Trading rules are a powerful tool — but without a starting point, they can feel overwhelming. If you're just getting started, these three rules are all you need:
Max 2% risk per trade. Set a hard stop at 2% of your current account value in the rule settings. The app warns you as soon as you cross this limit. Math background: Chapter 6.0 — The 1R Rule.
No adding to losers. If a trade is red, you do NOT double down (no "averaging down"). Turn the rule on → the app warns you on violation. Background on this trap: Ch. 6 Losing Streak.
A journal entry is mandatory for every trade. Entry reason + emotion + rationale. No journal, no trade. No review, no learning. Template: Mindset Ch. Module 3.
After 3 months, you can expand your rule set with the advanced rules from the sections below — earnings filters, correlation limits, max positions per day. But first: these three, and nothing else.
2.
What are Trading Rules?
Trading rules are predefined risk conditions that you assign to a strategy. The system automatically checks all trade cycles that belong to this strategy — even if the cycle was assigned via tag inheritance — and creates a trigger as soon as a condition is met.
The Trading Rules system (Phase 1 — live): • Rules from system presets or your own custom rules, attached directly to a strategy • Automatic checking of all open trade cycles of the strategy • The "Action Needed" dashboard widget shows active triggers at a glance • In-app, push, and email notifications for new triggers • Every trigger can be acknowledged, snoozed, or ignored
✨
Why are Rules Important?
Most traders have rules in their head but forget them in the heat of the moment. Example: "Close at 50% profit" - but then you hope for more and miss the exit. Trading rules remind you automatically!
"Plan your trade, trade your plan" - With the rule system, this principle becomes reality.
4.
Architecture: Strategy → Cycle
The rule system (Phase 1) works on the strategy→cycle principle:
Account and portfolio scope are planned for later phases.
5.
Dimension 1: Rule Source
🔧 System Presets Predefined rules that you can add to a strategy's risk rule set with one click. Open a strategy → tab "Risk Rules" → preset list.
Examples: • "50% Profit Take" — close at 50% of max profit • "21 DTE Management" — warn at 21 days to expiration • "200% Stop-Loss" — close at 2× loss of the premium
✏️ Custom Your own rules that you create directly on a strategy. You define the name, condition type, threshold, and action yourself — tailored to your trading style.
6.
Dimension 2: Scope (Applicability)
Every rule applies to all trade cycles assigned to a strategy — directly or via tag inheritance (building block 1):
Scope
Status
Use Case
📋 Strategy
✅ Live (Phase 1)
All cycles of the strategy are monitored — perfect for strategy-specific risk limits like "50% Profit Take" or "21 DTE Management"
🏦 Account
🔜 Planned (Phase 2)
Account-wide limits, e.g. max. buying power usage
💼 Portfolio
🔜 Planned (Phase 3)
Portfolio-wide rules across all accounts, e.g. max. 5% in one position
7.
🔜 Planned: Position Rules in Detail
🔜 This feature is planned for a later phase and not yet implemented.
Position rules will in the future apply to one specific position and let you define an individual plan for each trade.
Planned position rules (examples): • Stop-loss price - e.g. "Sell if price drops below $150" • Take-profit target - e.g. "Close at +20%" • DTE-based - e.g. "Close at 14 DTE" • ITM warning - e.g. "Roll if option goes ITM" • Individual trade plan
Planned use case: You open a trade and immediately define when you want to close or adjust it. The system reminds you as soon as the condition is met.
8.
🔜 Planned: Account Rules in Detail
🔜 This feature is planned for Phase 2 and not yet implemented.
Account rules will in the future apply to one broker account and help you run different strategies per account.
Planned account rules (examples): • Max. buying power usage % - e.g. "Never above 50%" • Max. number of open positions - e.g. "Max. 10 positions" • Allowed asset classes - e.g. "Stocks only, no options" • Max. position size in this account • Account-specific margin rules
Planned use case: You have a conservative IRA account and an aggressive trading account. Account rules make sure you stick to the different risk profiles.
9.
🔜 Planned: Portfolio Rules in Detail
🔜 This feature is planned for Phase 3 and not yet implemented.
Portfolio rules will in the future apply across all accounts and protect your overall wealth.
Planned portfolio rules (examples): • Total exposure limit - e.g. "Max. 200% of capital" • Sector diversification - e.g. "Max. 20% in tech" • Max. position size (overall) - e.g. "Max. 5% in one stock" • Correlation limits - e.g. "Warning when too many similar trades" • Overall risk rules
Planned use case: No matter how many accounts you have, these rules will make sure your overall portfolio doesn't get too risky.
