I'd like to start a thread where we post the chart before the trade, not after. Anyone can make a trade look obvious in hindsight. The idea here is to post what you see at the Frankfurt open, 07:00 London, before you know the outcome.
I'll go first with the format I'll use, and anyone who wants to join can copy it.
Time of screenshot: 06:55 London.
Asian range: high, low and size in pips.
Pre-Frankfurt bias, in one sentence, with the reason. For example: "Mild bullish bias, as price held above yesterday's London close twice during Asia."
Levels I'm watching: no more than three. Yesterday's high and low, and one more.
The trade I'd take, if any: entry trigger, stop and target, all written before 07:00.
What would cancel it: news, a spread above my threshold, a gap through a level.
Then, separately, after the session, a single reply with what actually happened, whether I took the trade, and whether I followed the plan. Win or lose doesn't matter much. Following the plan does.
I'll add mine as replies on the mornings I trade. I know from experience that writing the plan down in public changes how I trade. I'm more careful and less impulsive when other people can see what I said I would do.
Charts on M5 please, with your broker's server time noted.
Pre-trade screenshot thread: EURUSD Frankfurt open
-
LondonScalper
- Posts: 965
- Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2026 7:54 am
-
Shadow Trader
- Posts: 959
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2026 5:19 pm
Re: Pre-trade screenshot thread: EURUSD Frankfurt open
I'll join on the mornings I'm at the desk. One small addition to the format: crop the chart so it ends at 06:55 with nothing to the right except the plan, which stops anyone, me included, from posting a screenshot that quietly includes the first candles.
The attached chart is an illustration of how I'd lay mine out: EURUSD M5 with the Asian range at 1.1712 to 1.1731, 19 pips, and yesterday's high at 1.1745 as the third level. Three lines and nothing else, as you suggested.
My trigger in that example is an M5 close above 1.1731 and then a retest that holds. Stop at 1.1724, target 1.1745. If price spikes through before 07:05 I don't chase it, because Frankfurt spreads are still not reliable in the first few minutes.
One cancel condition I'd add to your list is a gap of more than 5 pips between the screenshot and the 07:00 price. At that point the plan was written for a different chart.
Do you want the follow up reply on mornings where nobody takes a trade? I suspect the no trade days will end up being the most useful ones to read back.
The attached chart is an illustration of how I'd lay mine out: EURUSD M5 with the Asian range at 1.1712 to 1.1731, 19 pips, and yesterday's high at 1.1745 as the third level. Three lines and nothing else, as you suggested.
My trigger in that example is an M5 close above 1.1731 and then a retest that holds. Stop at 1.1724, target 1.1745. If price spikes through before 07:05 I don't chase it, because Frankfurt spreads are still not reliable in the first few minutes.
One cancel condition I'd add to your list is a gap of more than 5 pips between the screenshot and the 07:00 price. At that point the plan was written for a different chart.
Do you want the follow up reply on mornings where nobody takes a trade? I suspect the no trade days will end up being the most useful ones to read back.
-
Shadow Trader
- Posts: 959
- Joined: Wed Sep 09, 2026 5:19 pm
Re: Pre-trade screenshot thread: EURUSD Frankfurt open
LondonScalper, the no trade mornings are the ones I now force myself to post. Writing NO TRADE under the 06:55 crop stopped me from inventing a late Frankfurt idea just because I had already opened the thread.
The filter I added after a few weeks is Asian range width. If Asia has already printed more than 28 pips by 06:55 I skip breakout plans entirely and only allow a fade of the extreme with half size.
The attached chart is an illustration of that skip morning. EURUSD M5 Asia runs from 1.1688 to 1.1721, 33 pips, with yesterday mid at 1.1705 as the only level left, and NO TRADE under the plan box.
Server time stays in the corner of every shot as you asked. Mine is GMT plus 2 in summer, and I write that in the same line as the 06:55 stamp so nobody mixes it with London clock later.
Do you cancel the whole Frankfurt plan when Asia is that wide, or still allow the fade? I found allowing both kept the revenge impulse alive.
The filter I added after a few weeks is Asian range width. If Asia has already printed more than 28 pips by 06:55 I skip breakout plans entirely and only allow a fade of the extreme with half size.
The attached chart is an illustration of that skip morning. EURUSD M5 Asia runs from 1.1688 to 1.1721, 33 pips, with yesterday mid at 1.1705 as the only level left, and NO TRADE under the plan box.
Server time stays in the corner of every shot as you asked. Mine is GMT plus 2 in summer, and I write that in the same line as the 06:55 stamp so nobody mixes it with London clock later.
Do you cancel the whole Frankfurt plan when Asia is that wide, or still allow the fade? I found allowing both kept the revenge impulse alive.