The checklist: context before confirmation
- Account and instrument: Is this the account and exact broker symbol the plan names?
- Timeframe and session: Am I checking the candles and trading window I intended?
- Plan expiry: Is the idea still valid for this session?
- Observation: What happened on the chart, without a directional story?
- Selected scenario: Am I considering the buy branch, the sell branch, or waiting?
- Ordered evidence: Did each required confirmation happen in sequence?
- Invalidation: Has the evidence already contradicted the setup?
- Risk and exit: Are the loss budget, stop logic and account limits defined?
- Decision: Take only an entry your own process permits, or record why you stood aside.
Treat these as prompts to adapt, not a universal strategy. Different instruments, sessions and execution methods require different evidence. A checklist that fits your setup should be short enough to read, but specific enough that two people could understand what a completed step means.
Why the order of checks matters
If your setup requires break, close and retest, observing a touch of the level earlier in the session does not necessarily count as the retest after the close. The sequence is part of the rule. Record each step with the observation that satisfied it, rather than checking every box because the chart currently looks favorable.
In Edgelog Trade Plan, buy and sell steps have separate pending, confirmed and failed states. When an earlier step fails or is reset, later confirmations in that branch are reset as well. That keeps a later check from surviving a broken sequence. You still have to read your chart; the software does not verify candles or market prices.
Example: the checklist says wait
A hypothetical plan asks for a close beyond a marked level and a retest that meets the strategy’s criteria. You observe the close, but price accelerates away. The first condition has evidence; the next condition does not. Writing “missed retest, no entry” keeps the record honest even if the move later looks attractive in hindsight.
Now suppose a losing trade from earlier makes you want to enter anyway. The checklist cannot prevent the order. What it can do is make the deviation explicit: the planned confirmation was absent at the time of entry. That detail is more actionable in review than a vague note that you “felt impatient” after seeing the result.
Risk checks do not disappear when the setup looks good
Confirmation and risk are separate gates. A setup can satisfy every chart condition and still exceed the loss budget or account exposure you chose. Write stop and exit rules before entry, and use a position size calculator with the instrument’s correct assumptions rather than copying a lot size from another trade.
CME Group’s risk-management lesson asks traders to define risk tolerance and account exposure before applying risk rules. This checklist does not prescribe a percentage for everyone. Keep your own account-level limits in the trading rule tracker, including any restrictions that apply to your account.
Record the decision while the evidence is fresh
Upload your before-trade chart, name the active scenario and add a short “What changed?” observation. A note such as “the selected candle closed above the marked level, but the retest is still pending” is enough to make the state understandable. Avoid upgrading the description after the trade finishes simply because the outcome was favorable.
If the setup expires or is invalidated, prepare a revision before evaluating it again. New and revised setups begin with pending confirmations. If you switch from considering a sell to considering a buy, the buy list must still stand on its own. The trading bias journal explains why invalidation should not automatically become permission to reverse.
Close the loop after the trade
When a real completed trade is available, link it to the saved version that existed at the decision. Compare the checklist with the entry and write whether you followed it, deviated, or lack enough evidence. Assign a Playbook strategy so the process example sits beside the original trade performance, without duplicating the execution.
Keep reviews proportionate. Look for recurring missing steps across comparable examples, and change one unclear rule before adding more boxes. A checklist is a way to make decisions reviewable, not a guarantee of profitable trades. Open the Trade Plan preview or copy the editable plan template to try the workflow without a connected account.