Building a playbook (your A+ setups)

What it is

A playbook is a written collection of your best setups, an idea popularised by Mike Bellafiore of SMB Capital in his 2013 book The Playbook. Each entry describes one setup: the market conditions, what it looks like, the entry, stop, targets and management, and a set of real chart examples from your own trades.

It turns 'I know a good trade when I see one' into something specific you can check against, review and improve.

How to spot it

• Your A+ setups are the ones your journal shows have the best results over a decent sample, not the ones that feel best.

How to use it

• Save each setup as a strategy with its rules in UNFLD, tag trades with it, and compare results.
• Add the best and worst examples to each setup after every review.

Common mistakes

• Building a playbook from setups you haven't tested.
• Adding a new 'setup' for every trade that doesn't fit.

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