How to Write a Futures Trade Plan That Prepares You for the Open

A plan that says buy ES if it looks good isn't a plan. It's a decision you'll make later, at speed, with your heart rate up. A written trade plan moves those decisions to a calm point before the bell, which is the only reason to have one.

A plan is not a prediction. It states the conditions under which you will act, the levels you'll act at, and the limits you'll stay inside. If you can't fill in a number, you don't have the plan yet.

Two phases: before the open and after it

If you use the YMI KPL map, one timing fact shapes everything. The standard ES and NQ map has four fixed reference levels, built from full session and after-hours travel and anchored to the regular session opening print. The opening print happens at 9:30 am ET on a normal day, so a completed anchored map doesn't exist before that. The levels do not move once marked. That splits the plan in two: context, risk and conditional rules before 9:30 am ET, then actual numbers after the open prints. Holidays and early closes change session times, so check the CME schedule.

Part 1: Market context (before the open)

• Calendar: FOMC, CPI, jobs report or other scheduled events. Decide before the open whether you trade through them, reduce size or sit out.
• Overnight range and gap: where overnight high and low are, and how far the market is from the prior regular session close.
• Volatility read: VIX, recent daily ranges, ATR. Use it to decide size, not to predict direction.
• Bias: bullish, bearish or neutral, stated as a lean you'll drop if price disagrees.

Part 2: Levels (after the open prints)

Write actual prices, not near support. Include the opening print, the four KPL levels if you use them, prior day high and low, and VWAP. The more specific the number, the less you interpret in the moment. The KPL trading overview explains the map. KPL are reference prices, not predicted prices or order-flow levels, and any model or gamma context is separate from how they're calculated.

Part 3: Setups for today

List the setups you'll take, the condition for each and what disqualifies it. Hypothetical example: long at a lower KPL level if price reaches it and holds above for two bars, stop 4 points below. Short from the opening print if price retests from below and fails. If you trade only manually, say so. If you run any automation, read your firm's automation rules first. Some prop firms prohibit automated order placement outright, some allow it only under narrow conditions, and the bot logic itself is documented at /docs/kpl-bot-specs and /docs/marty-bot-specs, not in your plan.

Part 4: Risk parameters

Write these before you can see a chart move.

• Risk per trade in dollars. Divide by stop distance times the point value to get contracts. ES is $50 per point (0.25 tick is $12.50), MES $5 per point ($1.25 tick), NQ $20 per point ($5 tick), MNQ $2 per point ($0.50 tick).
• Daily loss limit. Set it from your account rules and from a number you'd accept losing without changing your behavior. For funded or evaluation accounts, read the firm's document for how the limit and drawdown are calculated.
• Total open risk across all positions at once.

Hypothetical math: a 4 point stop is $200 per ES contract, $20 per MES. With $200 of risk per trade and a $600 daily limit, you can take three full stops. Stops can slip, so leave room in the limit. Margin is collateral for the position, not a ceiling on what you can lose.

Part 5: Thesis and conviction

Write one or two sentences. High conviction means clear structure and no major event risk. Low conviction means conflicting signals or a big release at 8:30 am CT. Tie each to a size rule written in advance, such as taking only your best setup and cutting size on a low conviction day. This keeps you from deciding at 11 am that a boring day is good enough to force.

A hypothetical plan, filled in

All numbers below are illustrative, not a forecast or a real KPL map.

Before the open: No major event today. Overnight range modest, small gap. Bias neutral. Risk per trade $200, daily limit $600, no new trades after 11:30 am ET. Size cut by half if the data release is within the hour.

After the open prints (hypothetical ES open 6,677.00): Four KPL levels marked at 6,743.50, 6,719.25, 6,592.00 and 6,567.25. Opening print 6,677.00. Prior day high and low noted.

Setups: Long at 6,592.00 if price holds two bars, stop 4 points below. Short at the opening print on a failed retest, stop 4 points above. Skip both if price is moving through the area on expanding volume.

That takes ten minutes. When price reaches a level, you already know the answer.

Add a weekly layer

Once a week, before Monday's open, look back at the journal: which setups you took, which you skipped, where you broke rules, and what the calendar looks like ahead. Adjust rules in writing only. Changing them mid-session is how a plan stops being a plan.

Related reading

• Pre-Market Preparation Guide: the pre-open checklist
• Trading Journal Guide: closing the loop after the session
• Risk-Reward Ratio Guide: setting targets against stops

For the daily ES/NQ KPL map, the course and the community, Intro is $97 per month after a 7-day trial. A plan improves process. It does not guarantee outcomes.