A market prep checklist creates a repeatable order for reviewing information before prices begin moving quickly. Its purpose is not to predict the session or force a trade. A complete checklist can end with a short watchlist, reduced risk, or no planned position.
1. Record Scheduled Risk
Start with the economic calendar, company earnings, and other events that have a known time. Note when they occur and which symbols may be affected. Do not guess the result; decide how the plan handles the period before and after the release.
2. Describe the Market Posture
Review index trend, breadth, volatility context, and sector participation. Keep the inputs separate when they disagree. A compact regime label is useful only when its components and timestamp remain visible.
3. Check Breadth and Sector Concentration
Compare the index move with constituent participation and inspect whether a sector ETF is being driven by a few large holdings. Broad or narrow participation can add context, but neither one guarantees that an individual setup will follow through.
4. Verify Catalysts and Data Freshness
For each candidate, record the verified news or event, source, and publication time. Also check the as-of time on market data. A stale quote or old headline can make a current-looking card misleading.
5. Build a Reviewable Candidate List
Keep symbols that meet explicit filters and have a clear reason for inclusion. Record the scanner or manual source, setup label, liquidity context, and any evidence status. A candidate is an item to investigate, not a trade signal.
6. Define Levels and Skip Conditions
Write the proposed trigger, invalidation, and the observation that would cancel the idea. Include spread, range width, event risk, and movement beyond the planned entry. If the invalidation cannot be defined or sized inside the loss budget, the plan is incomplete.
7. Check Position and Portfolio Risk
Calculate size from the loss budget and per-share risk, then review buying power, correlated positions, sector concentration, and overnight exposure. A stop does not guarantee its execution price, so include slippage and gaps in the assumptions.
How MAC Terminal Supports Prep
Market View organizes regime, breadth, sectors, themes, calendar items, and other shared context. Scanner and Ideas Central collect candidates by source and score. Charts support level review, Guardrails calculates size from manual inputs, and Journal preserves the result. Freshness and evidence labels should remain part of the review rather than being replaced by a confident summary.
Educational only. A checklist cannot remove market risk or guarantee a better outcome. Adapt each item to the instruments, holding period, data, and broker rules you actually use.