are not bound by it.
• Scope — which trades the rule applies to: all positions, a specific strategy, an asset class or a single underlying. More on this in one of the next sections.

Rules can also combine several IF conditions via AND-logic: "Loss % ≥ 80 AND DTE ≤ 7" only triggers when both conditions are met at the same time. This lets you describe scenarios precisely without being notified at every single threshold touch.

Every action rule measures exactly one metric per trade leg and compares it against your threshold. sTraderZ.com provides 15 metrics, split into three thematic groups: Profit/Loss, Time & Theta and Options-specific figures. You don't have to use them all — pick the ones that fit your strategy.

Theta decay curve: time vs. captured premium

The metrics TIME_ELAPSED_PCT and CREDIT_CAPTURE_PCT work closely together and reflect a core options principle: theta decay is not linear. A short option loses relatively little time value in the first few weeks — the biggest decay happens in the final days before expiration. The diagram below illustrates this curve and shows when a trade is "no longer working":

Strike distance: keeping an eye on your safety margin

The metrics STRIKE_DISTANCE_PCT and STRIKE_DISTANCE_ABS measure how far the current price still is from your strike. The smaller this distance, the closer the option moves to the money — and the greater the risk of an assignment or a sharp rise in delta. The second diagram shows this scenario:

An action rule always has a main leg — the primary condition you define first. On top of that you can add up to two additional legs, linked via AND-logic. That makes a maximum of three conditions per rule.

AND-logic means: all legs must be satisfied at the same time. Only when the main leg and all additional legs reach their threshold does the rule flag a need for action. As long as even a single leg stays below its threshold, the rule remains silent.

Only in the intersection of both conditions does the rule flag a need for action — this eliminates false alarms.

The example comes from the Theta Inefficiency Exit template: "half the lifetime gone" (TIME_ELAPSED_PCT ≥ 50) alone is not a real warning signal — many positions simply keep running and work well. Only the combination with "barely any premium captured" (CREDIT_CAPTURE_PCT ≤ 25) turns the pattern into a concrete problem: the position has already used up more than half of its lifetime yet has only realized 25% of the possible premium. That's theta inefficiency in its purest form — now it's worth a closer look.

Missing data neutralizes the entire rule

If one of the legs cannot compute a value — because the required metric isn't available for that trade — the entire rule is skipped for that trade. It neither triggers nor reports an error.

A typical example: a rule with the additional leg TIME_ELAPSED_PCT is applied to a portfolio of stocks and options. Stocks have no expiration date — TIME_ELAPSED_PCT returns no value there. The rule therefore doesn't fire on stocks, even if the main leg would have reached its threshold. For options in the same portfolio it is evaluated completely normally.

This behavior is intentional: you can safely create rules with options-specific metrics in mixed portfolios — unsuitable instruments are ignored without you needing separate rules.

• 1 leg (main leg only): the rule triggers as soon as the single condition is met. Broad, but sometimes too noisy.
• 2 legs (main leg + 1 additional leg): noticeably more precise — two criteria must apply at the same time.
• 3 legs (main leg + 2 additional legs): the maximum. Very targeted — suited to complex scenarios that would otherwise produce too many false alarms.

As a rule of thumb: start with a single leg and observe how often the rule fires. If too many false alarms occur, add a second leg that narrows the situation more precisely. Three legs are rarely necessary — they come into play when you've identified a specific pattern that can only be unambiguously described by three conditions met simultaneously.

An action rule doesn't automatically monitor all your trades — it needs a scope that determines which positions it applies to. A rule freshly adopted from the template catalog initially has no scope and is therefore inactive: it checks nothing and triggers nothing until you've assigned it at least one scope.

sTraderZ.com knows seven scopes — from very broad (all open trades) to very narrow (exactly one single cycle):

From the general to the specific — the funnel

Think of the scopes as a funnel: at the very top the broadest rule applies (Global), further down the scopes get narrower and narrower, all the way to a single cycle. The higher up you start, the more trades a rule monitors — the further down, the more targeted.

