A watchlist is a research queue. Not a list of automatic buys.
Reset your watchlist, see a finished plan, then write your own. These two educational resources are free to read and share. No account, email, or trade required.
Saving a plan in Trade Tracs requires an account. To save this pack, choose “Save as PDF” in your browser’s print dialog. Checklist notes stay in this page only and clear when you leave or reload.
01 / Reusable worksheet
Your November Watchlist Reset
Use it for any month. Check a step only after writing a concrete answer.
Doing nothing is a valid outcome when your conditions are not met. Planned risk is an estimate, not a guaranteed maximum loss. Gaps, slippage, fees, and execution conditions can change the outcome.
Record the date, broad-market direction, volatility, and upcoming macro events. Does this environment call for fewer candidates, smaller exposure, or no new positions?
Name one or two groups worth researching. Record observable evidence, its source and date, and what would weaken the theme. A story without evidence stays in research.
List candidates and compare price, typical daily dollar volume, bid–ask spread, and trading hours against your own written minimums. Reject names that do not meet them.
Verify earnings, company events, and macro releases using dated sources. Record the next event and time zone. If an important date is uncertain, do not treat it as clear.
State direction, timeframe, and exactly what must happen before entry. Define your planned entry and maximum acceptable price. An alert or a ticker alone is not an entry condition.
Write the specific price or event that defeats the idea, the planned stop level, and how you would act. Distinguish a thesis condition from an executable stop instruction.
Set a loss budget under your own rules. For a long stock example: per-share planned risk = entry − stop; shares = round down(loss budget ÷ per-share risk). Check buying power, total portfolio exposure, correlated positions, fees, and slippage. Reduce size or skip if constraints fail.
Record planned profit exits, a time-based review, and what you will do if conditions change. Define when to skip: missed trigger, unacceptable spread, gap beyond your entry cap, or an unresolved event.
Place each candidate in Research, Waiting for a condition, or No trade for now. Choose at most one to develop next. Record the next check time and save a complete plan in Trade Tracs before considering execution.
Hypothetical educational example. Not a live signal or recommendation.
Fictional throughout. The company, price levels, market context, calendar, account, and thresholds below are invented teaching assumptions—not platform output, current market data, or a recommendation. This is a written worksheet, not a product screenshot.
01 / Theme and context
Fictional practice session, day 1, 9:45 a.m. ET. Assume the broad market is above a rising 20-day average but price swings remain wide. A fictional industrial-automation group has outperformed the broad market over the last four sessions. Research only one candidate and cap planned risk at 0.5% of the hypothetical account.
Why it matters: Context explains why an idea earned research attention; it does not predict the next move. Every market observation here is an invented assumption.
02 / Candidate and tradability
Example Automation Co. is fictional and has no tradable ticker. Long stock, intraday only. Assume 1.2 million shares of average daily volume near $50 (about $60 million in daily dollar volume) and a $0.02 spread. Practice filters: at least $25 million daily dollar volume and a spread no wider than $0.05. This candidate passes those assumed filters.
Why it matters: The instrument, direction, holding period, and liquidity rules need to be explicit. These are example thresholds, not recommended minimums.
03 / Catalyst check
Assume the practice calendar has been checked at 9:45 a.m. ET: no company announcement or earnings today and no scheduled macro release before the planned 3:30 p.m. ET exit. If the calendar cannot be verified, the plan is No trade. In real research, record the actual source and check time.
Why it matters: A completed plan records the calendar decision rather than leaving event risk implicit. This fictional calendar is not real-world event research.
04 / Setup and entry condition
Assume a base between $48.00 and $50.00. Wait for a five-minute candle to close above $50.00, followed by a retest of $50.00 that holds through the next five-minute close. Only then consider a limit entry at $50.10, with no fill above $50.10. Cancel any unfilled entry after 11:00 a.m. ET. The size calculation assumes a full fill at $50.10.
