Never enter a trade unless you are 100% sure of the outcome.
There is an indicator that a lot of traders use called Stochastic. It means 'probability'. What is the probability that my trade will hit my profit target? On a roulette wheel your probability of winning or losing is 50/50. You pick either black or red, just like tossing a coin, how many times in a row can you pick heads or tails? With the currency market you can, by studing and learning, developing discipline and patience move the odds in your favor. But, would you place a trade if you were 90% certain that it will be in your favor? That means there is a 10% chance it will go against you. What about 95%? You have probably been absolutely certain that a currency pair was going to go exactly as you predicted only to watch it go in the opposite direction. Why did you place the trade? Did you want to lose your money? Of course not! There was some piece of the puzzle that you didn't have. If you had had that piece of information you would have stayed out of the trade or traded in the right direction. "You have got to know the rules."
In the month of December 2010 I had 65 positive trades in a row without any losses. Even though I was 100% certain that each trade would produce at least 20 pips, I did not know how much time each trade would take. Most trades take less than 15 minutes, some trades take as long as 30 minutes, but there are a few trades that make you wait and wait. One such trade was a long entered on the GBP/USD. I was 100% certain that this was going to be a trade, based upon my system, that would produce 20 pips. I entered the trade and immediately set a stop. The stop was never hit but the trade was in the oven for ten days. Even though the system was correct, many other opportunites were lost on the GBP/USD during those ten days. Did I miss something or ignore one of my own rules? NO! It's just that every now and then a black swan swims by and reminds me that the market is complete control, all I can do is wait. But waiting for a trade I know is going to be positve is much better than watching a trade go against me and maybe never come back.