How to Write a One-Page Trade Plan

Why one page

A plan that runs to several pages does not get used. One page forces you to be spe­cific, and it is short enough to read again in ten seconds when the trade is live. If the idea does not fit on one page, it is usually not clear enough to trade yet.

The six sections

Each section answers one ques­tion. Keep each answer to a line or two.

• Setup. What is the pattern, and why does it qualify? For example: a pullback to a tested support zone in an uptrend.
• Entry. What exact price or event triggers the buy? A price level, a close above a level, or a turn inside a zone.
• Stop. Where is the idea clearly wrong? This comes from the chart, and it comes before anything else is calculated.
• Size. How many shares, based on your fixed risk per trade and the distance to the stop? A position size calculator does the maths in seconds.
• Exit. Where would you take profit, or how will you trail the stop as the trend continues? Write the rule, not a hope.
• Review. After the trade: did you follow the plan? What would you repeat, and what would you change?

The order matters. The stop sits above the size on purpose, because the share count is built on it. We covered that order in our note on decid­ing the exit before the entry.

A worked example (hypothetical numbers)

Here is what a filled-in page might look like for a hypo­thet­i­cal stock. The numbers are for illus­tra­tion only.

• Setup: uptrend with higher highs and higher lows; third pullback into a support zone at 48.20–49.00.
• Entry: buy if the stock closes back above 49.20 after testing the zone.
• Stop: 47.90, below the whole zone. Risk per share: 49.20 − 47.90 = 1.30.
• Size: account 10,000, risk 1% = 100. 100 ÷ 1.30 = 76.9, rounded down to 76 shares.
• Exit: first target near the recent high at 52.00 (about 2.2 times the risk); then trail the stop under each new higher low.
• Review: filled in after the trade closes, win or lose.

Notice what is missing: no pre­dic­tion of where the stock "should" go, and no feeling about how good the company is. The page only records con­di­tions and actions you control.

Using the plan during the trade

• Before the order: read the page once. If any line is blank, the trade waits.
• When filled: place the stop straight away, at the price you wrote.
• During the trade: the only changes allowed are the ones the plan already describes, such as trailing the stop up.
• After the exit: write the review the same day, while you still remember why you did what you did.

Over time, the review lines become the most valu­able part. They show which setups you handle well and where you break your own rules, which is infor­ma­tion no indi­ca­tor can give you.

Get a ready-made sheet

You do not have to design the page your­self. The free HUMBLE BULLS Starter Kit includes a print­able Swing Trade Check­list with a trade plan sheet and a Trade Journal for the review step. It arrives when you join the weekly newslet­ter.

Edu­ca­tion only, not finan­cial advice. A plan improves deci­sions; it does not remove risk.