Free resource · printable
The pre-trade checklist.
Nine questions to answer before you click buy or sell. Every one of them targets the same failure: the trade that goes wrong with no stop and no size limit — the only outcome that actually destroys accounts.
Why nine questions and not a strategy
Any trade has four possible outcomes: right with a strong move (large profit), right but the move stalls (small profit), wrong but with a stop and correct size (small loss), and wrong with no stop, too much leverage or stubbornness (large loss). An account containing only the first three looks healthy. Every account problem lives in the fourth — and eliminating it needs nothing sophisticated: a stop on every trade, and size within the limit.
Source: FirstPip knowledge base — Foundational trading rules · Risk per trade. Figures are the source's own; they are rules of practice, not guarantees.
The checklist
- Do I understand this instrument well enough to have a view?
If you cannot explain in one sentence why the pair might move, you are guessing. Trading only instruments you can actually model is the first foundational rule. - Where exactly is my stop, and why there?
The stop belongs where the trade idea is proven wrong — a structural level on the timeframe you entered on. Not an arbitrary distance, and not an unrelated historical level. - What is 1R for me on this account, in money?
Fix the risk unit once — commonly 1% of the account — and keep it constant. Every outcome is then measured in multiples of that unit. - Does my position size make the stop distance cost exactly 1R?
Position size = risk amount ÷ (stop distance in pips × value per pip per lot). Size is derived from risk; it is never chosen first. - If the stop has to be tight, have I cut size rather than moved the stop?
Cut the size. Moving the stop to fit a size you already picked is the same error in the other direction. - Can I actually supervise this trade?
A tight stop on a small timeframe obliges you to stay at the screen. If you are going to walk away, the stop must sit at a wider structural point — or you do not take the trade. - What is the realistic reward if I am right, against that 1R?
If the honest answer is less than the risk, the trade needs a reason to exist beyond boredom. - How many losses have I taken in a row today?
Three consecutive losses is a hard stop: step away and recover composure before returning. Three at 1% is 3% — recoverable. Trading through it is what turns 3% into 30%. - Am I trying to win back an earlier loss?
If yes, close the platform. Carrying "I have to get it back" weights every subsequent decision, and it is the single emotion that flips an investor into a gambler.
Print it. Use your browser's print function — the navigation, banners and sign-up form are automatically removed, leaving just the checklist.
The arithmetic behind question 4
| Risk per trade | Account after 3 straight losses | Account after 10 straight losses | Losses needed to wipe out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1% | 97.0% | 90.4% | ~100 |
| 2% | 94.1% | 81.7% | ~50 |
| 5% | 85.7% | 59.9% | ~20 |
| 10% | 72.9% | 34.9% | ~10 |
Pure arithmetic (compounding of consecutive losses), not a forecast. It says nothing about how likely a losing streak is — only what one would cost you.