Pause before the trade.
A concise set of prompts for retail forex traders to write down the trade idea, exposure, potential loss, costs, and uncertainty before entry.
01 / Before entry
Pre-trade questions to write down
Use these prompts with your own written plan. They help make potential exposure and loss easier to see; they do not tell you whether to trade.
02 / Your worksheet
Record the plan before entry
Fill in what you can using current broker contract details. Leave a note beside any figure or fact that still needs verification.
03 / Potential-loss estimate
Make the uncertainty visible
A general planning relationship is price-move loss ≈ stop distance × pip or point value. A total estimate may also include costs and an allowance for slippage or a gap. This is a planning aid, not an exact result or a suggested amount.
Confirm actual pip or point value, currency conversion, contract details, margin rules, and costs with the broker or venue before relying on a calculation.
04 / Decision note
What would make you pause?
Note the related exposure, missing information, or execution uncertainty that could change your own plan. Write the condition that would make you skip, reduce, or postpone the trade.
Other open or planned positions with related exposure
What important fact, cost, or broker detail is still unknown?
What would make me skip, reduce, or postpone this trade under my own plan?
05 / Further learning