Good morning, traders…

I’ve been going through every Smart Money Brief I sent this year.

Every lesson. 

Every setup. 

Every loss. 

Every win.

As I read, I kept asking myself: Could I distill everything I’ve learned about Smart Money trading into 10 core principles? What would they be?

So I wrote them down. 

10 Commandments that capture my trading philosophy…

Print them out. 

Pin them to your monitor. 

Tape them to your wall. 

Put them on your lock screen. 

Do whatever’s necessary to instill these ideas in your trading for 2026.

These principles led to my 617% gain on Tesla. My 828% gain on Google. My 199% gain on ETHA…*

When I follow them consistently, I win. 

That’s why I’m sharing them with you.

These Are The 10 Commandments of Smart Money Trading…

Commandment #1: Follow The Smart Money

Students often ask me, “Ben, how did you know that stock was about to break out … to that exact level?”

The answer is simple:

I didn’t know. 

I followed others who did.

That’s the power of Smart Money trading, which allows me (and you) to trade on insider information without actually having it…

By tracking institutional bets on my OMEN Scanner, we can follow the insider moves legally … before the stocks take off. 

I don’t need to know the material, non-public information that these mysterious traders might be using…

I simply need to know what to look for…

Commandment #2: Know What You’re Looking For

Everything starts here. Before anything else, I’m looking for what to trade.

That means building my Dynamic Watchlist with unusual option activity … contracts that are showing enormous call buying. 

It highlights where big volume is hitting names that weren’t on the radar the day before. 

If you’re not using the scanner, you’re already behind. 

Don’t trade what everyone’s watching. 

Trade with the Smart Money. 

From there, I’m looking at the charts. Do any of these huge Smart Money bets correspond with one of my favorite chart patterns?

It’s that connection, Smart Money flow + bullish chart pattern, that gives me the confidence to execute my trades. 

Commandment #3: Never Enter A Trade Without A Plan

You don’t need to be the smartest trader in the room…

You just need to be the most prepared.

Before I take any trade, I form a plan. 

Not after I enter. Not while the position is moving. 

Before.

That means three things are locked in:

• My entry: the price I’m waiting for
  
• My target: the level where I’ll take profits
  
• My stop loss: the point where I’ll exit if it doesn’t work

The biggest mistakes I see traders make happen right here. 

They skip the planning. They jump in based on emotions, then figure it out as they go. That’s a recipe for inconsistency.

You can’t manage what you didn’t define. The plan has to come first.

Commandment #4: Respect Your Stop Losses

Last night, I dipped my toe into the murky waters of the internet to see what traders were talking about.

Reddit, X, StockTwits, Facebook … I lurked them all. 

What I saw next didn’t exactly shock me, but it struck me to my core. 

Trader after trader, posting about losing 50%, 70%, and even 99% on a single options trade.

I sat there asking myself, “Why are these people doing this to their accounts? The solution is so simple.”

I can’t remember the last time I took a huge loss trading options. And that’s because I never forget to do one thing…

Set a stop loss.

If you’re taking an account-ruining loss on an options trade, there’s no beating around the bush…

You didn’t have a plan. 

You didn’t protect your risk. 

You didn’t set your stop beforehand (or respect it during the trade).

Commandment #5: Prioritize Decisions Over Outcomes

You call the chart direction perfectly. The stock does exactly what you predicted. 

And you end up in the red anyway.

Sound familiar?

Being “right” and making money are two completely different animals. 

Especially with options.

You can be 100% correct about the direction, the timing, and the catalyst … and still lose money. 

Nail the thesis, predict the exact move, and watch it play out in front of you … but if your execution is wrong, you lose.

People love to be correct, to make a bold prediction and see it play out in real time. 

It validates your intelligence. You feel smarter than others, like you have a special insight they don’t. 

And being right publicly (telling friends, posting on social media, bragging in trading groups) elevates your status. You become “the person who called it,” which bolsters our basic human need for social validation.

You’re feeding your ego instead of growing your brokerage account. 

But trading isn’t a popularity contest. Nor is it a game of crystal ball predictions. 

While a clairvoyant vision might get you into the trade … it won’t execute the exits for you. 

Being right doesn’t pay the bills. Making money does. 

What matters is how you made the call. 

Were you thinking clearly? Were you following your rules? Did you weigh the risk?

If yes, stand tall. 

Outcomes vary. Good decisions don’t.

To Be Continued

Check your inbox tomorrow for Part 2 of my 10 Commandments…

Happy Trading,

Ben Sturgill

*Past performance does not indicate future results