As an online trader, you're no stranger to playing on probabilities. However, for some, all logic can often disappear when it comes to strategy. For example, you wouldn't want to enter a high-stakes poker game with a $200 minimum buy-in with only $200 in your pocket; still, some do it. By doing this, you are effectively leaving your fate to chance like a coin flip, and chances are good that after the first hand, you'll be folding and sacrificing future opportunities early. When trading futures, you wouldn't want to enter the market without a well-conceived trading plan in place. Formulating a trading plan requires patience and diligence and is essential to success. Otherwise, you could be out of luck and money before you know it.  If you're looking to further inform yourself and improve your trading plans, EdgeClear is an independent futures broker with a wealth of resources for online traders to begin strategizing today. Below, we share some insights from the firm's educational materials. Steps To Building A Trading Plan  A key to building a successful online trading plan is developing your own plan beyond copy trading. If you simply adopt someone else's strategy without any original research, you could set yourself up for failure by adhering to their risk/reward profile instead of your own. Therefore, the first step to building a trading plan is understanding that your plan should be unique, reflecting your personal goals, style and risk tolerance.  Think of your trading plan as your blueprint for investing in the markets. It's important to refer to your trading blueprint continually to navigate the markets. Your trading plan should remind you daily to stay disciplined, neither veering from your predetermined risk management tactics nor letting your emotions influence your decisions. Remaining consistent and objective is important.  At the same time, once you've built your trading plan, it's vital to remain flexible. No matter how comprehensive your blueprint is, it shouldn't necessarily be set in stone. Instead, it will need to be updated occasionally as you grow as a trader and market conditions pivot. For example, during the COVID era, assets that were normally uncorrelated — like gold and equities — began trading in lockstep with one ...