From Signal to Decision

A signal is an event. A trade is a decision. This lesson is the checklist that lives between them — the workflow you will run hundreds of times.

The five checks

1 — Eyes on the chart. Pull up the market. Is price actually at the structure the score implies? Is the higher-timeframe picture still what it was at the close? Two minutes, every signal, forever.

2 — Context scan. Fleet stance: aligned, split, opposed? Funding: is the crowded side paying heavily (M01-L03)? Anything scheduled — a macro print inside your trade window?

3 — RR sanity. If your entry differs from the label entry, recompute. The floor logic still applies to YOUR fill, not the historical one.

4 — Size from risk (never from excitement). Decide dollar risk first — M03 gives you the formula. Volatility sets size. Tier does not.

5 — Exits before entry. The SL goes in WITH the order, never after. Know your TP1. A position without a resting stop is not a trade; it is an open-ended donation offer.

Skipping is a position

You are not obligated to take any signal. The checklist exists to filter, and a filter that never rejects anything is decoration. The traders who last treat every skipped bad setup as banked discipline.

signal fires → eyes confirm → context scan → RR recheck
→ size from risk → SL + TP1 in with the order → manage (M09)

This checklist IS Module 2's graduation skill. The next module hands you the sizing math it depends on.