What should I check before a forex trade?

Nine things: higher-timeframe trend alignment, setup matches your written strategy, stop loss at a real invalidation level, no high-impact news within 30 minutes, daily loss limit not reached, combined open risk under 3%, position size inside your risk limits, risk-reward at least 1:2, and no revenge trading.

How do I know my position size is correct?

Divide your dollar risk by (stop pips x pip value per lot). If your planned size exceeds the result, the size is wrong — never round up. The checklist checker does this automatically.

What is the 1:2 risk-reward rule?

For every dollar you risk, the trade must offer at least two dollars of potential profit. At 1:2 you can lose two of every three trades and still break even.

Pre-Trade Forex Checklist Checker

Nine checks, thirty seconds, one verdict. Run this before every trade — the same ritual airlines use before every flight. A FAIL on any check means no trade. Part of the 19 Forex Trading Guidelines.

Run the Checklist

1. Higher-timeframe trend is aligned with my trade direction?

2. Setup matches all 9 parts of my written strategy (Guideline 11)?

3. Stop loss placed where the setup is invalidated (not "comfortable")?

4. No high-impact news within 30 minutes before/after (check the calendar)?

5. Daily loss so far stays inside my limit (and no forced revenge trading)?

6. Open positions (incl. this one) keep combined risk under 3% of equity?

Auto-Check Your Numbers (optional but recommended)

Account size (USD)

Risk this trade (%)

Position size (lots)

Stop distance (pips)

Pip value per lot (USD)

Risk-reward ratio

Your Last 10 Checklist Runs

No runs recorded yet.

Why a Pre-Trade Checklist Works

Most losing trades are not bad ideas — they are good ideas executed while one rule was quietly broken: a setup traded against the trend, a size rounded up instead of down, a trade taken two minutes before CPI. A checklist externalises the discipline that Guidelines 1–19 describe. When the verdict says FAIL, close the platform. That one behaviour does more for your account than any indicator.

Pair the checklist with the Personal Rulebook Generator to know your exact risk numbers, and print the One-Page Rulebook to keep next to your screen.

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