Playbook 02 · Slide 08 of 08 · Process · The Pre-Session Loop · Three Recurring Mistakes

Intraday Planning Cycle & Common Errors

Keep the planning loop short and repeatable. Avoid the three errors that recur across all markets. Journal what the profile actually predicted.

Steps

3-step loop

Short and repeatable

Errors

3 to avoid

Recur across all markets

Journal

5 review questions

Profile → statistics

Goal

Narrow focus

Trade where market cares

The 3-Step Pre-Session Planning Loop

Before the session

Mark the prior day's value area, POC, and the nearest HVN and LVN zones from your composite profile. Identify any naked POCs in range.

During the first hour

Observe whether pushes away from value are accepted or rejected. Track the developing profile shape — stretching or rounding?

After the first hour

Form a working hypothesis: rotation back into known value, or discovery toward new value. Align trades accordingly. Wait for price to interact with a level that matters — avoid the middle of nowhere.

Three Errors That Recur Across All Markets

Error 01

Chasing high volume into acceptance

Strong volume prints near a mature HVN often mark the end of a push, not the start. Buying into an HVN after a big move is buying into absorption — not participation.

Error 02

Treating every touch as a trade

Good levels still require confirmation. If effort stalls or is absorbed at the level, fine — act. If price tags the level and keeps going, let it go. Not every touch triggers.

Error 03

Rewriting the thesis mid-trade

When a level that should hold does not, flatten. A small, clean loss keeps you available for the next read. Staying in because the level "should still work" is a thesis rewrite — not a hold.

5 Journal Questions After Each Session

Did the market behave like a rotation day or discovery?

Did POC act as a magnet when initiative flow failed?

Did the traverse stop at the next accepted (HVN) zone?

Did a breakout build acceptance, or fail and reclaim?

Did I wait for price to interact with a meaningful level before entering, or did I trade in the middle of nowhere?

Three Rules to Bring It Together

🔵When value holds: expect rotation and plan around the edges and POC.

🟢When value fails and acceptance builds elsewhere: expect discovery and plan for traverses between accepted zones.

🟡When a break fails and reclaims: expect a move back through prior value.