Peter Brandt
Futures and FX swing trader since the 1970s; author of “Diary of a Professional Commodity Trader”
Classical chart patterns, daily charts, 1–3 week horizon. In March 2021 he published a list of 140-odd short statements about how he trades. These are the ones with concrete numbers or clear rules. The full Factor Service rules are behind a membership and are not covered here.
Sources
- In 280 Characters or Less (peterlbrandt.com), March 9, 2021 — own site, 2021
Rules
- FilterDaily charts are used for entry signals, not weekly or monthly ones; the weekly chart is for screening.“daily charts must be used for trade entry signals”[1]
- FilterFlags and pennants lasting more than four or five weeks are treated with suspicion; so is a corrective phase longer than a few weeks.[1]
- FilterFor stocks, strict Edwards & Magee rules call for a pattern completion of at least 3% of the stock’s value.[1]
- FilterSays he sees about 10–20 really good patterns a year; most of the time the answer is to wait.[1]
- EntryPrefers a breakout confirmed by a wide-bodied bar close, but may enter intraday when the breakout boundary is well defined.[1]
- EntryDoes not chase: buying much past the initial breakout is “a losing practice”.[1]
- EntryA protective stop is attached to every entry order placed with an intraday stop. His initial entry is, as a rule, his final entry (no pyramiding); a bigger position at the breakout is taken for the same risk.[1]
- StopIf a fill comes better than the stop, he reads it as a warning and exits immediately; trading errors are liquidated at market at once.[1]
- ExitUsually takes profits at targets. Exits trades that are underwater on Friday and does not take a losing trade home over the weekend.[1]
- Size and riskRisks about 60 basis points (0.6%) per trade.“I risk 60 or so basis points on each trade.”[1]
- DisciplineAfter two consecutive signals fail immediately he watches for a trend reversal. Win rate hovers around 50%; the horizon is one to three weeks; he tracks closed-trade equity, not unrealized profit; a 5% drawdown is about as much as he wants to endure.[1]
Not confirmed
Often attributed to this trader, but not found in the sources above. Not listed as his or her rules.
- His “Last Day Rule” for the initial stop and the “3-day trailing stop rule” (3DTSR) are named on his site, but the pages we could open did not state them; the PDF with the rule is a scan and was not read.
- A 2011 post describing mental stops on closing prices and no overnight stops is dated; he says his process evolved since.
Limits of these rules
This is a list of statements, not a testable system: “wide-bodied bar”, “well defined boundary” and “really good pattern” are judgements. A 50% win rate with targets means the result depends on how targets and stops compare, which the list does not give.
Other traders
Rules are our paraphrase of the sources; only short quotes are verbatim. This is information, not advice or a promise of profit.