If the same rule triggers across several scopes, the need-for-action view shows the most specific match (Strategy > Tag > Asset > Global) — no duplicate alarm.

A rule can be assigned to several scopes at the same time. If you activate a loss threshold both for all options (asset class) and for a specific account, sTraderZ.com checks both assignments independently. If a trade matches more than one active assignment of the same rule, the most specific match always wins — so the need-for-action view stays clear and you don't see duplicate alarms for the same position.

Every action rule carries a severity that describes how urgent the need for action is. Three levels are available — from a silent piece of information to an immediate call to act:

• 🔵 Info — just so you know: the threshold has been reached, but there is no immediate pressure to act. Useful for observation rules you want to keep an eye on without having to act every time — for example a DTE counter that lights up from 30 days before expiration.
• 🟡 Warning — act soon: a pattern has been detected that requires attention. Not immediately, but over the next few days you should review the position and decide whether to step in. Typical for rules like the Theta Inefficiency Exit or a loss threshold at 50 % of the premium.
• 🔴 Urgent — check now: the situation has crossed a critical line. Review the position now — waiting increases the risk. Suited to deep loss thresholds, sharply reduced strike distances or combinations of several bad signals at once.

What happens when a rule triggers?

Every match lands in the need-for-action widget on your dashboard — a compact overview of all open rule triggers, sorted by severity. The widget shows you at a glance which positions currently need attention, without having to dig through every single trade detail.

In addition, you can decide in your notification settings whether and for which severities you want to be actively notified:

• Push notification — straight to your mobile device the moment a rule triggers. Especially useful for 🔴 Urgent rules where reacting quickly matters.
• Email — a daily or immediate summary of all new matches. Well suited for 🟡 Warnings you'd like to bundle at your next check.
• Widget only — without an active notification, only visible when you open the app. Sensible for 🔵 Info rules you don't want to find intrusive.

The interplay of severity and notification channel gives you a graduated response chain: not every threshold touch justifies an immediate interruption — but when it matters, the message should actually get through.

You don't have to invent action rules from scratch. The template catalog provides a growing collection of proven rules that are ready to use right away — curated from hands-on experience in real trading scenarios.

8 asset classes, one library

The catalog is grouped by 8 asset classes: Options, Wheel strategy, Stocks, Futures, Forex, CFD, ETF and Crypto. This makes it quick to find the templates that match your open positions. In addition, you can filter by category (e. g. loss management, lifetime control) and by asset — which keeps the catalog clear even as it keeps growing.

Adopt — 1:1 into your library

Adopting copies a template 1:1 into your personal rule library — including all AND additional legs. The template itself is not changed, it stays untouched for all other users. In your library you can then adjust the adopted rule however you like: change thresholds, choose a different severity or remove an additional leg. The template in the catalog stays unchanged.

After adopting, the rule initially has no scope — you assign yourself which trades it should apply to (Section 5). Only with an active assignment does it begin to monitor.

Many templates are multi-condition

A large share of the catalog templates is multi-condition — recognizable by the · AND … formula on the template card. These AND legs are chosen deliberately: they reduce false alarms by making the rule fire only when several bad signals are present at the same time. When you adopt a multi-condition template, all legs are transferred — you can then adjust or remove individual ones in your library.

Three example templates from the catalog

These three templates illustrate the catalog's pattern: each card shows at a glance what it's about (heading), what the problem is (description) and what formula sits behind it (formula line). The multi-condition formula in particular makes it transparent why the rule is built the way it is — and gives you the basis you need to tailor it to your own risk profile when required.

Full reference — all 69 templates

The tables below list every catalog template, grouped by asset class, with the exact formula, category and severity. Each template has its own anchor — click the 🔗 next to the name to copy a direct link to that single rule.

Options (16)

Lifecycle of premium-selling / long options — profit taking, theta efficiency, strike/delta pressure, gamma risk near expiry.

Wheel (3)

Cash-secured-put / covered-call cycle — early profit taking and defensive rolling around 21 DTE.

