The Fractal Code of Survival

In the smoky backroom of this market speakeasy, the house doesn’t care if you're wearing a tie or a straitjacket: it plays by rules carved in bone. You step in, place your trade, and maybe you think you're different. You’re not. The market doesn’t owe you a damn thing. It’ll smile, pour you a drink, and gut your account with a wink if you break the code. This ain’t roulette. It’s jazz. Structured, improvisational chaos. And like any great jam, it only works if you follow the rhythm. Break the rhythm and you’re out of tune, out of time… and out of chips.

Every trader’s got rules. Some carved in spreadsheets, others tattooed in scars. Ask ten, get ten.
But if you look for the ones who lasted you’ll find echoes: The same rules, over and over. Not because they’re trendy. Because they work.

So, we dug through the smoke, the books, the blood trails, and these five rules kept surfacing. Everywhere. Burn them into your brain. Or the market will do it for you.

Rule #1: Cut Your Losers Fast
Regret is cheaper than disaster.

You take a position. It turns red. You tell yourself it’ll bounce. That it’s temporary. That you’re right, and the market is just being irrational. Congratulations! You’ve entered the first circle of trading hell.

In this game, hope is heroin.

The minute you find yourself justifying a loser instead of managing it, you’ve lost the plot. The market doesn’t reward loyalty. It punishes delay. That red on your screen? That’s not a suggestion. That’s a warning flare.

Cut. Fast. Clean. Like a gangster with a reputation to maintain. Live to trade another hand.

Because the ones who don’t? They hold. They pray. They get margin-called on a Tuesday and wonder why their account looks like a crime scene.

Kill your darlings. Cut your losers. Keep your soul

Rule #2: Size as if you want to live
Keep it small and simple.

If you size your trades like you're immortal, remember you're not. One bad move and you're done. You don’t get to play tomorrow if you bet the house today.

Risk no more than 2% of your total capital on any single trade — and that means actual risk, not position size.

Rule #3: Respect the Chop
Sideways kills more traders than crashes ever did.

Crashes are merciful — fast, brutal, clear. Chop is worse. Chop is a meat grinder. It pulls you in with the illusion of movement, then slices your account into tiny, stupid pieces. Long? Stopped. Short? Reversed. Rinse, repeat, regret.

It’s not a trend. It’s a trap. You think you’re reading price action — but the market’s just feeding you false signals like breadcrumbs to a blender.

There’s no glory in trading chop. Only erosion.

The best move in a sideways market? No move. Protect your capital. Protect your sanity. Sit out. Let the bots and gamblers bleed each other out.

The pros wait. The rookies churn.
Know the difference — or get ground up.

Rule #4: Never Chase Green
If you missed the train, don’t jump in front of it.

You see it ripping. Candle after candle, green and glorious. FOMO kicks in. You convince yourself it has “room to run.” You smash buy. And just like that — you're the exit liquidity.

By the time RSI is pushing 80 and volume's peaking, it’s not a breakout — it’s a blow-off. The smart money is unloading while you're jumping in blind. That pullback it's not temporary. It’s the trap door you just stepped on. There is no edge in chasing vertical candles. Only regret.

If you didn’t plan the trade, you don’t deserve the profit.
Let it go. Let it breathe. Let the dumb money get smoked.

Trains don’t wait.
And the ones that look fastest? They hit hardest.

Rule #5: Stay Flat When You’re Stupid
No edge. No trade. Sit down, rookie.

You’re tired. You’re tilted. You’re trading just to trade. You’ve got no setup, no read, no plan — just vibes and vengeance. That’s not a strategy. That’s a slow-motion account drain.

You think trading through it will “fix” the feeling. It won’t.
All you’re doing is handing your capital to someone with a plan.

If you can’t articulate your edge in one sentence, you don’t have one.
If you’re clicking buttons out of boredom, FOMO, or spite — you’re the mark.

Your job isn't to always be in. Your job is to wait for blood in the water.

Flat is a position.

Jesse Livermore said:

“It was never my thinking that made the big money. It was always my sitting.”

You revenge-trade after a loss. You force a scalp in a dead market. You chase a random candle because you “had a feeling.” Result? Slippage, chop, regret — and your account looking like a crime scene.