The truth of the matter is EVERY successful trader has a routine that they follow. Whether its for Day Trading, Swing Trading or looking at longer term investments. EVERY participant has some form of a routine that they subscribe to. A traders routine, simply put, are a series of steps that are taken to set themselves up for success.
That routine, in my case anyways, is part of an overall trading plan. As most of you know by now I specialize in Day Trading so my routine is a series of steps that I take first thing in the morning. These steps are repeated every single day in the same order! I have found over the years that my early morning routine helps me get in sync with the market before the opening bell. By the time the session starts at 9:30am EST I'm already in a flow and can understand the market better vs. just jumping in at the bell.
It is paramount and of the utmost importance that a trader has a solid routine. Reason being is that it sets the tone for the trading session. Again, being a Day Trader, my routine starts roughly an hour before the market opens (pre-market) and runs for the first two-three hours of the trading session. It’s in that pre-market time frame ( 1 hour before the market opens) that I'm looking at Market Movers and going over what my proprietary scanner is producing. I’m creating a shortlist of tradeable opportunities and going over a few other details that I must know before the market opens.
Although I'm not trading the overall markets (SPY, QQQ, DIA etc) I am watching them to see what direction they’re heading in and seeing if there is any correlation between markets and the stocks that I'm looking to trade. Once I have some insight into how the markets and stocks that i am watching are setting up I wait on the actual market to open...obviously. Sidenote, there have been countless sessions where things look great pre-market and end up being an epic fail once the market opens. With that said I typically, once the market opens, give the market time to “wake up”. I’ll sit for a few minutes to get an understanding of what the market's intentions are and I'll act accordingly.
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