My Swing Trading Framework, in Numbers

I always keep it simple. No indicators stacked ten deep, no dozen different setups to keep track of, no complicated rulebook I need to consult mid-trade. Over years of trading, the version of my system that actually worked, the one I could execute consistently without hesitating or second-guessing myself, ended up being the simplest one. Here’s the entire framework I trade today, laid out plainly, numbers and all, along with why each piece is set the way it is.

Setups I Trade

Three setups. Nothing else.

Triangle Pattern
High Tight Flag (HTF)
Gap Up

I used to trade a fourth pattern, VCP, and removed it entirely. It overlapped too heavily with the Triangle setup I already had, and trying to hold both in my head at once just meant hesitating over which one I was actually looking at in the moment that mattered. I’d rather trade three patterns I can recognise with total consistency, on sight, without needing to think twice, than four or five that blur into each other under pressure.

This isn’t about having fewer tools. It’s about being able to execute the ones I have without doubt. A wide net of setups looks thorough on paper. In practice, I found it made me slower to pull the trigger and easier to talk myself into marginal trades just because they technically fit one of many categories.

Stock Selection

Before any setup even matters, a stock has to clear a few filters, checked in this order:

Trend and structure confirmed on the weekly chart first, always. I don’t look at daily charts until the weekly picture already makes sense. A stock with a genuine uptrend, real structure, and a healthy base carries far more weight than anything that just looks exciting on a shorter timeframe.
Sector leadership checked before individual stock strength. I want to be in leading sectors, not just leading stocks sitting inside sectors that are lagging the broader market. A strong stock in a weak sector is fighting a headwind I don’t need to take on.
Relative strength against the broader market and the sector, not just whether the price happens to be going up in isolation. A stock up 5% means very little if the index is up 8% over the same period. I want stocks doing more than the market, not just moving with it.
One of my three actual setups, confirmed, not just “looks interesting.” If it isn’t a Triangle, an HTF, or a Gap Up, I’m not in it, regardless of how good the story sounds.

Risk Per Trade

This is the part that actually protects the account, more than stock picking ever does. I’ve learned this the hard way over the years: a good eye for stocks means nothing if the risk framework underneath it is loose.

1% of total capital risked per trade, no exceptions. Not 1% of the position, 1% of my entire account, on any single trade, win or lose. This means no single mistake can meaningfully damage the account, no matter how confident I felt going in.
Stop loss distance set at 1.25x the stock’s Average True Range (ATR), so the stop reflects how that specific stock actually moves, including overnight gaps. A flat percentage stop treats every stock the same, which isn’t realistic. A volatile stock needs more room than a quiet one, and ATR is what lets the stop adjust to that automatically.
Maximum 20% of total capital in any single position, regardless of conviction. Even the setups I feel best about don’t get more than a fifth of the account. This keeps any one trade, however well it’s working, from becoming a single point of failure.
Minimum 1:2 reward-to-risk required before I’ll even consider the trade. If the potential reward doesn’t clear at least twice what I’m risking, I pass, no matter how clean the chart looks. This one rule alone has kept me out of a lot of tempting but mathematically poor trades.

Exit Rules

One fixed sequence. No trailing on a whim, no judgment calls mid-trade, no deciding in the moment based on how I’m feeling about the stock that day.

Sell 40% of the position at 1:1, and move my stop to breakeven immediately. Once I’ve made back exactly what I risked, I take a meaningful chunk off and make sure the trade can no longer cost me anything from that point forward.
Sell another 30% at 1.5:1. This locks in more profit while still leaving room for the trade to keep working if the trend is genuinely strong.
Trail the remaining 30% using an ATR-based stop, letting it run as long as the trend holds. This is the portion that captures the bigger moves, the ones where a setup really works and keeps trending for weeks rather than days.

This structure exists specifically so I don’t have to make an exit decision in real time, under pressure, while a position is open and my emotions are involved. The rules were set before the trade started. All I have to do is follow them.

Timeframes

Weekly chart for trend, structure, and relative strength. This is where I decide whether a stock is even worth watching.
Daily chart for entry timing and volume confirmation. This is where I decide exactly when to act, once the weekly picture has already told me the stock deserves attention.

That’s It

Three setups. One risk number. One stop formula. One exit sequence. I don’t need more than this, and honestly, more than this usually just gets in the way. Every extra rule I’ve ever added to my system in the past ended up being something I second-guessed at the exact moment I needed clarity most. Simplicity isn’t a compromise here. It’s the entire point, and it’s the version of this system I’ve actually been able to stick to.