3D Bearish Trend Shift 50% , 9:30 Short, Balanced Price Acceptance Moving Average , LIS (Bearish), LIS Reversal, Lowerband to Upperband Fail, M15 Confirmation for 3D 50% Fib Retracement Setup, New Month Candle, New Quarter Candle, pre market low dropout, Reset of VWAP Settings,

Here are the key takeaways from your trading notes:

1. Loss Management & Position Sizing:

• You lost twice the daily loss limit, which means you need to reduce risk. You will not trade tomorrow, and you're restricted to one contract until you recover the $500 drawdown.

2. VWAP Settings Error:

• The new monthly candle open reset your VWAP settings, leading to false signals, which caused significant losses. This was a crucial mistake that you recognize as preventable.
• Solution: You must never trust VWAP settings on a new monthly or quarterly candle open without marking prior month's key levels to avoid misreads in the future.

3. Bias and Executional Errors:

• You entered the session with a neutral bias but ignored key technical analysis cues (buy/sell ovals) that could have clarified market direction earlier. Waiting for these signals to break would have helped avoid losses.
• Trading based on a Turtle Soup setup at the premarket low, instead of recognizing the larger liquidity drawdown happening, also resulted in a significant loss.

4. Discipline & Emotional Impact:

• You let previous trades (where support repeatedly held) influence your decision-making, which affected your objectivity when entering today's trades.
• Trading while tired (from staying up for the overnight session the day before) likely impaired your ability to react properly to the session's setups.

5. Failure to Adhere to Key Rules:

• You didn’t wait until 10 AM to trade, violating your own rule, which would have likely reduced losses.
• Not following through on your rule to consult the 5-minute chart when VWAP settings reset also led to multiple smaller losses (on the 1-minute chart) that compounded into a bigger loss.

6. Pre-Market Observations:

• Pre-market price action suggested the overnight low break should have been seen as a signal for the bearish move, not a liquidity sweep opportunity. Missing this transition from range-bound to trending structure was a key mistake.
• The 9:30 AM move, which occurred before the expected data release, was unusual and caught you off guard, but this underscores the importance of adhering to your predefined levels and biases, regardless of timing.

7. Execution Issues:

• Slippage and rejected orders during the data release added to your losses, with an extra $50-$80 incurred unnecessarily.

8. Lesson for Future Monthly/Quarterly Openings:

• Plan ahead by marking upper and lower bands from the prior month’s price action before a new monthly or quarterly candle opens. This will give you a better gauge of where price action is heading, rather than relying on fresh VWAP indicators alone.

9. Improved Use of Timeframes:

• The importance of incorporating higher timeframes (5-minute chart or higher) during new month VWAP resets is emphasized. This would have resulted in fewer trades and reduced losses.

10. Actionable Adjustments:

• You must ensure that similar execution errors and misinterpretations don't happen again. This includes sticking to your trading rules, adjusting VWAP settings, and being more disciplined about your execution around critical times like data releases.

Summary of Key Adjustments:

• Reduce position size and risk until you recover drawdown.
• Avoid trading on the open of a new month or quarter without proper key levels marked from the prior period.
• Stick to your time-based rules (e.g., wait until 10 AM to trade).
• Use higher timeframes (like the 5-minute chart) when VWAP settings reset.
• Avoid overnight trading if it leads to exhaustion during the main session.

These takeaways highlight the importance of strict rule adherence, better preparation for significant market changes (like monthly opens), and reducing execution errors to avoid repeating similar costly mistakes.

 

* I have to note the observation that when the market opened at 9:30 today, there was a slight imbalance to the draw on liquidity that was very slight, because today, the sell off took place from a balanced price range at the daily moving average and draw on liquidity, I have to note this rule for future reference that once the iblance is filled to the moving average and draw on liquidity, price has a likely probability to reverse, no matter how big or small the price imbalance is. 

