Look at the past...

  1.  Review trends in the daily chart.

       Make sure you check the daily chart for the general market, and for each of your focus stocks. Use a catman set-up

       on the daily chart to identify any potential changes in direction, or continuations in the trends. Look for previous 

       support/resistance barriers in the daily chart. This will give you a bigger picture perspective to orient the direction of 

       your daytrades.

  2.  Review intra-day trend and patterns in 5 day 15 min chart

      Note any visible recurring patterns, both price action and time of day. We may for example see a pattern of 15 cents of

      early buying in the QQQQ, and topping around 10 am, or a pattern of bottoming at noon and afternoon buying. Also

      make note of average size moves, like the average amount of early buying. Figure the average intra-day range for the

      previous five trading days for each of your focus stocks.

 3.  Make note of the previous day's closing momentum.

      In which half of intra-day range did the market and your focus stock close? Often the closing momentum will follow-

      through the next morning, particularly in a situation where the market or a stock has been steadily trending in one

     direction, and then makes a sudden afternoon turn-around. It sometimes pays to review where the story left off.

   Look at the present...

  4.  Check the pre-market mood.

       Take a note of the gaps, the futures, and general volume pre-market. Check for any news or other catalysts that

       might be shaking the markets. This early mood is not always sustainable, but it is your first clue of the day.

   Look to the future...

 5.  Check for upcoming economic reports

       Many economic reports are scheduled between 9:45am ET and 10:00am ET. Oil Inventories also comes out

       around 10:30am ET.  It is important to be aware of which reports are scheduled because they will often cause a    

       reaction in the markets when they are released.

  6. Create a list of potential support/resistance barriers for the day

      Include the previous day's high, the previous day's low, the previous day's closing price,

      any obvious previous support or resistance barriers in the daily chart, the central pivot, S1, S2, R1, R2, etc.