Free method · educational

The Nine-Point Checklist

Directional trades live or die on three things: trend, volume, and strength. Grade all nine checks before entry. Seven or more, in the same direction, is a trade you know. Anything less is a trade you're guessing at — and guessing is how accounts die.

Trend — is the market going your way?

  1. Price on your side of VWAP
  2. Fast average above/below slow average (9 vs 21) in your direction
  3. The last five sessions drift the same way

Volume — is anyone else in this trade?

  1. Premarket volume above its own recent normal
  2. Participation now: last 15 minutes above the session's typical pace
  3. On-balance volume sloping your way — volume walking with price

Strength — is the move healthy, not exhausted?

  1. RSI in the momentum band (strong, not maxed out)
  2. MACD histogram on your side of zero and expanding
  3. Price beyond the premarket high (longs) or low (shorts)

How to use it without fooling yourself

ScoreWhat it meansWhat you do
9 / 9Everything agrees. Rare — a handful of moments per month.Your full planned risk. Not more.
7–8A trade you know, with a flaw you can name.Reduced size — half to three-quarters of plan.
5–6A story, not a setup.Stand aside. Write down what was missing.
0–4Not your trade. It never was.Close the ticket window. Go for a walk.

Two rules that make the checklist work: score it before you look at the P&L you're imagining, and a missing data point is a failed check, never a free pass. If you can't measure participation, you don't get the point.

Want it enforced instead of remembered?

Discipline Desk scores this checklist for you, journals every decision, and tells you to stand aside when the trade isn't yours.

Get early access