🔵Why a Pre-Market Checklist Matters
The checklist exists to reduce context gaps before the session begins.
Key characteristics:
- •Prevents entering the session half-prepared
- •Creates repeatable structure
- •Helps filter weak trading days early
- •Improves the quality of later execution decisions
🟣Step 1 — Economic Calendar Review
High-impact events should be understood before charts start driving decisions.
Key characteristics:
- •Note major and medium-impact events
- •Mark the relevant event windows
- •Check which currencies and instruments are exposed
- •Decide whether the day includes blackout periods
🟡Step 2 — Top-Down Chart Review
Chart review should follow a fixed order so context comes before detail.
Key characteristics:
- •Daily chart: trend, key highs and lows, major context
- •4H chart: structure, Order Blocks, FVGs, key zones
- •1H chart: forming conditions and expected path
- •Quarter levels and liquidity pools marked ahead of time
🔴Step 3 — Platform and Risk Readiness
Preparation is not only chart-based. The practical side matters too.
Key characteristics:
- •Platform and chart setup checked
- •Alerts working as expected
- •Position sizing ready before the session
- •Daily loss limit clearly defined
🟢Step 4 — Mental Readiness
Some of the best sessions to skip are visible before the first trade, not after it.
Key characteristics:
- •Check focus and emotional steadiness
- •Notice distraction or fatigue early
- •Allow “no trade today” as a valid conclusion
- •Treat readiness as part of the plan, not an afterthought