10.
Rule Categories
Rules are grouped into categories depending on when they apply:
📥 Entry Rules (before opening) Checks before opening a position: • 45 DTE Entry - options with ~45 days to expiration • Delta 0.30 - short puts at delta 0.30 • IV Rank > 50 - only sell during high volatility • Avoid earnings - no trades over earnings
📤 Exit/Management Rules When you should close or adjust positions: • 50% Profit Take - at 50% of max profit • 21 DTE Management - at 21 days to expiration • 200% Stop-Loss - at 2x loss of the premium • Roll when ITM
⚠️ Risk Rules Portfolio-wide limits: • 1-2% Rule - max. risk per trade • 5% Position Size - max. per position • 50% Buying Power - never exceed
🧠 Psychology Rules Protection against emotional trading: • 3 losers = pause • No revenge trading • Plan before trade
11.
System Architecture: The Rule Engine
The rule engine continuously monitors all trade cycles of your strategies and creates triggers as soon as a condition is met. The diagram below shows the currently implemented data flow (Phase 1) — extensions for account and portfolio scope as well as block action and watchlist signals are planned for later phases:
The engine regularly checks all active strategy rules against open cycles and fires a trigger when met — visible in the dashboard widget and as a notification.
12.
Integration into the Platform
Trading rules are integrated at various points in the platform. Phase 1 is live; further integration points follow in later phases:
Page
Integration
Status
Dashboard
"Action Needed" widget with active rule triggers (Acknowledge / Snooze / Ignore)
✅ live
Strategy Detail
"Risk Rules" tab — activate presets, create and manage your own rules
✅ live
Notifications
In-app, push, and email when a rule triggers
✅ live
Position Detail
Show active rules per position (account/position scope)
🔜 planned
Trade Entry
Risk check before opening, possibly a block action
🔜 planned
Watchlist
Signal column based on entry rules
🔜 planned
Trade Journal
Rule compliance score per trade
🔜 planned
13.
Current Interface: Risk Rules of a Strategy
Here's how to reach risk rules in the currently implemented Phase 1 interface:
In Phase 1, the scope is always the strategy — all assigned cycles are monitored. There's no portfolio/account/position scope dropdown yet; that comes in later phases.
Every alert shows: symbol, rule name, current value, and action buttons. The color (🟡 yellow, 🔴 red) shows the urgency.
16.
🔜 Planned Interface: Position Detail with Rules (Future Phase)
🔜 This UI mockup describes a planned future phase — not yet implemented. In Phase 1, triggers are visible in the "Action Needed" dashboard widget, not in the position detail.
In Phase 1, you see triggers in the "Action Needed" dashboard widget. A position-specific rules view directly in the position detail — with the option to create position-only rules — is planned for a later phase.
17.
Condition Types
The following condition types are available for rules:
Type
Description
Asset
PROFIT_PCT
Profit in %
All
LOSS_PCT
Loss in %
All
DTE
Days to Expiration
Options
DELTA
Delta value
Options
IV_RANK
IV Rank/Percentile
Options
POSITION_SIZE_PCT
Position > X% Portfolio
Risk
BUYING_POWER_PCT
BP usage > X%
Risk
EARNINGS_DTE
Earnings in X days
All
18.
Data Architecture (Simplified)
For the technically curious: the system stores rules in three tables:
1. risk_rule_presets (system presets) Rules defined by the admin that all users can add to their strategies.
2. strategy_risk_rules (strategy risk rule set) Contains activated presets and your own custom rules per strategy — i.e. the concrete risk rule set applied to all cycles of that strategy.
3. risk_rule_triggers (trigger log) Logs when which rule fired for which cycle and how the user responded (Acknowledge, Snooze, Ignore).
This structure enables: • Fast checking of all active strategy rules against open cycles • Traceability of all trigger events • A foundation for future compliance analysis per strategy
19.
Wheel Strategy Rules
Special rules exist for the popular wheel strategy:
Rule
Description
Stocks you want to own
Only wheel stocks you would want to hold long-term
Cash-Secured
Always keep enough cash for assignment
CC at resistance
Place covered calls at technical resistance
CC not below cost basis
Never sell covered calls below your purchase price
20.
