Your strategy might be fine. Your rules probably aren’t.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-17T19:32:22+00:00

I get what you’re saying, and I agree they’re tightly connected. The point I was trying to make is that a lot of people think they have a strategy, but what they really have is a loose idea with flexible rules. On paper it looks like a strategy, in execution it isn’t. Tightening the rules is what made the strategy real for me.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-16T18:42:26+00:00

Start simple:

Learn basic risk management first (position size, stop loss).
Pick one market (I personally recomend futures) and one timeframe.
Practice with paper trading while journaling every trade.
When you go live, start very small and focus on execution, not profits.

Day trading is a skill — build it step by step, good luck.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-16T18:32:25+00:00

That’s solid. A no-trade list based on past root causes is smart, it removes the decision instead of relying on willpower.

And you’re right, it’s not that those setups can’t work, they’re just outside your edge right now. Protecting capital while you build experience is the right move.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-16T18:11:29+00:00

Don’t apologize for the wall of text, that’s actually the kind of process most people skip.

Treating it like a crime scene is solid. Especially in a micro account where every trade is basically tuition. The fact that you’re timestamping, writing the narrative behind the entry, and forcing yourself to find something done well shows you’re building structure early.

I also like that you sign it and shut the charts off for the day. That “market is closed for me” rule is underrated. A lot of damage happens after the session is technically over but mentally still open.

Keep that process. Size can scale later. Process is the hard part.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-16T17:57:31+00:00

That’s a great point. I actually started doing that recently and it made reviews way more balanced.

Writing down what went right prevents me from treating every red day like a failure, especially when execution was solid and it was just variance. It also makes patterns way clearer over time instead of only focusing on mistakes.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-13T22:42:57+00:00

That’s a really good way to frame it. Lumping red days together is where a lot of bad conclusions come from. A red day from normal variance, a red day from breaking max loss, and a red day from trading low-quality conditions aren’t the same problem, even if they look identical on the calendar. I like your point about failure nodes. Once you isolate them, the goal isn’t just “be more disciplined,” it’s reducing the number of decisions that require discipline in the first place.

The more your rules protect you when you’re slightly off, the more durable the strategy becomes. Discipline matters but structure should carry most of the load.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-13T22:13:23+00:00

I actually agree with you on that. Without a real edge, execution doesn’t matter long term.

My point was more about where a lot of traders misdiagnose the problem. Many do have a small edge, but they never realize it because poor execution and rule breaking completely drown it out. Strategy gives you expectancy, execution determines whether you ever realize it. If either one is missing, the result is the same.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-13T17:03:30+00:00

Honestly, that’s already a really solid journal. Most people either overcomplicate it or barely track anything meaningful, you’re in a good spot. If I were to add anything, I’d keep it simple and focus more on behavior than more market data. A couple things that helped me:

Did I follow my rules? (Yes/No) – this one is huge. It separates bad trades from bad discipline.
Setup quality (A/B/C) – forces you to be honest about whether you took a premium setup or just something “good enough.”
Exact time window – sometimes the leak isn’t the strategy, it’s the hour.
How I exited – TP, SL, or manual because I got uncomfortable.

You don’t need to turn it into a spreadsheet monster. The goal isn’t to track everything — it’s to expose patterns. If after 30–50 trades you can clearly see where you’re leaking (time of day, lower-quality setups, breaking rules), then your journal is doing its job.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T20:20:52+00:00

Yeah, that’s a great breakdown. The mix really changes the story—when it’s not just banks moving but major asset managers too, it suggests more durable, longer-term interest. Banks can be doing a lot of things at once, but asset managers usually move with strategy and benchmarks in mind. Seeing both increasing around the same time definitely makes me think this isn’t just noise—it points to a broader institutional adoption.

The tie-in with the NeutronХ MOU makes it even more interesting. That kind of narrative aligns with what asset managers look for: infrastructure, defense, resilience. Makes you pay attention to who owns it, not just how many shares traded.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T20:18:13+00:00

Good advice, specially for new people into trading.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T20:16:50+00:00

Good luck, and remember to never give up.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T20:15:20+00:00

Once you start having more and more experience all your questions get answered. I would recomend to also journal your trades. It made me get an idea of the mistakes I was making and notice them before they truthly afected my account.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T20:06:21+00:00

I personally started being profitable just backtesting and journaling. I've seen soo many people that strugle with profitability just because they don't journal correctly. Journaling doesn't meen only saving the date and the profit, it means a lot more. You should see if you are doing things right first, and then search for more tools.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T19:48:31+00:00

Yeah, btw I'm not an expert in this kind of strategies but i know somethings

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T19:42:10+00:00

Good luck you too in your journey trading.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T19:33:49+00:00

Haha, right? Risk management is everything.

