Lorna "Bot" St. George

Director of Automated Trading Strategies

I came to trading out of pure necessity – as a programmer for most of my working life, I traveled the world programming and teaching other programmers for various companies…some you have likely heard of and some probably not! I had been an investor but never really did more than buy-and-hold stocks. The more I traveled, though, the more I began to realize that currency exchange prices fluctuated wildly. I realized I could be more efficient (and it would cost me a lot less!) if I understood the forex markets and could take advantage of the price fluctuations between my dollars and the currencies for the countries I regularly visited. That is when I came across an amazing forex trader by the name of Raghee Horner. I learned her system, and kept up with her trade ideas on a few forums whenever I could. When I discovered she was part of Simpler Trading, I was all in. I had seen John Carter speak at a few live events and I really liked his approach to trading and the psychological aspects he teaches. It fit nicely with what I had already learned from Raghee so when I stopped traveling as much, I joined Simpler as a customer and then eventually I joined the team. I love teaching and trading (and programming!) and my goal is to pay forward what I learned from everyone at Simpler and help others on their own trading journey.

Lorna "Bot"'s trading plan

Why am I trading?

To pay myself weekly & generate long-term income and wealth; to better understand markets and the psychology behind them; to better understand macro-economic forces that move the world’s economy.

What is my Approach?

Technical setups for exhaustion buys and sells on intra-day and daily charts. I use volatility indicators and automated support and resistance such as HPMRs, Darvas box, along with volume indicators

What are my Goals?

Consistent account growth and sustainable income weekly

What are my Objectives?

Identify setups and understand the risk before entering a trade; take setups without fear knowing I have risk management in place and then let the probabilities play out. Take the emotion out of trading – trade what I see, not what I feel.

What Markets will I trade?

Futures, options, equities, options on futures, Forex

What Time frames will I trade?

3 minute (scalps only) or 5 minutes for intra-day setups, hourly, daily and weekly for longer term swing trades

What Setups will I trade?

Exhaustion buys and sells as support and resistance on pullbacks to those levels; momentum trades with volume and minor high/low patterns at support and resistance; halfbacks where it there is large displacement; exhaustion fades at extreme levels (such as on econ data releases or crude oil inventories). Iron condors (SPX or SPY) in consolidating markets -- 0DTE (but RARELY).

Scalping rules

Exhaustion buys or sells where the price action is away from the bot sushi scalper. Trends are A+ setups (double red/green on the multi). Exhaustion at Darvas or hpmr or both if not in a trend. T1 are generally darvas, lhpmr or hpmr. Stops are just above the 34 on the other side of the range. Stops for momentum entries or halfback's are above the minor high/lows of the move that created the setup. 2 or 4 bar trailing after 20 minutes due to data around probabilities. MAX risk on options -- 15%. MAX risk per trade is 1% on futures. 2 losses in a row on the same symbol and I stop. It means I am out of sync. Any other trade has to be an A+, multiple confirmation of the above before entering. 3 losses after the above is met is done on EVERY symbol for that day. Done and Done.

Entry rules for non-scalping trades

Exhaustion at support and/or resistance, with the trend (exhaustion at HPMRs or into the wave for double red or double green); minor high/low with VScore high/low in the direction of the most recent trend. For fades – wait for extreme movement with sell stop limits and buy stop limits at extreme edges of the HPMRs. Bracket stop loss for each at the width of the HPMR if (and ONLY IF) the range is within account risk tolerance. These usually happen only with micros.

Where will I place my Stops?

Stops on options are 25% premium loss. Stops on futures are shadow of the wave or HPMR. Stops on minor high/low are 2 ticks above or below the bar that created the pattern.

Exit take profit (and/or) trail-stop rules

For scalping, at inflection points such as Darvas; intra-day -- a half-back retrace for T1 – scale partial position, move stops to break even; less than a half-back in choppier markets but at previous high or low levels; trail to Darvas/HPMR for T2 and beyond.

Risk Management rules

Entries with POV MUST be within 2.5% or less risk per trade. Options purchase = 25% premium loss; budget is based on 2.5% account risk. Futures trades may be limited to one entry at a conservative level; know the amount of points from entry to validity BEFORE entering a trade.

Pre-market activities or routine

Review forexfactory.com and econoday.com for economic and other news that will affect market volatility; quick check of the major indices for overall sentiment from globex action leading up to the cash open for the NYSE; check existing long-term positions for potential scale out or management. Check simpler calendar so I know where I am going to be focusing for the day. Load up platforms, rooms and databases. Get tea!

Post-market activities or routine

Export trades from the day for automated import into journaling software. Using TradesViz for tracking.

What Tools will I use for my trading business?

Indicators such as HPMR, Darvas, Vscore, squeeze (for confirmation but not for setups); TradingView and TOS for charting; Tasty and Tradovatefor trading; TradingView Paper Trading for indicator testing and setup validation

Review/Trade Journal process

Review trades each week; tag and make any notes on things that stand out or unusual activity.

Continuing Education

Reading – mindset books; trading books; sports psych books; watch Simpler Traders to learn how they think about the markets and how they use their tools and find setups

Discipline & Mindset notes

Anything can happen in the markets – but the market doesn’t even know I am there; don’t take losses personally and don’t expect to win every trade. Manage risk based on the rules and stick to the basics. Losses are ok and if there is a string of them, STOP, evaluate and wait for better clarity. Walk every day; practice meditation and some form of yoga or qigong.

My Golden Rules (and/or) Trading Commandments

Don’t fade Fridays! Don’t manage trades before 7:00 am. Einstein Principal: Teaching someone else is the best way to hone my skills – if I can’t explain it in a simple fashion,  I don’t understand it enough yet.