Go Go Go & Get Organised

I have found setting up and sticking to a daily routine with regards to trading can pay dividends.  Establishing a routine means getting organised with regards to your trading.  So what sort of things can you do to get organised and establish a trading routine?

• If you get up early for a particular pre-market and market opening then when you wake switch on your laptop and internet and log on, whilst everything loads, go and do whatever your morning routine is.  It may help to be washed/shaved/showered and dressed, breakfasted and watered before you start.  This will help the brain and how you feel.
• Make sure you have your Trading Plan and Check Lists available & use them.
• Manage any open trades by moving stops and taking profits/cutting losses etc.
• Check the likely news flow for the day to make sure you don’t get caught out.
• If there are certain strategies you employ on certain timeframes, then set up templates if you use MT4, and then scan the currency pairs for any potential trade setups.  This quick scan routine can get you focussed in quickly on the currency pairs that matter.
• Once your quick scan is complete then conduct your Top Down/Bottom up analysis and apply any filters you use to establish if any of the potential trades are worth taking.
• Then plan out any chosen trades that pass the filters and analysis test, making sure you know the market context in which the trade will be taken, if the entry criteria are met.  Remember the 5Ps (trade context; risk:reward; entry; stop; profit targets etc) before entering the market.
• If the identified trades are some way off entry then set up alerts if you use MT4.
• Next comes trade execution, make sure you follow your plan.
• Take a screen shot of the trade and file for reference.
• Annotate your records and note any specifics.
• During your chosen trading session plan some breaks when the market goes quiet and there is no news expected and keep hydrated and have a snack if needed.
• On quiet days go do something else or hit that list of back testing to be done, or go over your performance thus far or research an aspect of trading that you’d like to know more about – just Google or Bing it!
• At the end of the day or even weekly keep a journal record of your thoughts and feelings with regard to your trading.

Top Trading Tip: Establish a daily trading routine and get organised, treat your trading like any other business.  Keep records and review your performance and aim to improve on identified  weak areas. If you need help the maybe we can do that

The 5Ps!

Over time I have learnt that the best trades often occur as a consequence of the effort and attention to detail that I put into the planning stage, prior to pulling the trigger.

A great acronym for this, which can be applied to life in general, is the 5Ps or PPPPP:

Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance!

So before you make that impulsive trade and just jumping into the market stop and think about the 5Ps, it may just prevent you from blowing up or seriously damaging your account.  If you need help in developing into a consistently profitable trader then we can help you.

Top Trading Tip: Before taking any trade, ask yourself have you planned it out, are you following your (back tested) strategy to the letter and do you understand the risk you are taking and the potential reward you may gain?  Remember the 5Ps!

Safe trading!

Martin W

Forex-Crazy and FxTribe