The risk desk

The one-page plan

If it does not fit on one page, you will not read it when it counts.

Lesson 3 of 3 • 12 min

A one-page checklist beside a laptop — Example. Today's page says: euro chart, 15-minute, rising swings only, wrong at 1.1030, loss limited to 20, stop after two practice trades. If a sixth line appears, the page is too long.

Study material only. It is not a signal to buy or sell. AcademyTrade is education. It is not a broker, not investment advice, and not a promise that you will make money. Trading can lose the money you deposit.

A trading plan is a page you can read in two minutes before a session. It is not a manifesto. The page answers the same questions every time, so a loud morning does not get to invent new ones.

Use these headings:

Market and timeframe you are studying today.
The condition you require. For example: an uptrend of rising swings, price at a zone, participation that is not dead.
Where the idea is wrong.
The loss you accept, and the size that follows from it.
When you will stop for the day. A time, a number of practice trades, or a loss ceiling.

Leave a line for "I will not". Common ones: I will not add to a losing practice trade. I will not widen a stop. I will not trade the minute a scheduled news release hits, until I have a specific plan for news.

Review the page after the session, not during it. Change the rules on a quiet evening if the journal shows they fail. Changing them mid-candle is how a plan becomes a wish.

This page is the work product of the academy. The free monthly class is a place to bring one chart and walk the page out loud with a teacher.