Trading preparation demands you know how you are going to trade the market the next day before it opens. It means that you are mentally prepared to adjust your trading strategies intraday, and even go so far as to reverse trend after the market opens when necessary. Three basic steps to consider are: First, analyze the most recent price action. What are prices doing? Is there a definite pattern the you can detect? Where have prices been? Have they already run the stops close by? If you are daytrading, has there been sufficient volume during the hours you like to trade? Second, do you see any confirmation of your intentions in the recent price action. E.g. You are intending to go long and the last bar on the chart made a key reversal to the downside. This would not be conducive to going long. Third, apply the current information to whatever analysis you do. Faith has no place in the market, neither has wishing, praying or hoping. realistic analysis of price action and correct trade execution and management are the only things that will save you from the sting of an unsuccessful trade. If youâre going to pray, do it before you ever enter an order into the market. Then make sure your prayer is the right one. Donât pray for prices to go up, because someone else may be praying for prices to go down. Pray instead for wisdom, guidance and insight. In trading you, any alone are responsible for knowing what you are doing before you get into the markets. You must do more than believe in your abilities, you must effectively use them to produce the results you want. Successful trading is built on experience, which is in large part knowledge of what works and what does not work. Mistakes teach lessons only to students wanting to learn. If you are afraid of making mistakes, how are you going to learn? A key to success is to not repeat the mistakes, and correct the thoughts or trading methods that caused them.
Your post was a well written description of trading preparation. The only thing I would add is these steps should be written into the traders plan and that plan should be looked at each day. It is too easy to deviate if we do not go back to our written script.