How RulesFirst Works

    One process. Before, during, and after every trade.

    RulesFirst connects your preparation, live trading and post-trade review into one continuous process, so the rules you define before the trade do not disappear once the market starts moving.

    Prepare

    Before

    Plan

    Before

    Trade

    During

    Beacon

    During

    Review

    After

    Improve

    After

    01Before the trade

    Decide the process before the market starts testing it.

    Before the trade begins, RulesFirst helps create a record of what the trader intended: the daily boundary, the trade plan, and the rules that matter.

    Then the market starts moving.

    The trade that began with a plan can change while it is live. That is where the during layer begins.

    Plan

    Qty100 shares
    Risk1R
    Stop$188

    Live broker position

    Qty100 shares
    Risk1R
    StatusAligned

    Actual position

    Qty150 shares
    Risk1.4R
    StatusChanged
    02During the trade

    Stay aware of when the live trade begins to drift.

    Beacon becomes central during the live trade, but it is part of a larger RulesFirst process around the plan, broker position, rules, risk and market context.

    Beacon

    RulesFirst's trading intelligence system.

    Beacon connects the trader's applicable plan, broker position, rules, risk and market context and surfaces relevant changes while the trade is active.

    RulesFirst does not place, modify, route, cancel or recommend orders. Execution remains with the trader and broker.

    Beacon · Monitoring

    Everything remains within the selected context.

    Beacon · Attention

    A relevant condition changed, such as position size moving beyond the applicable plan.

    Beacon · Intervention

    A configured risk or behavior boundary has been reached and RulesFirst creates a deliberate pause point.

    One place to see the live trade and the process around it.

    The Live Trade Terminal is not an execution terminal. RulesFirst monitors the connected trade where supported; execution remains with the trader and broker.

    Broker position150 shares
    Original plan100 shares / 1R
    Current risk1.6R
    Rule statusSize drift
    Beacon stateAttention
    Technical contextSupported data

    Ghost Tracking

    Track the setup without risking the capital.

    A trader can create a Ghost trade with a setup, entry, stop, target and risk without placing a real-money trade. RulesFirst tracks what would have happened.

    Explore Ghost Tracking

    Real trade

    CapitalAt risk
    OrderThrough broker

    Ghost trade

    CapitalNot at risk
    ModeHypothetical tracking

    The plan is only useful if you can see when reality changes.

    Planned

    Qty100
    Risk1R
    Stop$188

    Actual

    Qty175
    Risk1.6R
    StopMoved

    Beacon · Attention

    Position no longer matches the original or applicable plan.

    03After the trade

    The trade ends. The evidence shouldn't.

    RulesFirst turns the completed trade into material for review: trade details, decisions, Ghost comparisons, performance, habits and discipline over time.

    Performance Analytics

    See what the trade became in the data.

    RulesFirst exposes the metrics traders need to understand performance, risk, consistency and process quality across completed trading activity.

    Net P&L

    -$6,474.95

    Win Rate

    16.67%

    Profit Factor

    0.05

    Avg Win

    +$103.69

    Avg Loss

    -$452.40

    Expectancy

    -$359.72

    Performance

    Cumulative P&L-$6,474.95
    Equity curveCurrent drawdown
    Daily and monthly P&LAug: -$6,197
    Day-of-week performanceMon weakest
    Entry-window performance9:30-10:15 AM
    Long vs shortLong: -$4,120

    Trade economics

    Profit factor0.05
    Payoff ratio0.23
    Average win+$103.69
    Average loss-$452.40
    Median win/loss-$184.20
    Expectancy-$359.72

    Risk

    Largest loss-$2,115
    Worst day-$6,387
    Current drawdown-$6,475
    Maximum drawdown-$6,475
    Maximum runup+$412
    Recovery status0%

    Process & R

    Average R-1.42R
    Realized risk/reward0.31
    Average hold38 min
    R multiples-5R worst
    Winning and losing streaks7 losses
    Reconciled trade coverage96%

    Consistency

    Green/red days1 / 2
    Best/worst day+$190 / -$6,387
    Monthly consistency33% green
    Calendar P&L heatmap1 red cluster
    Daily trendsLosses expanding
    Rolling trends3-day decline

    Context

    Performance by assetNVDA drag
    P&L by holding time< 30m weakest
    Calls vs putsPuts: +$86
    Setup tagsBreakout, VWAP
    Mistake tagsAdded to loser
    Trade notes and images4 attachments

    Decision Replay

    See where the trade changed.

    Replay shows recorded trade events alongside historical price action and available RulesFirst evidence. It keeps the sequence visible without requiring you to reconstruct it from memory.

    Explore Decision Replay
    ENTRYADDSIZE DRIFTBEACONRISKGHOSTEXIT

    Ghost vs. You

    Ghost isn't another trader. It's you, with the plan left intact.

    You is what you actually did. Ghost is the applicable plan-following version. Compare the two to see where your live decisions diverged from the process you defined.

    Explore Ghost vs. You

    You

    Added sizeYes
    Moved stopYes
    ExitedEarly
    P/L-$750
    Net R-5R

    Ghost

    BaselineMaintained
    PathApplicable plan
    CompletionGhost logic
    P/L-$150
    Net R-1R

    One trade is an event. Repeated behavior becomes a pattern.

    RulesFirst connects individual trading moments to behavioral history.

    Trade 1

    BehaviorAdded to loser

    Trade 4

    BehaviorAdded to loser

    Trade 9

    BehaviorAdded to loser

    Trading habit

    Adding to losers7 occurrences
    ImpactReview in analytics

    Discipline streaks

    Clean Day8 days
    No-Spiral11 days
    Focused ChallengeDay 6 of 14

    The RulesFirst Loop

    Yesterday's trading behavior becomes context for tomorrow's preparation.

    Prepare
    Plan
    Trade
    Monitor
    Review
    Learn
    Next trading day
    One complete day

    A trading day becomes evidence for the next one.

    This fictional example shows the RulesFirst process as one connected day. Values are illustrative only.

    8:45 AM

    Daily Readiness

    Max loss confirmed: $500. Focus: no adding to losers. Mood: focused.

    9:32 AM

    Trade Plan

    NVDA long. 100 shares. Entry $118. Stop $116. Risk 1R.

    9:46 AM

    Live Trade

    Position 100. Beacon: Monitoring.

    9:52 AM

    Position Changed

    Position increased to 150 shares.

    9:52 AM

    Beacon Attention

    Position size moved beyond plan.

    10:15 AM

    Trade Closed

    Trade recorded at -1.3R.

    Review

    Decision Replay

    Position increase appears in the trade evidence.

    Next Morning

    Daily Readiness

    Highest repeated mistake: adding to losers. New commitment written.

    Not just alerts

    The alert isn't the product. The process is.

    Beacon alerts are one part of RulesFirst. The larger product is the connection between preparation, live context, review and the next trading day.

    preparation
    planning
    live monitoring
    broker activity
    risk context
    behavioral events
    journal
    replay
    analytics
    habits
    discipline tracking

    RulesFirst is not a signal service.

    Does not tell you what stock to buy
    Does not predict market direction
    Does not provide trading signals
    Does not place trades for you
    Does not replace your strategy

    Your strategy remains yours. Your broker remains yours. Your decisions remain yours. RulesFirst helps make the process visible.

    Connect the broker you already trade with.

    Broker connectivity allows RulesFirst to synchronize supported trading activity and monitor applicable live positions. Broker integrations are rolling out in stages, and manual mode remains available from day one.

    See Supported Brokers

    One process for the entire trading day.

    Prepare the trade, stay aligned while it is live, and turn every completed trade into evidence for the next decision.