A Sample Trading Plan

Jeff Quinto has a video on the CME website on how to setup a trading plan.
Here are the key topics Jeff suggests and my answers:

Which contract or stock will I trade?

I'm trading stocks and futures.

What time period will I trade?

I trade the first 3 hours of market open primarily, while liquidity is best.

What setups will I take?

I discretionary trade the automated signals I have created. I determine if the current market condition suites any trade signals my system generates and then I choose whether or not to take the trade.

What Risk parameters do I use?

I have a max daily stop loss in place in case I make too many bad trades.

What do I do after 3 losing trades?

I determine if I should stop trading based on if I'm feeling frustrated or if I should keep trading my signals until my daily max loss is reached.

What is my strategy for increasing or decreasing my trading size?

I trade 1-2 contracts for the initial position and only add to winners on clear trending trades (market internals heavily favor bulls/bears -ie TICK and NYSE A/D favor bulls/bears).

How many ticks or points am I trying to make per day?

I don't have a set target, I only take what I can get.

How many trades do I make per day?

I only make 3 to 5 trades per day on average. Most trading days only make 3 significant swings, so my primary goal is to be apart of the primary move or catch a reversal swing or continuation trade.

How long do I plan to hold winners or losers?

I hold winners as long as possible, scaling out as I see fit. I hold losers for as long as I need to as long as my stop is not hit.

How do I record my progress?

I keep a journal of my trades with trade statistics and a chart showing where I placed my trades.

Who do I call if my computer or internet has a problem?

I have stops in place for all my trades so I'm covered, however I can also access my account from my phone or call my broker.