Hi {{contact.first_name}} how's going?

Here's my journey from zero to pro trader! What an amazing week has been!

📆 Weekly Journal #4

This week i was in Portugal, and i finally spent several time at home. I took a beautiful house, so i can both enjoy study, trading, and the house.

This week instead of focusing on studying, i decided to focus on practice. This is the week in which i opened the biggest amount of trades. (not necessarily a good thing, but i'm practicing) I wanted to understand my favorite time frame for my trades. I did a lot of mistakes this week, i learned from them, and i'm glad!

When i first started this process i told to myself, 1 month of demo trading. But guess what? This week i also opened a real one, and i'm glad i lost money. It's a mistake! It's a major rule that i break, not only in my trading plan, but in my major rules from this journey.

Guess what i've found this week, a challenge i was doing back then, at the end of 2023, i had like 80% win rate, so crazy. I lost the challenge braking a rule (opened a trade, both long and short on the same pair) and i remember getting upset, calling the prop "scam", and blaming others, instead of myself. I should just have checked the rules... (Regarding this challenge, no rules, no mindset, just in the flow, started with a big profit, then started scalping with EMAs)

So how is possible if i was doing very good back then, this week i had less than 30% win rate? I understand that i was trading randomly, and i also was to scared or confused in multi tf. If my initial idea was to trade in the 15min, and i entry in the 3min, it's ok, but than i need to stick with the 15min, i can't close the trade based on "signals" on the 3min...

BTW, I'm still Demo-Trading on FTMO free trial. I want to become funded on FTMO, so i think is a great opportunity to practice in the free trial before i have my strategy, and so i don't waste money on challenges that i will lose or i can't manage fully.

🧠 What have i learnt?

Yes, it was a more "practice week", but i still studied something!

I studied a strategy with VWAP, i backtested it, only 30 trades, and i understand it's quite crap. I know i should have backtested more, and on multiple time frames. But i don't want to trade based on only one indicator, and without context.

I want to have my BIAS of the day, just to understand what i can expect that day. And i want to take trades only in the direction of my bias.

I understood that i want to do intra-day trading, but not scalping.

I understood that i want to take max 3 trades a day. If i take 3 SL i stop for the day.

I studied also Order Block and Breaker Block, good for confluences with FVG.
I need to practice more in catching the main OB, but it's good to know how important they are. I also can use them in my strategy.

I listened two gold advice for Trading:

  1. How to surpass Prop Challenge: Use RR 1:1 and risk 1-2% of the account.
    You don't need a lot of trades, use your strategy. If you can don't go under 1h tf, to avoid major noise.

  2. How to improve your trading career: At the end of the month, write a journal, a recap of your month, not only related to trading, but related with your feeling, vibes, how you felt during the month. After that, write a letter to yourself for the next month. What do you expect to reach, to feel, to be.

To be successful in trading, we need to take 100% responsibility of our actions.

📉 What have i mistaken?

The last trade of the week, was just a gamble trade. I opened that trade without bias, without context, just based on 1 indicator, on low tf, very fast, just opened the charts, and opened the trade. Very happy it was a loss.

I had to much confidence in one setup, that i also opened the trade with real money. I was sure it could be only profit, and i forgot that in trading there is alway the possibility of SL hit. It's not existing the 100% win rate. And this mistake is what can make me lose all the account. With one simple trade, with to much overconfidence, without following the rule, with over leverage, or with increasing risk exposure.

📌 Goals for Next Week

  • I want to master 1 strategy, and create a Real Plan and Real Rules. (and follow them)

  • Regarding the study i want to continue with Trading in The Zone.

  • Less trade, more quality setup.

  • Focus on practice and backtest minimum 30 trades.

🎁 Useful Resources

Weekly Recap PDF, fill it every week, it will help you to keep track with your trading process. I'm filling it every Sunday and thanks to this pdf i can write this emails!

Previous Mails From Zero to Pro Trader.

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Below I leave you my social channels where you will find periodic updates on my journey as a professional trader. For now I am sharing often in instagram stories what I learn!

Here's my last video with my reflection of the week, the easies way to become a pro trader.

That's all from Michael Pino, happy trading!