A pro's pre-market routine

Before the open, a desk does not "watch the screen": it prepares. Forty-five minutes, four blocks, a one-page document.

1. The levels

Yesterday's high and low, yesterday's VWAP and POC, value area, overnight range, upcoming opening range, round numbers, unfilled imbalance zones. Ranked: confluences of levels (two or three references at the same price) first.

2. The context

• Macro: the day's release calendar, with the exact time. A major release in the first hour changes the plan.
• Structure: where are we relative to yesterday's value area? Has value been migrating for three days? Trend or balance likely?
• Related markets: the ES, rates, the dollar, the large-cap tech names in pre-market for the NQ. Not to trade them, but to know whether the NQ is alone or accompanied.