Latest Journal Entry

Open notebook on a wooden desk with handwritten notes in blue ink: "Daily target: make X a day" crossed out, then "It's not about the money" and a list starting with a circled "1 trade".

It’s not about the money

For years I've had a daily number to hit. Lately it's been the reason I keep trading after I'm already green, and the reason some of those days end red. One phrase made me question whether I was chasing setups at all, or just chasing a figure.
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More from the Journal

Notebook page headed Liquidity equals resting orders with notes that a stop is an order and that the obvious level is the most crowded spot on the chart, beside a hand-drawn candlestick sketch of two equal highs with a wick pushing above the level and the body closing back inside.

Liquidity: where it sits, why price goes looking for it, and how to stop being it

Price runs past the obvious high, takes you out, then reverses without you. It feels personal. It is not. Liquidity is simply resting orders, and stops are resting orders. Here is where liquidity sits, how a Liquidity Sweep reads on a chart, and how to stop being the pool everyone is aiming at.
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Notebook page headed Define the edge with a written rule about a sweep of the prior day high closing back below within two candles on the 15 minute chart, a hand-drawn candlestick sketch labelled PDH, stop and target, and a list of figures to record including trades, win rate, average win and loss in R, expectancy, maximum drawdown and net after costs.

How to define an edge in a way you can actually measure

Edge is one of the most used and least defined words in trading. Most traders say they have one and cannot state it in a sentence another trader could follow. Here is a definition that does some work, and the small set of numbers that tells you whether yours is real.
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Open notebook headed Before entry with six handwritten checklist items and empty hand-drawn tick boxes, covering price at a marked Point of Interest, structure closing beyond and holding, stop placement, this morning's risk limit, the daily loss limit and whether the entry is a setup or just wanting to be in something, above a circled line reading any no means no trade.

Building a checklist that actually stops you taking bad trades

Most traders have a checklist somewhere. Few have one that has ever stopped them taking a trade. The problem usually isn't discipline - it's design. Here's why the standard checklist fails, and how to build a short, binary version that works before entry.
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Handwritten journal page headed Copy trading rules: one bad morning x 10 accounts, batches of 5 to 10, funded leads and evals follow, daily loss 1,000 with the 1,500 DPT circled.

10 Rules for Copy Trading Across Multiple Prop Firms

A copier lets you trade ten accounts as easily as one. It also lets you lose on ten accounts at once. These are the rules I use to run evals and funded accounts across several prop firms, so one bad morning doesn't turn into a bad month.
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Notebook page split into two columns, Written listing every valid signal, 1% risk and a plus 3R target, against Executed listing the ones I took, sized up after losses and closed at plus 1R, with an arrow between them labelled the gap, and a boxed two-week log listing taken or skipped, reason at the time, session and time, and risk and exit versus plan.

Why two traders with the same strategy get opposite results

Two traders learn the same strategy and get opposite results. The strategy is not the variable. Here is what actually differs, in order of how much damage it does, and the two-week log that shows you which trader you are.
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Open notebook on a wooden desk with dark blue handwritten notes headed Win rate vs expectancy, comparing a 70% and a 40% win rate, an expectancy formula and a Track instead list, beside a blue Bic pen and a coffee mug, with a calm candlestick chart on a laptop behind.

Why your win rate matters less than you think

Most new traders chase a high win rate, treating it like a school grade. But you can be right seven times out of ten and still lose money. This is about why win rate tells you almost nothing on its own, and the handful of numbers worth tracking instead.
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A hand-drawn candlestick chart in a journal with a stop placed beyond the swing low

How to set a stop that respects structure, not just a round number you can stomach

Most traders put their stop where the loss stops hurting. The market does not care what you can stomach. A stop belongs at the point where your reason for being in the trade is gone, and the size of the trade is what you adjust to make that bearable. Here is how to do it in the right order.
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A trading journal listing a reset ritual: log it, step away, fresh slate

Detaching from the last trade so it doesn’t contaminate the next one

Each trade is supposed to stand on its own. But the last one rarely lets go that easily. A loss leaves you either gun-shy or out for revenge, and a win leaves you loose and overconfident. The skill nobody teaches is closing one trade emotionally before you let yourself open the next.
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What the new NASDAQ 23-hour trading means for your routine

Nasdaq confirmed 23-hour trading starts 6 December, adding an overnight session from 9pm to 4am ET. The headlines frame it as opportunity. What they don't mention is what it costs to show up for all of it - and whether you should.
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