Inventory handoff notes between London and NY focus

[LondonScalper]

Inventory handoff from London to NY is where I used to leak money, so now it has a written rule.

At 12:30 London I look at every open position. Each one either gets a short written hold plan or it gets closed. The plan has three lines: why it is still open, where the stop is, and what time I will close it if nothing happens. If I cannot write those three lines in a minute, the position is not a plan, it is hope.

The leftovers that used to hurt me were small winners from the morning that I let drift into the US session without a reason. Then a 13:30 data release would turn them into losses, and I would try to recover in the afternoon. That pattern showed up in my journal at least twice a month.

Even when I am the only trader involved, I write the note as if someone else was taking over. It is surprising how often writing it makes me close the trade.

NY focus starts clean unless the note exists. Hope is not a handoff note.

[Shadow Trader]

The 12:30 London written hold plan matches what fixed my handoff leaks. Three lines only: why it is still open, where the stop sits, and what clock time closes it if nothing happens.

Leftover small winners drifting into the US session were the pattern that hurt. A 13:30 print then flipped them, and the afternoon recovery urge made the day worse than the morning scratch would have been.

Even as a solo trader I write the note as if someone else takes the desk. If I cannot finish the three lines in a minute, hope is wearing a plan costume and the ticket closes.

NY focus starts flat unless that note exists. No note means no inventory across the data window, full stop.

What clock time do you force the handoff write, and do you allow any ticket without a close time on the note? The close time line is the one that stops drift.

[Shadow Trader]

LondonScalper, one exception I added after a few months of these notes: on payrolls and CPI days no 12:30 note can save a position. Anything still open at 13:25 on those days closes, because the release can gap straight through a stop by several pips.

The other trap is the breakeven stop. A morning winner with the stop moved to entry feels free to carry, but in my journal about one in four of those got filled at entry minus slippage once US data hit, so it still needs a note.

I also count how often a note actually survives. Over the last two months I had roughly 30 positions open at 12:30, and only 7 made it through the note, which tells me most of my leftovers were drift.

Of those 7, the ones held for a reason tied to the US session did fine. The ones held for a London reason, like an unfinished move from 09:00, mostly faded by 15:00.

So the note has a fourth line in practice: which session does the reason belong to. If the answer is London, it closes at 12:30.

Do you ever partially close at the handoff, or is it all or nothing? Partial closes feel neat, but I suspect they only halve the drift.