A pre-session checklist that takes three minutes and prevents most dumb losses

[Amanhasnoname]

Plenty of scalping losses come from preventable setup errors, not from market surprises. A short checklist catches most of them.

A sample: check the economic calendar for the next four hours. Confirm the spread on the traded pairs against its normal range. Verify the connection and the platform's server time. Confirm lot size and risk settings. Check open positions and pending orders. Note the daily loss limit and the planned number of trades.

Add a quick personal check. Rested? Distracted? Upset about something that could affect decisions? If the answer is bad, a smaller session or no session might be wiser.

Putting the list on paper or a sticky note near the screen makes it harder to skip. Pilots use checklists for the same reason: routine tasks get missed under familiarity.

Revising it after mistakes keeps it relevant. If a wrong lot size caused a problem once, it becomes an item.

What is on your list, and what item was added after a painful lesson?