pre-trade-gate

name	Pre-Trade Gate
description	9-check risk management gate. Run before any trade to catch position sizing errors, leverage risk, missing stop-losses, revenge trading, and FOMO. Includes ghost warnings from history's greatest blowups.
version	1.0.0

Pre-Trade Gate — 9-Check Risk Validation

Before ANY trade, walk through these 9 checks. Report each as PASS / WARN / FAIL. Do not skip checks. Do not rationalize failures.

The 9 Checks

1. Portfolio Heat

What percentage of total portfolio is currently allocated to open positions?

• PASS: < 60% allocated
• WARN: 60-80% allocated — you're running hot, one bad move and you're trapped
• FAIL: > 80% allocated — no room to maneuver, no dry powder for opportunities

2. Single Position Risk

How large is this single trade relative to total equity?

• PASS: < 10% of equity
• WARN: 10-25% of equity — concentrated bet, needs strong conviction
• FAIL: > 25% of equity — one position should never risk a quarter of your capital

3. Concentration

Is the portfolio too heavy in one asset, sector, or correlated group?

• PASS: No single asset > 35% of portfolio
• WARN: One asset is 35-60% — you're making a concentrated bet whether you intended to or not
• FAIL: One asset > 60% — this is not a portfolio, it's a single position with distractions

4. Regime Alignment

Does the trade direction match the current market regime?

• PASS: Trade aligns with the dominant trend or has explicit contrarian thesis
• WARN: Buying in a downtrend or selling in an uptrend without clear thesis — explain why you're fighting the tape
• FAIL: Counter-trend trade with no thesis articulated

5. Volume Confirmation

Is there sufficient volume to support the trade thesis?

• PASS: Volume confirms the move — rising volume on breakouts, declining on pullbacks
• WARN: Low volume — the move may lack conviction, consider smaller size
• FAIL: Divergence — price moving on declining volume is a trap waiting to spring

6. Stop-Loss Defined

Does this trade have a clear exit plan for the downside?

• PASS: Stop-loss defined, maximum loss < 2% of total equity
• WARN: Stop-loss defined but would result in 2-5% equity loss — acceptable but monitor closely
• FAIL: No stop-loss defined — you don't have a trade, you have a hope

7. Risk-Reward Ratio

Is the potential reward worth the risk?

• PASS: Risk:reward better than 2:1 — solid asymmetry
• WARN: Risk:reward between 1.5:1 and 2:1 — marginal, needs other factors to justify
• FAIL: Risk:reward worse than 1.5:1 — the math doesn't work, find a better entry

8. Revenge Trade Detection

Is this trade emotionally motivated?

Ask these questions honestly:

• Did you just lose money in the last 15 minutes?

• Are you trying to "make back" a recent loss?

• Are you trading because you're angry, frustrated, or feel like the market owes you?

• PASS: No recent losses, no emotional indicators

• WARN: Trading within 15 minutes of a loss — slow down, review the thesis independently

• FAIL: Trading within 5 minutes of a loss, or explicitly trying to recover — STOP. This is revenge trading. Walk away.

9. Daily Loss Limit

Has the daily loss limit been exceeded?

• PASS: Daily loss < 3% of starting equity
• WARN: Daily loss 3-5% — you've given back enough today, tighten stops on remaining positions
• FAIL: Daily loss > 5% — stop trading for the day. Period. The market will be here tomorrow.

Ghost Warnings

After the 9 checks, scan for these patterns from history's greatest blowups:

Pattern	Ghost	Warning
No stop-loss on any open position	SBF	"I used to think risk management was optional too."
3+ consecutive warnings ignored	Do Kwon	"I don't debate the poor."
Effective leverage > 3x	Su Zhu (3AC)	"The supercycle never ends."
Buying after > 20% pump in 24h	Isaac Newton	"I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people."
High correlation + margin pressure	LTCM	"We thought diversification would save us. It didn't."
Leverage + falling market	Lehman Brothers	"The music stopped. We were still dancing."
Single position > 50% with > 30% loss	Enron	"We believed our own story too deeply."
Holding underwater position too long	SVB	"We held too long, hoping rates would turn."
Margin ratio > 95%	BitMEX Rekt Trader	"REKT. 100x felt invincible until the wick."
Concentrated leverage + margin call proximity	Bill Hwang (Archegos)	"Total return swaps hide nothing from the liquidation engine."

Output Format

After completing all 9 checks, present:

PRE-TRADE GATE: [symbol] [side] [size]
═══════════════════════════════════════
[1] Portfolio Heat      PASS / WARN / FAIL
[2] Position Size       PASS / WARN / FAIL
[3] Concentration       PASS / WARN / FAIL
[4] Regime Alignment    PASS / WARN / FAIL
[5] Volume Confirm      PASS / WARN / FAIL
[6] Stop-Loss           PASS / WARN / FAIL
[7] Risk:Reward         PASS / WARN / FAIL
[8] Revenge Trade       PASS / WARN / FAIL
[9] Daily Loss Limit    PASS / WARN / FAIL
───────────────────────────────────────
Result: X/9 PASS | Y WARN | Z FAIL

[Any triggered ghost warnings here]

Recommendation: PROCEED / PROCEED WITH CAUTION / DO NOT PROCEED
[Brief explanation of recommendation]

• PROCEED: All checks pass or only minor warnings
• PROCEED WITH CAUTION: Multiple warnings or one serious warning — reduce size
• DO NOT PROCEED: Any FAIL — fix the issue before trading

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From Vibe Sensei — full pre-trade gate with live exchange data, circuit breakers, ATR stop advisor, and 68 master guardians.