The Obsidian Premarket Routine
The Obsidian premarket routine takes about fifteen minutes and decides which levels are worth trading before the opening bell removes a trader's ability to think clearly.
What does the Obsidian premarket routine cover?
The routine checks overnight positioning change, locates the gamma flip relative to premarket price, marks the call wall and put wall for the session, notes scheduled catalysts, and sets the maximum risk the trader will accept across the whole session before trading begins.
- Check which strikes gained and lost open interest overnight
- Locate the gamma flip and note which side price sits on
- Mark the session call wall and put wall on the chart
- List scheduled economic releases and earnings
- Set the maximum loss accepted for the whole session
Why does preparation beat reaction during the session?
Decisions made before the open are made calmly and with full information available. Decisions made during a fast move are made under pressure with partial information, and reliably favour whichever action relieves the immediate discomfort rather than whichever action happens to be correct.
How long should premarket preparation take?
Fifteen minutes is sufficient once the routine becomes familiar. A longer session usually means the trader is searching for a reason to trade rather than preparing for the levels already identified, which is a warning sign rather than a sign of diligence.