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

You lost 2 times the daily loss limit, therefor you will not be trading tomorrow. You also are not allowed to trade more than 1 contract until you compleley cover the 500 drawdown compared to you max loss limit because of this. 

Today we were faked out, due to false signals from our lowerband from our VWAP settings, due to the fact that the new monthly candle open, reset all of our VWAP settings. And this is a crucial mistake and error we can never make again in the future. 

This could have been avoided by simply having listened to the buy and sell ovals I had positioned in my technical analysis from the overnight session. I came into this trading session with a neutral bias for the day, and in all honesty, I just had to wait for one of the ovals to be knocked out of position to understand the bias for the trading day. 

I will say, its very unfortunate that this type of move couldnt have happened yesterday when. I was positioned, constant invisible buyers and support stepping up at the pre market low Over and Over and Over again, yet today, when I attempt to take a turtle soup setup of the premarket low, after thinking that there would be a move back up after overnight longs were taken out of position, I suffered my biggest loss in a while. 

I think its also bullshit, that when I was positoned for this type of drop yesterday, the premarket low was bought up over 5 times and then rallied into the close. THEN, because I was exausted from staying up all night, trading the overnight session, I didnt want to trade this overnight session, which has now positioned shorts for this massive drop 

I must stop these big losses in incur once a month. From monthly levels, monthly candles ect. This was also the open of a new quarterly candle. and I also didnt listen to my rule that I should wait until 10AM to trade. 

Never trust the VWAP settings on a new monthly candle open ever again. 

Either way, its likelt we wouldnt have caught this trade because of course its a 9:30AM move, BEFORE DATA, which is also strange. But the trade of the dau setup at this current moment, was a sell stop order at the premarket low, for when overnight longs were knocked out of position, rather then try to play a liquidity sweep, turtle soup setup after they were swept.

Price was showcasing that bulls were in the trade of the day setup in the overnight from the premarket low to premarket high. So this quite literally was the last bullish attempt and run up from these price levels. 

I let the concept of an 'easy money trade' with my upper and lowerbands block my thought process on the overall draw on liquidity taking place in the market. I should have been well aware that because we are starting a new quarter and month, that the sweep would begin to the downside before the upside. 

This is also the first time in a very long time, that I have seen a pre market low dropout like this. Which shifted the structure from rangebound, to trend. 

I also should have listened to the 5 minute chart, instead of the 1 minute, since the VWAP month settings were fresh, and I have incorporated the 5 minute chart with the Month VWAP from the prior month. Had I listened to 5 minute price action instead, I would have been sized lighter, and likely only have taken 1 loss, instead of multiple shorter timeframe papercuts that resulted in way bigger loss on the day then I should have. 

Also, many executional errors on the day, like selling market into the 10 am data, which somehow resulted in a loss, when I was under the impression I sold seconds earlier than the data, and thought I was chipping away at some of the morning loss, but it resulted in an etra 50-80 dollar loss, complete garbage. I was getting rejected on certain orders I was placing, and the final market exit had alot of slippage, creating a bigger loss. SO OVERALL, this entire day was a complete shit show, mis read direction, executional errors, unlucky between yesterday and todays sessions, and how price action was delivered. But now we have something to refer to at the start of the next month, and quarterly candles. 

Another thing we can do to avoid this type of loss again in the future, is that prior to each new monthly candle opening, we can mark the most important upper and lowerband levels from the month prior, to really gauge where price may be delivered, instead of relying on the new VWAP each month. 

The new Month VWAP, can also apply to ALL TIMEFRAMES, from 1 hour and below, since the 1 hour chart factors in a month of price action. 

 

ALL OF THESE MISTAKES AND ISSUES CAN NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. 

