---
name: kill-hold-rules-trading-desk
description: "Kill and hold rules trading knowledge for a professional trader's AI agent desk. Mechanical lines the seat checks: valid while a close holds a level, killed by a close through another. Use when researching, checking, sizing or journaling kill and hold rules work. Educational only: no advice, no return promises. Orders only inside a stage the operator has armed."
---

# Kill and hold rules: a mechanical valid line and a killed line

## When to use this skill
Load this when a plan needs a mechanical line for "still valid" and a mechanical line for "dead." Check one close the operator pastes against lines they wrote before the session. Do not write the levels. Educational only. Not financial advice.

## The two lines
The operator writes both lines before the session, in this shape.

VALID while [timeframe] closes hold [above or below] [level].
KILLED by a [timeframe] close [under or over] [level].

The shape to copy is: valid while hourly closes hold above X, killed by an hourly close under Y. X and Y are their prices. If either price is blank, the result is CAN'T TELL.

## The check
Use one close: the close they pasted, on the timeframe they named. Record its time.

- The VALID line still holds, and the KILLED line does not print: HOLD.
- The KILLED line prints: KILLED.
- The close, the timeframe, or a level is missing: CAN'T TELL.

A wick through a level is not a kill and not a hold, unless their written rule uses the word "wick." Do not promote a wick to a close.

HOLD means the written lines still stand. It does not mean a trade. KILLED means that plan is dead on their rule. It does not mean an order the other way.

## Rules the agent applies
1. Do not tighten, loosen, or round their prices.
2. One check, one close. If they paste two closes, use the one they mark as the decision close. If they do not mark it, return CAN'T TELL and quote both.
3. A KILLED plan does not get a new level in the same reply. They write a new pair of lines, or they file a no-trade ticket.
4. Pass the result to the risk gate. A HOLD is not a CLEAR.

## What the agent must never do
- Never choose X or Y.
- Never treat a touch, a wick, or a headline as a close.
- Never suggest a flip, a hedge, or a new entry after a kill.
- Never place an order. Automated trading can lose money; start on paper and set hard limits.

## Output
First line: HOLD, KILLED, or CAN'T TELL.
Second line: the close, the timeframe, and the time.
Third line: their two rules, unchanged.
Stop.

## Where it hands off
The close is theirs, or a page they name. If you did not open that page, mark the close UNVERIFIED and return CAN'T TELL.

https://theagentictrader.com/skills/price-map-levels
https://theagentictrader.com/skills/risk-gate
https://theagentictrader.com/skills/no-trade-ticket

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Source: The Agentic Trader (https://theagentictrader.com/skills/kill-hold-rules). Last verified 2026-10-16. Educational only. Not financial advice.

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