SETUP GRADING: CHEAT SHEET
You voted for this one, and I deliver.
This is the question underneath every other question I get. Not "what's your setup," people ask that constantly. The real question is how do you know it's actually a good version of that setup, before you're already in it.
Here's the answer. 4 checks. Grade it before you click, not after the chart already looks good and you're grading backwards to justify what you already did.
1 HTF ALIGNED. Are you trading with the higher timeframe trend, or against it? With it, this check passes clean. Against it, it only counts if the confluence is genuinely exceptional. If you can't say specifically why you're fighting the HTF, this check fails, full stop.
2 NAMED SETUP. Can you say what this is in one sentence, using something you actually trade? Or are you improvising because price is moving and it looks exciting? If you can't name it, it isn't a setup. It's a reaction.
3 CONFLUENCE STACKED. One level is a guess. Three levels together are the entry. Structure plus a fib plus volume or POC, that's three independent reasons. A trendline and a parallel channel are the same read stated twice, that only counts as one.
4 RISK DEFINED FIRST. Do you know your invalidation and your size before you click, not after the trade already looks good on the chart? Grading your risk after entry isn't risk management, it's a story you tell yourself.
THE GRADE
All 4 pass, HTF aligned, named setup, 3 or more real confluence factors, risk defined first, that's an A+. All 4 pass but you've only got 2 confluence factors, or it's a counter-trend trade with genuinely exceptional confluence, that's an A. 3 of 4 pass, one weak link, that's a B. 2 or fewer, that's a C, and a C isn't a smaller version of a trade. It's a guess wearing a trade's clothes.
MY RULE
A+ or A goes in the order ticket. B goes on the watchlist, not the trade. C doesn't even get a screenshot.
THE PART PEOPLE GET WRONG
Grading after the trade already looks good isn't grading, it's hindsight doing your justification for you. A feeling is not a confluence factor. Counting the same signal twice under two different names doesn't make it two signals. And taking a C setup because you're bored and the market's been quiet, boredom isn't a confluence factor either, it's just the reason people give themselves for skipping the checklist.
Protect the capital. Protect the process.
Pop