15M Bearish Variation Confirmation, 3D 50% Retracement & H4 ODB Confluence (SHORT), 3D Bearish Trend Shift 50% Retracement Short, 3D Trend Shift/3D 50% FIB Imbalance, 9:30 Open (Short), H4 Bearish Orderblock Short, M1 Supply Zone (15M Variation) Retest Short, PML Short, Trade Of The Day , WK Bullish Orderblock Target,

Your main intention should be to prioritize disciplined risk management and consistency over profit maximization.The goal is to focus on executing your strategy with precision and sticking to your refined trading rules to rebuild confidence and stabilize your account. 

Your primary intention should be to "Trade conservatively and focus on capital preservation." Given your limited drawdown cushion ($750) and recent trading outcomes, your goal is to rebuild confidence and establish a positive trading rhythm by prioritizing discipline, patience, and precision in every decision. Approach the day with the mindset of a risk manager first, trader second.

 

 

 

 

 

Key Takeaways from Your Trading Notes:

1. Acknowledgment of Mistakes

• You recognize that the first week of your funded account was drastically different from your evaluation phase, leading to significant losses.
• The combination of a shift in market conditions at the start of October and potential psychological hurdles seems to have negatively impacted your performance.
• You identify that overtrading and failure to follow your own rules (such as the daily loss limit) were major contributors to your poor performance.

2. Psychological Factors

• You acknowledged self-sabotage and negativity, expecting trades to fail before even taking them, which likely influenced poor decision-making.
• There's an understanding that mindset needs to shift toward positive visualization to manifest success and turn things around.
• You've recognized that keeping a calm, professional mindset and approaching trades with low stress is key to staying in control and making rational decisions.

3. Critical Trading Mistakes

• Breaking the Daily Loss Limit: You repeatedly exceeded your daily loss limit by significant amounts, which was a major factor in the drawdown.
• Overtrading: You moved from 3-4 trades per day (in the evaluation) to 15-20 trades per day after funding, leading to overexposure and losses.
• Not Taking Profits: A major issue was letting winning trades go back into the red, missing the opportunity to lock in profits. The failure to secure $800 in profit on Friday underscores this problem.
• Chasing Unrealized Gains: By aiming for extended targets (e.g., Upper VWAP band) instead of scaling out profits earlier (VWAP target), you lost unrealized gains. Adjusting profit-taking targets could have saved you from significant losses.

4. New Approach and Game Plan

• Reduced Expectations: You’ve set a max daily loss of $75 with a target of $150/day, aiming for small, consistent wins. The goal is to bring the account back to breakeven by making trading "boring" and stress-free.
• Switching to S&P500: Due to NASDAQ's high volatility, you may need to shift to trading the S&P500 for a more stable, less volatile approach.
• Focus on Consistency: Your goal for this week is simply to stay disciplined, follow the loss limit, and consistently hit small targets rather than swinging for large wins. This will help prevent blowing up the account.

5. Technical Adjustments

• Timeframe Correlation: You've introduced a rule where the weight of a level correlates with the timeframe. For example, a weekly level requires confirmation from a 5-day, 5-minute chart or higher.
• Entry Confirmation: You plan to refine your entries using higher timeframe levels (such as 3D mean reversion setups) with appropriate confirmation from lower timeframes (5-minute or 15-minute charts).
• Taking Profit Earlier: Recognizing the importance of adjusting your profit targets to realistic levels, such as using VWAP as a guide for smaller but achievable gains.

6. Positive Outlook and Commitment

• Despite the setbacks, you remain optimistic about the potential to turn things around. You’ve invested significant time and effort into your trading journey and are committed to not letting one bad week ruin your progress.
• You acknowledge that every trader faces crossroads like this, and the ability to recover from setbacks is what differentiates good traders from elite ones.
• You've recognized the need to remain calm, focus on discipline, and approach the upcoming week with a renewed mindset and more conservative strategy.

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Key Actionable Steps:

1. Stick to Your Max Daily Loss Limit: Absolutely adhere to the $75 loss limit to preserve your remaining drawdown and avoid blowing the account.

2. Lower Trade Frequency: Go back to your evaluation stage discipline—limit your trades to a maximum of 3-4 per day to avoid overexposure.

