Before taking any trade, I quickly check a few things.

1. Is the market trending up, down, or just moving sideways? 2. Am I trading in the same direction as the trend? 3. Is the stock near a good support or resistance level? 4. Is volume supporting the move? 5. Am I entering at the right place... or just chasing the price? Then I check my risk. 6. Where is my stop loss? 7. How much can I lose if the trade goes wrong? 8. Is my position size under control? And one last question... 9. Am I taking this trade because I have a valid setup, or just because the market is open? There are days when this checklist tells me not to trade. And sometimes, not taking a trade is the best trade of the day.