Stocks (8)

Classic stop/target discipline plus a sit-out warning for stubborn losers.

ETF (8)

Longer holding periods, wider stops/targets, long-hold loss control.

Futures (8)

Tight stops, leveraged moves, overnight risk.

Forex (7)

Small percentage thresholds (leverage), carry erosion over time.

CFD (6)

Leverage stops plus financing-cost drag on longer holds.

Crypto (8)

Wide volatility thresholds, parabolic profit taking.

General (5)

Cross-asset rules (delta/IV/ITM warnings, annual review).

You reach the full catalog via Action Rules → Catalog in the navigation. New templates are added continuously — especially when new asset classes or broker features come on board.

An action rule is ready to use in just a few minutes. The following guide takes you from first opening the page to your first active monitoring — either via a ready-made template from the catalog or your own rule from scratch.

1. Switch between "My Rules" and "Catalog"
   Open the Action Rules page via the main navigation. At the top you'll see two tabs: My Rules shows your personal rule library, Catalog opens the curated template collection. Start in the catalog if you're looking for a proven foundation — or go straight to "My Rules" if you know what you need.
2. Adopt a template or create your own rule
   In the Catalog: pick a suitable template and click ✅ Adopt. The template is copied 1:1 — including all AND additional legs — into your library. You can then adjust it however you like without changing the template.
   In My Rules: click ➕ Rule to create a new rule directly. Give it a meaningful name, choose the metric and threshold for the main leg, and set the severity.
3. Assign a scope (inline ＋)
   A freshly adopted or newly created rule initially has no scope and is therefore inactive — it's not monitoring anything yet. Click the ＋ symbol in the rule row to assign it a scope: Global, Asset class, Symbol, Strategy, Tag, Account or a single cycle. Only after this assignment does the rule begin to check.
4. Add a recommended action and additional legs (optional)
   Open the rule by clicking its name to edit it. Under Recommended action you can store a hint about what makes sense on trigger — e. g. "close" or "roll." Via ＋ Condition you add up to two AND additional legs to sharpen the rule and reduce false alarms. Both fields are optional — a rule works without them too.
5. Set the rule active or inactive via the switch
   In the rule row you'll find an on/off switch. As long as it's set to inactive, the rule is saved but not evaluated — handy when you want to prepare a rule without arming it yet. Set the switch to active to start monitoring. You can change the status again at any time.

When an active action rule reaches its threshold, the match goes through a clearly defined lifecycle. You decide at every step how you deal with the signal — nothing happens automatically without your involvement.

The "recommended action" is a hint — nothing is executed automatically.

The status lifecycle in detail

• Open — new match: as soon as the evaluation cycle recognizes a condition as met, a new match event is created. Its status is initially open — the signal is present, but you haven't seen it yet. A new entry appears immediately in the need-for-action widget, sorted by severity.
• Acknowledged — you've seen it: once you open the entry in the widget or explicitly mark it as seen, the status switches to acknowledged. The signal stays visible until you make a decision.
• Snooze — pause briefly: if the situation is known but you don't want to act yet, you can snooze the signal. It disappears from the widget for a defined time and then automatically reappears — a deliberate deferral without forgetting.
• Dismissed — deliberately ticked off: you've assessed the situation and decided that no intervention is needed. The signal is marked as dismissed and leaves the widget. It remains traceable in the history but no longer counts as an open need for action.
• Done — action taken: you've carried out the recommended action or one of your own — closed, rolled or adjusted the position. Mark the signal as done to complete it. The lifecycle is then finished.

What the recommended action means — and what it doesn't

Every action rule can carry a recommended action: a hint such as "close," "roll" or "observe." This hint is exactly that — a suggestion, not an instruction. sTraderZ.com does not execute any orders, sends no commands to your broker and makes no decisions on your behalf. The decision-making authority always lies with you.

This is by design: an automatically triggered closing command can lead to poor execution prices in unfavorable market phases, have tax consequences or destroy a strategy you would have continued under other circumstances. The rule warns you — you act when and how you see fit.