Deciding the Review Criteria Before the Quarter Starts

Nothing looks less like a standard than a standard chosen after the number is already on the page. The running record orb trading review consultoriainnova holds shows the same pattern in most quarters: a period ends, the results are read, and only then does anyone decide what would have counted as acceptable. A strategy built on the opening range can be judged honestly, but only against a threshold written down while the outcome was still unknown.

Write the Threshold, Not the Hope

A usable criterion has a number, a window and a consequence. Fewer than forty percent of first breaks holding, measured over sixty sessions, triggers a full review of the entry rule. That is a criterion. Wanting the strategy to keep working is not. The consequence matters as much as the number, because a threshold with nothing attached to it will be noticed and then ignored.

Three Levels of Response

Most quarters need three bands rather than a single line. A range where nothing happens and the system is left alone. A range where something specific is examined, such as whether the fifteen minute range has widened across the whole watchlist. And a range where trading size is reduced until the question is settled. Deciding the boundaries in advance removes the argument about which band applies later.

Separate the Measurement From the Verdict

Expectancy, win rate and maximum drawdown are measurements. They do not become a verdict until they are compared with something. Fixing the comparison beforehand is what stops the same drawdown reading as normal variance in a good year and as a broken system in a bad one. The data is identical in both cases and only the mood has changed.

Include the Behaviour Criteria

Results are not the only thing worth setting a bar for. The proportion of sessions where the checklist was actually completed, the number of entries taken outside the trading plan, and the count of positions held past the intended time based exit are all countable and all decided in advance. A quarter with acceptable numbers and four rule violations is not an acceptable quarter, and only a pre written criterion will say so.

Lock It and Date It

The criteria go in a file with a date on them, before the first session of the period, and they are not edited during it. If they turn out to be badly chosen, that is a finding for the following review rather than a reason to adjust them halfway through. A standard that moves while it is being applied measures nothing at all.