Implementation Phases
✅ Phase 1 — Strategy→Cycle Scope (live, May 2026) • Attach rules from system presets or your own custom rules to a strategy • Automatic checking of all open trade cycles of the strategy (incl. tag inheritance) • "Action Needed" dashboard widget with active triggers • In-app, push, and email notifications for new triggers • Acknowledge, snooze, or ignore triggers
🔜 Phase 2 — Account Scope (planned) • Apply rules to a broker account (e.g. max. buying power usage) • Account-specific risk limits
🔜 Phase 3 — Portfolio Scope (planned) • Portfolio-wide rules across all accounts • Sector diversification, total exposure limits
We want to build this system in the best possible way and would love your feedback on these questions:
1. Auto-Execution: Should rules also be able to execute trades automatically (e.g. auto-close)?
2. Check Interval: How often should the rule engine run (real-time vs. every 5 min vs. hourly)?
3. Community Rules: Should rules be shareable between users?
4. Which Presets: Which rules should ship as system presets?
Send your feedback to the support team or post it in the forum!
✨
Status: Phase 1 Active
✅ Phase 1 is live (May 2026): You can now attach risk rules directly to your strategies. Open a strategy → tab "Risk Rules" → activate a preset or create your own rule. All open trade cycles of this strategy are monitored automatically. Triggers appear in the "Action Needed" dashboard widget and as a notification.
Account and portfolio scope follow in later phases. Your feedback helps us build out the presets and condition types in the best way possible!
23.
Trading Lights — Traffic Light System Before the Trade
Trading Lights is your market status dashboard in green/yellow/red. You'll find it on the dashboard and as a sidebar widget. It shows you at a glance whether current market conditions are favorable for new trades.
What's shown? Three categories, each with its own traffic light (green/yellow/red):
• Macro Environment — Fear & Greed Index, VIX, and as a third indicator the NYSE market breadth (see next section). • Sector Context — the sector of your underlying compared to the overall market (RSI, SMA200 status). • Underlying Status — the specific market you're looking at (trend, volatility, recent moves).
Majority logic instead of "worst indicator wins": Each category combines its individual indicators by majority — if 2 out of 3 are green, the category is green. That way, a single red outlier no longer drags down an entire category.
Clicking a traffic light opens a modal with beginner-friendly explanations for each indicator — what the value means, how it compares historically, and what actions it suggests.
24.
NYSE Market Breadth — "How Many Stocks Are Actually Rising?"
Market breadth measures whether a market move is being carried by many stocks or just a handful of heavyweights. An S&P 500 that rises because 7 mega-caps are rising is less healthy than one that rises because 400 stocks are rising.
Singularity Trader calculates four NYSE breadth indicators automatically every 3 hours:
• A/D Ratio (Advance/Decline) — ratio of advancing to declining stocks on the NYSE. Values > 2.0 = very broadly supported rally; < 0.5 = broad sell-off. • McClellan Oscillator — smoothed breadth momentum indicator. Positive values = broad upward push, negative = broad downward push. Zero-line crossings are classic signals. • NYSE > 50d MA — share of NYSE stocks above their 50-day average. > 70% = hot (watch for overheating), < 30% = cold (possible setup environment). • High/Low Ratio — ratio of new 52-week highs to new 52-week lows. Divergences from the index are often early warning signals.
Where you'll see it: • In the Trading Lights modal as the third macro indicator • In the Markets tab as its own metric row • On the dashboard under "Market Context" • As a detail heatmap on the market analysis page
Interpretation in one sentence: Green breadth = "the market is carrying you"; red breadth = "you're swimming against the current".
25.
COT Analysis — What the Big Players Are Actually Doing
The COT Report (Commitments of Traders) is published every week by the US regulator CFTC and shows the net positions of large institutional traders in futures markets. Singularity Trader imports this data automatically and presents it to you in a digestible way.
Why is this interesting? When commercial hedgers (e.g. gold miners, oil companies) are historically rarely positioned as heavily long as now — that's often a signal that they expect a bottom to form. When large speculators are extremely bullish, a trend reversal is often looming.
What you'll find: • Heatmap overview — all available futures markets (gold, oil, S&P, EUR, Bitcoin, …) with their current COT status • COT Index (52 weeks) — normalized: 0% = extreme bearish, 100% = extreme bullish in the 1-year history. Helps you put absolute numbers into context. • Per-market detail view — historical trends of commercial, large-speculator, and small-trader positions over the years, including a price chart overlay. • Related instruments — e.g. when you look at gold COT, you also see silver, platinum, GLD ETF flows. • Signal labels — "Commercial Extreme Long" / "Speculator Extreme Short" etc., when a market reaches its 5-year extreme.
The data is updated every Friday evening (after the CFTC release). You can reach the page via the sidebar Market Analysis → COT.