Trading guides

The math behind good trading, in plain English. Every guide pairs with a free TradeCaliper calculator so you can run your own numbers as you read.

• How to Calculate Position Size
  The one formula that keeps a losing trade from becoming a losing month — for stocks, options, and futures.
• Averaging Down: The Math and the Trap
  How adding to a losing position actually moves your break-even — and when it quietly wrecks an account.
• Risk/Reward Ratio and Expectancy
  Why a 40%-win-rate strategy can print money and a 70% one can bleed — and how to tell them apart before you trade.
• The Wheel Strategy, Explained
  Cash-secured puts into covered calls: how the wheel generates income and lowers your cost basis, step by step.
• The Kelly Criterion for Traders
  The formula for the mathematically optimal bet size — and why smart traders deliberately bet a fraction of it.
• Futures Tick Values and Contract Sizing
  Ticks, tick values, and how to turn a futures move into dollars — with ES, NQ, CL, and micro examples.
• Prop Firm Trailing Drawdown, Explained
  The rule that ends most funded-account attempts — how the trailing drawdown moves up beneath you, and how to track your real stop-out level.
• Where to Place a Stop-Loss
  Put the stop where your idea is proven wrong — not at a round number — then size the trade around it.
• The Expected Move, Explained
  How to read the range options prices imply for a stock — from IV, from the straddle, and around earnings.
• Options Greeks, Explained
  Delta, gamma, theta, vega, rho — what each one measures and which matter for your trade, in plain English.
• Covered Calls, Explained
  Income from shares you own — with two catches most people gloss over: capped upside and unprotected downside.
• R-Multiples and Trade Journaling
  Why measuring trades in units of risk (R) beats dollars, and how a simple journal reveals whether you have an edge.
• The '1% a Day' Myth
  Run the compounding math and the modest-sounding daily target becomes a fantasy that pushes traders to over-leverage.