Trade Plan Card
Write your trade down before you place it, so your review later is a plan, not hindsight.
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Worked example — the numbers below are illustrative.
Example data — replace with your own
KO / PEP pair (long KO, short PEP)
Planned 25 Jul 2026, 21:14
Invalidation: Spread z-score fails to revert and stretches beyond +3, or the pair stops cointegrating on the weekly refresh.
Note: Spread z-score stretched to +2.3 on a genuinely co-moving, cointegrated staples pair. Expect reversion toward the mean; entering the cheap leg (KO) long, hedged short PEP.
Write your trade down BEFORE you place it, so your review later is a plan, not hindsight.
Steps
- 1
Fill the card in before you trade: instrument, direction, and the thesis category that matches why you are taking it.
- 2
Set your intended entry range, your stop, and your target — the stop must sit on the losing side of your entry for the direction you chose.
- 3
State the invalidation condition in one line: the thing that, if it happens, means the idea is wrong regardless of price.
- 4
Set your maximum risk in pounds and as a percentage of your book — this is the line the Position Sizer will size you to.
- 5
Save the card. It is timestamped and locked; any later change is kept in the history, so nothing is silently edited.
- 6
When the trade is done, close or abandon the card — never delete it. The trail is what makes your adherence review honest.
What the numbers mean
- entry range
What: The price band where you intend to enter, recorded before the trade.
How to read it: Keep it tight enough to be a real plan. Your fills get reconciled against this band later.
What it is not: It is not a prediction of the low or high — just the zone you decided to act in.
- stop
What: The price at which the idea is wrong and you exit for a loss.
How to read it: For a long it sits below your entry; for a short, above. This defines your risk per unit.
What it is not: It is not a suggestion or a soft level — it is the pre-committed line you set yourself.
- target
What: The price where you intend to take profit.
How to read it: Read it against your stop to sense the reward-to-risk you planned for.
What it is not: It is not a forecast and not advice — it is your own recorded intention.
- max risk pct
What: The most you were willing to lose on this trade, as a percentage of your whole book.
How to read it: Compare it later to what you actually risked at entry — that gap is a process fact.
What it is not: It is not a position size; the Position Sizer turns this limit into a number of units.
- invalidation condition
What: The non-price event that would tell you the thesis is broken.
How to read it: Write one clear line — e.g. "earnings miss" or "spread z-score back below 1".
What it is not: It is not the same as your stop; a thesis can break before price hits your stop.