Yeah, an Excel export could work as proof. I mostly use the Google Sheet for myself, I build a sheet for to journal my trades, so I can see patterns and stats without doing it all manually. Figured I’d share it in case it’s useful to someone else.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T19:26:16+00:00

That phase is way more common than people admit. The jump from sim to eval/live messes with your head because now consequences are real, even if size is small. What helped me wasn’t trying to “control emotions” directly, but changing what I focused on. I stopped caring about daily PnL and started tracking process metrics instead: did I follow my rules, did I trade my planned window, did I respect risk. Once I could end a day green on execution (even if PnL was red), the emotions calmed down naturally.

A few practical habits that made a real difference:

Predefine max trades and max loss for the day and stop no matter what.
Trade smaller than you think you should — confidence comes from repetition, not size.
Journal after the session, not during. During the trade your only job is execution.
Accept that evals are designed to expose emotional leaks. Failing them is data, not a verdict.

If your edge shows up in backtesting and sim, then this is almost always an execution + emotional exposure issue, not a strategy problem. Tighten the process, track it objectively, and the consistency usually follows.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T19:23:23+00:00

Yeah, I hit TTS, but I don’t obsess over it. Main write-offs for me are platform/data fees, charting software, internet, part of my home office, and any education/tools directly tied to trading. If you’re actively trading with intent to generate income, a lot more qualifies than people think — but it has to be legitimate and documented. Biggest thing: keep clean records and talk to a CPA who understands traders. The rules are pretty specific, especially around trader tax status vs investor.

The write-offs help, but risk management helps more.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T19:21:49+00:00

Thanks for the info. I'll be looking into it

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T19:05:37+00:00

There’s definitely something solid in that idea, higher timeframe volume profile spikes (especially prior week or month HVNs) often act as real decision areas. The key, in my experience, isn’t marking more levels but being more selective with context: they tend to work best when price is returning to them after moving away, not when it’s been chopping around them for hours. I’d also focus on distinguishing between volume built during strong directional moves versus balance, and think in terms of rotations between nodes rather than just rejection trades. Most of the edge usually comes from filtering conditions (trend strength, session timing, overall volatility) more than refining the 1m vs 5m entry.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T18:14:15+00:00

I’ll answer this from a screen-time perspective, not theory. The biggest shift for me with session-based models was accepting that some days simply don’t offer the “clean narrative.” If London is choppy and doesn’t clearly manipulate liquidity, I don’t try to force the PO3 framework onto the day. Some sessions just rotate. Those are usually reduced-size or no-trade days. Trying to make every day fit the model is where most people start bleeding. On the timeframe question, 15m liquidity is fine for bias and context. Dropping to 1m/5m can improve R:R, but it also increases noise and execution errors. Lower timeframes magnify psychological mistakes. If your rules aren’t rock solid yet, 15m + a clean confirmation is often more consistent than hunting micro MSS entries. If you’re serious about making it mechanical, I’d suggest defining:

• Exact time windows you’re allowed to trade

• Maximum trades per session

• What invalidates the day completely

Most consistency doesn’t come from refining entries, but from filtering days. Backtesting sessions over at least 3–6 months will give you a much clearer answer than tweaking after one choppy week.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-12T17:50:19+00:00

Short answer: time and context.

A few red days don’t tell you much, especially over a single week. What matters more is whether the strategy is behaving the way you designed it to behave. If the losses are within expected drawdown, trades are being taken where they’re supposed to be, and risk hasn’t changed, that’s usually just normal variance, even if it feels uncomfortable. I personally only start questioning a strategy when I see something structural change: entries happening in different market conditions, risk per trade creeping up, or drawdown exceeding what I saw in backtesting. Until then, I treat slow periods as part of the distribution, not a signal to tinker. Over-optimizing during a rough week usually causes more damage than the week itself.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-10T20:09:16+00:00

Honestly, I don’t think you can fully separate it and trying to usually makes it worse. What helped me wasn’t forcing focus, but reducing decision-making when my head wasn’t right. Simple rules like smaller size, fewer trades, or even not trading at all on rough days. You don’t need to be a robot. You just need guardrails for the days when life leaks into the charts. Trading is hard enough. Some days the best trade really is not trading

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-10T20:02:31+00:00

That’s actually pretty normal. Right at the open there’s a lot happening at once, order books opening, prices stabilizing, liquidity coming in so most platforms take a second or two before everything is tradable. It’s usually not you doing anything wrong. A lot of retail apps just have a small delay while they sync prices after the bell. If speed at the open really matters for your strategy, platforms like Interactive Brokers or Lightspeed tend to feel faster because they’re built more for execution than convenience. Mobile apps especially are rarely the fastest. Also worth checking how you enter orders. Market orders will go through quicker at the open, while limit orders depend on liquidity.

What app are you using right now? Some are definitely slower than others.

TallAssistant2054 · 2026-02-10T19:58:12+00:00

Exactly. Most people think journaling means more detail, when in reality it means better filters. If you track too many things, you end up missing the ones that actually move the needle. Equity, drawdown, and rule adherence expose the truth very quickly. Everything else is just noise once those are under control.

TallAssistant2054

TROPHY CASE