The Hidden Importance of a Trading Routine

October 5, 2019

5 min read

Dear Traders,

When it comes to trading, discipline is maybe the hardest to achieve. That said, discipline is also one of the most important elements for becoming a successful trader.

It’s through discipline and routine that we speed up our learning curves and can clearly see when something is working and when something is not.

Pre-market routine helps you get focused for the day and keep you on track. Every trader should establish a pre-market routine as a foundation to build strong trading habits. Trading routine should consist of:

Pre Market analysis
Major Market hours trading
End of day (EOD) hours

Pre market analysis

No matter which time zone you live in, you need to wake up at least 30 mins before major market opens. Major markets are:

London
New York
Tokyo

You can neglect other minor markets as the price will move heavily during major market providing you with potentially multiple number of setups.

Check the day’s economic calendar for any strong economic reports that may influence your setups.

When you are done checking move to price action analysis…
…and spot if the prices have broken through important support or resistance levels.

My advice is to trade trending markets. Don’t forget that market is a shark and you are the fish. You don’t want to part of the food chain, rather you want to follow and learn.

Remember:
The fish follows the shark behind and smartly collects what is left behind (pips).

When you decided which markets you will trade you need to make sure to be in sync with the markets.

Major Market hours trading

Forex market trades 24-hours, but not all hours are viable for day trading. If you are a day trader you want to exploit:

Volatility
Momentum
Direction
Trend
Divergence

In that case you need to decide between positional trading and scalping.

Take positions that seem to be most obvious.

Try to spot “No brainer setups” and remember that the first 3 hours of each major session are most profitable.

You need to be focused on your focus on your trading plan and existing positions.

Additionally use our analysis and webinars as additional edge in your trading routine.

End of day (EOD) hours

When London session is over, you have 2-3 additional hours to eventually make positions and close it effectively.

If you fail to do it, the chance is that you might get trapped into a range that will last usually until Tokyo session opens and that might stop you in your tracks.

EOD trading is different as you usually need to trade counter trend.

You might be wondering why?
Simply because most day trading market movers (Banks, Hedge fund traders, Institutions) will take profits and the price will retrace.

Remember, every close of a buy position is an automatic sell back into the market and vice versa.

End of day trading do not require monitoring during the trading day and is ideal with 9-5 dayjob traders.

Ten rules for a successful trading routine

These rules are very important and should be incorporated in every trading plan.

Analyse the charts for support & resistance
Always be patient with setups and entries
Keep a strict eye on risk management – 0.5-2% risk on normal trades and stop excessive risk taking to exit trades sooner
Do not overtrade and wait for trades to develop – it is ok to skip trading for the entire day if nothing is available
Pre-trade analysis requires a review of economic data
Consider reversal dates with low leverage
Avoid illiquid days – Bank holidays, Xmas-NY, August holidays
Take breaks and drink enough water
Discipline, Discipline, Discipline
Use higher TFs for direction

The continuous application of this cycle will allow you to have a beneficial trading mindset and behavior which leads to consistent profits, the ultimate goal of every trader.

Cheers and safe trading,
Nenad
Elite CurrenSea