Swing strategy terms, defined plainly
Short, jargon-free definitions for the words used across these lessons.
Swing trade
A position opened to capture one multi-day to multi-week move, then closed - slower than a day trade, faster than an investment.
Swing trading strategy
The written rule set that decides which swings to take, how large to size them, and where to exit, applied the same way every time so the results can be measured.
Mean reversion
The tendency of a price stretched far from a typical level to drift back toward it; the engine behind most swing strategies.
Entry rule
The specific, pre-decided level or condition at which a strategy opens a position, rather than a vague 'around here'.
Stop
The pre-decided level that admits the idea was wrong and closes the trade to cap the loss, fixed before any emotion is attached to it.
Target
The pre-decided level at which the expected move is judged complete and profit is taken on plan rather than on nerve.
Position sizing
Choosing how much of the account a single trade may risk, so no one swing can do outsized damage.
Conviction grade
An A-to-D label marking how strong a call is relative to its own model's measured return distribution; there is no E grade.
Drawdown
The deepest peak-to-trough fall in an account or strategy over a period - a more honest read on risk than the headline return.
Win rate
The share of trades that closed profitably - meaningful only with the total trade count and the average loss shown beside it.
Cryptographic timestamp
A hash of a call written to a public ledger at publication, proving the entry, target, stop and grade existed in that exact form before the outcome was known.
Systematic strategy
A strategy whose rules are fixed in advance and applied mechanically, so its record reflects the rules rather than the trader's mood on a given day.