Forex Trading Plan Checklist: Develop Good Trading Habits

15 Price Action Patterns Insiders are Using If a hedge fund managers were using 15 specific price action patterns would you want to know?

One thing I do that helps me to open good trades and avoid bad trades is a Forex Trading Plan Checklist. This checklist has a list of rules that must be in place before I enter a trade. I have found that if you create a checklist, it will assist in having the discipline to stick to your plan.

Make sure to also check out our guide to day trading Forex.

The best part of having this list is that it is not complicated or difficult to remember. Actually, the list is very easy and after using it a few times, good trading habits begin to form. By using the forex checklist, I have developed my trading profits to have gone up because this technique has increased my trading winning percentage. Also, read about Personality Strengths and Weakness in Forex.

Our Recommended Forex Trading Plan Checklist

  • First, I identify the trend and look for trades that fall within the direction of the trend.
  • Next, I find the signal that I will enter the trade.
  • Then I identify support and resistance points.
  • Last, I determine the amount that I am going to risk on the trade.

After these steps are in place, I place the trade and log them in my Forex trading journal. I think you will find that something as easy as a simple Forex Trading Plan Checklist can dramatically improve your trading.

Donโ€™t forget to check out this article on Forex trading for beginners!

Trading doesnโ€™t have to be complicated to become successful. It is best to keep it as simple as possible so as not to outsmart yourself. We also have training for Forex Basket Trading Strategy

Please share any checklists that you have developed that have helped you in your trading in the comments section. Do you have a pre-trading checklist? What does your forex checklist contain? These tips will help all of us become better traders.

Thank you for reading!

If you have any questions about the Forex Trading Plan Checklist, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

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15 Price Action Patterns Insiders are Using If a hedge fund managers were using 15 specific price action patterns would you want to know?

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  1. Hi Casey, I wrote my rules โ€“ wich are the same as you mentioned plus keeping an eye on news events โ€“ on a list also a while ago. Indeed it increased my profits. I try to never trade without checking my rules first. Thanks for sharing this good advice.Best regards,Jaap.

  2. 1) I look for the candle pattern at support/resistance.2) then i look for adx slope for that particular candle, if its less than .25 or negative that shows that trend is wanning. to find adx slope i deduct previous candle's adx from current candles adx. its an awfully succesful.3) to exit i look for simply reversal patterns.4) and the amount i want to risk. i hope this trick might help some one.

  3. I haven't created my list yet but among the contents are:1. Watch out for economic reports.2. Do not trade during dead hours like 11:30 am EST โ€“ 1 pm EST.3. I always look at pairs like EUR/USD & GBP/USD at the same time. Make sure I'm shorting the weaker one/buying the stronger one if both are flashing signals at me.

    • Thanks Thomas,I like the dead hours rule and the correlations, those can be helpful. It is good that you are beginning to see what types of things you would want on your list.

  4. Trading Plan1. Money Management โ€“ Risk 0.5% per trade. 2% total risk, 4 *.5 tades can be entered.2. Enter and exit in 3 positions. Using the feathering method.3. Also if going to enter correlated trades then need to reduce position size accordingly.4. Have stop and profit target, plus general trade plan finalised before entry5. Detailed record keeping, including a snapshot of trade entry and exit6. Have multiple chart templates set up including 4hr MACD, pivots, and pure price action.7. Start analysis at longer time frame, then work way down to shorter time frame.8. Its key to determine the market emotion on all timeframesโ€ฆ.ie longer term may be trending, but shorter term in consolidation. Correctly determining this market emotion is key to deciding which trade methods to implement. 9. Looking for confluence. If everything does not line up then no trade. It is crucial to focus on high percentage setups and have the patience to wait for these setups. We are paid to wait, not trade.10. Use US Dollar index to add weight of evidence in determining market direction.

      • Hi Casey,Hope it helps a little atleast.Here is a little something on how to use pivots.Pivot Points1. Pivots are very effective support and resistance points that provide high percentage signals when used in confluence. And a good candle reversal or breakout signal.2. Use daily, weekly and monthly pivot points and pivot s/r points. Important to analyse candle action around pivots in combination with other trend info such as price patterns and trend lines.3. Because these are crucial s/r points, price can often hover around a pivot for a long time before making a momentum move. We want to wait for a confirmation of momentum before entry. 4. No matter what trade method is employed pivot points provide an effective point for stop loss or profit target.5. Using the weekly pivot is an ideal place to use the Stop and Reverse trade method. Especialy if its near the prrvious days high or low, which is an area of major importance for trading today.

  5. How exactly do you identify the trend? Which timeframe (TF) do you use? Based on my experience, each TF can have its own trend.Thanks,Charles

    • Charles you are right each time frame has a trend. I use the daily to find trends and then look to find my entries with the hourly charts.The way I determine a trend is with moving averages.

  6. Trade opportumity.Minii SwingUSDCHF BUY ZONE 1.0874 to 1.0841 , use scaling in method , STOP 1.00325, Target 1.1015.Reasom , momentum and sentiment change in all of the market, have a nive 4hr csndle set-up. USD should continue to get stronger within the coming weeks months. Double bottom was broken earlier/ Time to target 2 to 3 days.SifufxHappy Trading.

  7. Hello Casey,Before I go on with my post I would like to say that what you do on this Website is extremelly helpful for everyone starting up, and it is a great place to exchange experiences and advices. One advice that I would like to give to any new comer, and I hope you can understand it as soon as possible, is that each one of us needs to create our own trading plan and rules. We can share them, but it is a mistake to gather rules from other people. Do your own research, understand that picking up other people's rules and ideas will not work for you. I was once caught up on blogs and other forex websites following third person's analysis and ideas only to find out later that I was unable to put them into practice because they were not mine. I was to scare to pull my sleeves up and get to work, study, do my own research, do my own analysis. Every speculator is different, every human psyche is different and unique, every personality is exclusive. Casey's rules and plan work for him because he came up with them, they match his personality and emotional boundries. He profits with them, but I might not profit with them, but rather with my rules. It's also a matter of confidence, believing in yourself, believing that you are capable of working on your own. Remember, you are responsible for every trade you make, so make your own mistakes. But of course not everyone is prepared and willing to go through that. In general we prefer to fall into the safety of the group, which is everything this profession is not.Ask yourself the following question: Would you agree to stop trading, even on your demo account, and spent the next 6-8 months studying, reading, researching, taking notes and questionnning every aspect of this profession (technical side, fundamental side and psychological side)?If your answer is โ€œnoโ€, then I am afraid speculating is not for you.Happy trading!

    • Helder thanks so much for your insightful comments. I hope that you stay around because i like your wisdom that you so willingly share with everyone.I agree with you completely about trading plans they must be your own.

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