Building a 15-Minute Pre-Market Routine
Traders often tell me their preparation takes an hour yet produces no clearer decision. Length is not discipline — sequence is. A fifteen-minute routine works when each minute has a job and you stop when the page is full.
Minute 0–3: Weekly bias only
One market, one weekly chart, one bias word. Do not switch symbols during this block. If you trade three markets, you need three separate fifteen-minute blocks or you accept that secondary markets get a shorter weekly check.
Minute 3–7: Daily levels
Mark invalidation and the nearest opposing level. Close any indicator panels you do not use for this step — moving averages can wait until you have structure on paper.
Minute 7–10: Four-hour context
Ask where today's session sits inside the current daily candle. Are you expecting continuation, mean reversion to a level, or a wait for a breakout? Circle the four-hour zone that matters.
Minute 10–12: Calendar
Bank of England, US CPI, earnings on your single-stock watchlist — note the time and decide your rule. The rule should be written before caffeine, not after a spike.
Minute 12–15: Two scenarios
Write an "if/then" for bullish follow-through and one for failure. Stop when both are done. Hourly chart scanning begins only after this — treat it as a separate phase so you do not blur preparation with execution.
When news breaks overnight
Do not restart from scratch. Update the weekly bias only if the event closed beyond a major level. Otherwise adjust the daily invalidation line and rewrite scenario two. That adjustment should take five minutes, not forty.
Our full five-step breakdown lives on the daily routine page. Friday clinic attendees run this sequence together each week — ask about joining.