Trading checklist: the pre-session routine that keeps you disciplined
Professional traders do not improvise their mornings. Run this checklist before the London and New York opens, every day, until it becomes automatic.
The daily trading checklist
Three blocks, fifteen checks. Print it, copy it into your notes, or let TMA run it for you.
1. Market preparation
- Check the economic calendar for high-impact news in the next 4 hours
- Mark the previous day's high, low and close on your charts
- Mark weekly and daily support and resistance levels
- Note the overnight range and where price sits inside it
- Decide which one or two setups you will trade today — and which you will skip
2. Risk rules
- Set your maximum risk per trade (for example 1% of the account)
- Set your maximum daily loss — the number that ends your session
- Calculate position size before entry, never after
- Confirm stop loss and target prices before clicking buy or sell
- Write the trade in your journal plan before executing it
3. Mindset
- Rate your focus from 1 to 5 — below 3 means no trading today
- Accept that no trade is also a position
- Review yesterday's journal entry and the one rule you set
- Commit to stopping after your planned number of trades
Run it before each major open
London open (08:00 London time)
The highest-volume open for forex. Run the checklist 30 minutes before, watch how price reacts to the overnight range, and wait for your setup instead of trading the first spike.
New York open (09:30 New York time)
The second wave of volume, often reversing or confirming the London move. Re-check the calendar for US news, re-mark levels broken during London, and only trade if a fresh setup forms.
Make the routine automatic
TMA turns this checklist into a daily prep workflow inside your workspace — alongside your journal, trade plans, P/L calendar and performance analytics. One payment, a yearly plan.
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TMA Workspace provides educational content and software for informational purposes only. Nothing on this page is financial, investment or trading advice. Trading involves substantial risk, and past performance does not guarantee future results.