BEFORE and AFTER Each Trading Day you should

A game-plan is a must, to see a potential goal, dream or vision.

You got to have a proper POA (Plan Of Action) and execute.

Whether it’s selling property, building a business, playing a sport or growing your wealth.

You need a BEFORE plan and AFTER plan.

Same with trading. You need to have a trading plan BEFORE and AFTER each trading day.

BEFORE Each Trading Day:

1. Know the main market’s trend direction

The first thing I want to know is, what the main market’s trend direction is.

Plot the resistance (ceiling) and support (floor) levels, so you know whether they are in an up, down or sideways trend.

If up – look for longs (buys)
If down – look for shorts (sells)
If sideways – look for potential breakout levels.

2. Scan through your watchlist

Once you know the main market’s trend direction, have a quick scan through your watch list (markets you trade).

Orientate yourself with where the markets are heading and whether trades are lining up.

This way, you won’t go into the trading day blindly.

3. Write down high probability trade setups

You know the main market’s trend direction, and have an idea of where the markets are heading – now you can plot your trade ideas.
Go through the watch list again, and write down any potential trade setups (with your written entry, stop loss, take profit and reasons for entering the trade).

4. Choose your TRADES for the day

Just because you have written down trade setups, doesn’t mean you need to take every one of them.

Instead, look at which ones which will yield a better probability at working out and has a better chance at winning.

All done before the trading day has even begun…

AFTER Each Trading Day

1. Journal every trade

When the markets’ have closed, and you have time to breathe, go to your trading journal and jot down the trade/s you took for the day.
Each entry should have the (Market name, date, type, margin, entry, stop loss, take profit and reason for entry).

2. Outline lessons of the day

If you’re just starting out or you’ve been in the markets for less than five years, I suggest this extremely useful step.

Write down any market lessons you learn for the day.

Here are some lessons you can write down:

• How the market reacted to a news event
  How you felt taking a trade or holding onto current trades
  Mistakes of the day you learnt or made
  Trading lessons that you want to incorporate into your trading…
  

Write these lessons down, as they will forever be part of your experiences to become a successful trader.

3. Re-check & confirm your open trades

This is extremely NB*.

Make sure your entry, stop loss and take profit levels are still in the trading platform with all open trades, at the end of the day…

Sometimes, brokers have certain glitches in their systems, that can remove your trading levels (automatically).

It happens on a continuous basis and it’s our job, to make sure everything is running smoothly and our levels are still in place.

4. Quick scan your watch list & look for potential trades for tomorrow

Last action you can take for the day, is preparing for tomorrow.

Go through your watch list, look for the next batch of trade setups and write them down. This is so you know what to do for the next day…

Trade well, live free.

Timon