Stepping size up: the written increment rule I follow
Posted: Wed Sep 30, 2026 10:00 pm
The riskiest point for me isn't a losing week. It's the week after a good one, when I want to "take advantage" by trading bigger. So size increases follow a written rule, decided on Sunday and never during the session.
## The rule
- My size is set in shares per trade for each price bucket (under $20, $20–$75, over $75), written on a card.
- I can raise one bucket by one step, about 25% more shares, only if I followed my rails on every trade in the past two weeks. That means no rule breaks logged in the journal, and it doesn't depend on P&L.
- One step per review, never two. One bucket at a time.
- If I log any rule break at the new size, I drop back to the previous size the following Monday. That's automatic, not a debate.
- Size can go down mid-week, any time I like. It only goes up on Sunday.
## Worked example (illustrative)
My card has 200 shares for the $20–$75 bucket. After two weeks with no logged rule breaks, on Sunday I raise it to 250. I leave the other buckets alone.
Tuesday, 09:44 ET: an ORB break on a $38 name. I buy 250 at 38.62 with a stop at 38.49. That's 13 cents, or $32.50 of risk, up from $26 at 200 shares. It works, and I sell half at 38.85 and half at 38.78.
Thursday, 10:20 ET: I chase an entry 30 cents above the level, which breaks my "no entry more than 20 cents from the level" rule. It loses 11 cents on 250 shares. I log the rule break. The following Monday the card goes back to 200, even though the week finished green.
## Failure modes
- Tying size increases to P&L. A lucky week becomes a bigger week of the same mistakes.
- Raising every bucket at once.
- Treating "I felt sharp this morning" as a reason for a mid-session increase.
## When to skip (an increase)
- A week that included a news event I didn't trade doesn't count as a full sample. I wait another week.
- Any week with a platform or connection problem.
- If my sleep or health was off, I keep size where it is, whatever the journal says.
Diagram: a staircase with small steps labelled "+1 step (Sunday only)," a trap door labelled "rule break → back one step," and the three price-bucket cards on the side.
## The rule
- My size is set in shares per trade for each price bucket (under $20, $20–$75, over $75), written on a card.
- I can raise one bucket by one step, about 25% more shares, only if I followed my rails on every trade in the past two weeks. That means no rule breaks logged in the journal, and it doesn't depend on P&L.
- One step per review, never two. One bucket at a time.
- If I log any rule break at the new size, I drop back to the previous size the following Monday. That's automatic, not a debate.
- Size can go down mid-week, any time I like. It only goes up on Sunday.
## Worked example (illustrative)
My card has 200 shares for the $20–$75 bucket. After two weeks with no logged rule breaks, on Sunday I raise it to 250. I leave the other buckets alone.
Tuesday, 09:44 ET: an ORB break on a $38 name. I buy 250 at 38.62 with a stop at 38.49. That's 13 cents, or $32.50 of risk, up from $26 at 200 shares. It works, and I sell half at 38.85 and half at 38.78.
Thursday, 10:20 ET: I chase an entry 30 cents above the level, which breaks my "no entry more than 20 cents from the level" rule. It loses 11 cents on 250 shares. I log the rule break. The following Monday the card goes back to 200, even though the week finished green.
## Failure modes
- Tying size increases to P&L. A lucky week becomes a bigger week of the same mistakes.
- Raising every bucket at once.
- Treating "I felt sharp this morning" as a reason for a mid-session increase.
## When to skip (an increase)
- A week that included a news event I didn't trade doesn't count as a full sample. I wait another week.
- Any week with a platform or connection problem.
- If my sleep or health was off, I keep size where it is, whatever the journal says.
Diagram: a staircase with small steps labelled "+1 step (Sunday only)," a trap door labelled "rule break → back one step," and the three price-bucket cards on the side.