Why it matters: The condition comes before the order. A limit price restricts the entry price; it does not guarantee a fill.
05 / Invalidation and stop
Before entry, cancel the setup if price trades below $49.10 or an event invalidates the assumptions. After entry, the planned protective stop is $49.10, intended as a stop-market exit if triggered. Do not widen the stop or add to a losing position. A stop order may fill below its trigger.
Why it matters: A thesis needs a clear failure condition and a planned response. A trigger price is not a guaranteed exit price.
Planned risk and size / the arithmetic
Hypothetical account equity
$20,000
Practice risk fraction
0.5% = 0.005
Planned loss budget, before costs
$20,000 × 0.005 = $100
Entry minus planned stop
$50.10 − $49.10 = $1.00/share
Position size, rounded down
floor($100 ÷ $1.00) = 100 shares
Notional exposure
100 × $50.10 = $5,010 (25.05% of equity)
Practice notional limit
30% × $20,000 = $6,000; $5,010 fits
Other open planned risk (assumed)
$0; total after entry = $100 (0.5%)
Total open-risk limit for this exercise
1% × $20,000 = $200; $100 fits
Planned loss if stop fills exactly
100 × $1.00 = $100, before costs
Both targets fill exactly (not a forecast)
(50 × $2.00) + (50 × $3.00) = $250 gross (2.5R)
Here, 1R means the initial $100 planned risk. Sizing assumes sufficient settled buying power, no other positions, and full fills. Fees and slippage are excluded for clarity. Under a real all-in loss budget, allow for costs, reduce size, or skip. Neither these percentages nor these prices are trading advice.
06 / Exits and time review
If entered at $50.10, plan to exit 50 shares at $52.10 (2R per share) and the other 50 at $53.10 (3R per share), while keeping the $49.10 stop for the remaining shares. If neither target nor stop has completed the trade, exit any remainder at 3:30 p.m. ET. Cancel remaining entry orders at 11:00 a.m. ET. Reconcile and cancel stale exit orders after any fill; never leave sell quantities above the shares still held.
Why it matters: An exit framework covers partial fills, remaining size, and time—not just an attractive target. This exercise assumes stop and target orders are correctly managed.
07 / No-trade conditions
Stand aside if the trigger is incomplete, the retest fails, the spread exceeds $0.05, the calendar is uncertain, or the next available entry is above $50.10. Also skip if buying power is below $5,010, another position uses the practice account’s 1% total open-risk limit, or you cannot monitor and manage the intraday exits. No chasing and no substitute entry.
Why it matters: A useful plan can end with no position. No trade is a completed decision, not a failed exercise.
08 / Review record
Current status: Waiting for a condition. Entry: none. Shares filled: 0. Realized P/L: not applicable; no trade has occurred in this example. Review after 11:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. ET: Did the trigger occur? Was a fill within the cap available? Did I respect size and skip rules? If executed, record actual fills, fees, slippage, exit-order adjustments, and process deviations separately from P/L.
Why it matters: Planning, execution, and review are different records. A hypothetical plan is not a backtest or a claimed result.
The $100 is planned risk—not a loss guarantee.
Suppose all 100 shares fill at $50.10, then price gaps through the $49.10 stop and the exit fills at $48.60. The loss is 100 × ($50.10 − $48.60) = $150 before fees, or 1.5R—not the planned $100. Stops can slip, orders can fill partially, trading can halt, and liquidity can disappear. Even intraday positions can encounter these risks.
The useful outcome here is a complete decision framework. No entry, exit, or profit has actually occurred. In your own plan, use verified data and rules appropriate to your circumstances.
Availability note
Written resources now. No video promise.
The recorded walkthrough is deferred. There is no recording to unlock and no promised delivery date. This hub contains the complete checklist and annotated hypothetical example available today.
Your next action
Choose one candidate. Write down the conditions.
Bring your research into a complete plan. If the conditions are not there, write “No trade for now.” That counts as a decision.