3. Lock in Profits: Adjust your mindset on profits—take what the market gives you rather than holding out for larger targets. Start with VWAP targets instead of aiming for full ranges.

4. Follow Timeframe and Setup Rules: Use the new correlation rule to ensure your entries align with the timeframe's weight and the confirmed setup, especially for key levels.

5. Psychological Reset: Practice positive visualization and affirm your winning potential before each trade. Shift your mindset from fear of loss to confidence in execution.

By focusing on these key areas, you can slowly regain control and get your account back on track while preserving your capital.

 

 

 

 

Refined Trading Rules

1. Max Daily Loss Limit:

• Daily Loss Cap: $75. If this limit is hit, stop trading immediately for the day.
• Mindset: Treat this as your #1 rule. Preserving capital is the priority.

2. Daily Profit Target:

• Profit Goal: $150 per day (2:1 risk-to-reward ratio).
• Focus: Once the target is hit, walk away and end the trading session.

3. Trade Frequency:

• Max Trades Per Day: Limit to 3-4 high-probability trades per day to avoid overtrading and emotional decisions.
• Execution: Stay patient and selective, waiting for A+ setups.

4. Market Focus:

• S&P500 Preference: Given current volatility, focus on trading the S&P500 to minimize risk exposure. Only consider NASDAQ if conditions clearly favor it and targets are adjusted accordingly.

5. Timeframe Confirmation:

• Multi-Timeframe Analysis: Ensure trades align with higher timeframe levels and confirmations:
  • For Weekly Levels: Use a 5-day, 5-minute or 15-minute chart for confirmation.
  • For Monthly Levels: Use a 10-day, 30-minute chart for confirmation.
• Shorter Timeframes: Fine-tune entries using imbalances on shorter timeframes (1-minute or 5-minute) after confirmation.

6. Entry Execution:

• Use Stop Orders: Always use buy/sell stop orders to trigger trades. Avoid using limit orders to enter trades against momentum.
• Directional Reversal Rule: If your first trade is wrong and stopped out, reverse the directional thesis for the second trade of the day.

7. Profit Taking:

• Lock in Profits: Cut profit targets in half when trading volatile assets like NASDAQ (e.g., VWAP instead of entire range). For S&P500, aim for realistic targets aligned with levels like VWAP bands or key support/resistance zones.
• Don't Hold for Unrealistic Gains: Secure gains early if they align with your setup; don’t let winning trades turn into losses.

8. Mindset and Discipline:

• Positive Visualization: Approach each trade with confidence in your strategy and a clear mind. Avoid expecting failure before the trade even starts.
• Boring Trading is Good Trading: Focus on steady, stress-free trading without trying to hit home runs. Stay disciplined and keep emotions in check.

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This rule refinement ensures your approach is well-structured, disciplined, and focused on preserving capital, aligning with your new risk management goals. It’s designed to prevent overtrading, over-leveraging, and emotional decision-making while maximizing small but consistent wins.

 

 

 

 

okay, so, I just have to get real, and be brutally honest about how terrible I traded this week, with it being the first week of my express funded account, and overall a COMPLETE 180 from how well I did in the evaluation, prior to the transition to funded. And I think its not only a combination of the market drastically changing at the turn of the month into october, but also likely a psychology issue as well. And I have to catch it ahead of time, right here, right now, before its too late, and I blow this account.

I owe it to myself, for all of the hard work I have put in, not only for this 4TH funded account, but also for an entire year of work I have dedicated, wanting to quit multiple times, feeling lost, helpless etc, and I still have the chance, although damaging my account more than I should have on the first week of trading, but still have the chance to turn it around. And we have to be optimistic about that, and turn it around as a professional funded trader would and should

If you are going to do this as a full time career, you are going to hit this crossroad many times in your journey, and what separates good traders, and elite traders, is being able to dig yourself back up out of a hole, and turn it around for the better.

So with that being said, we are going to create a brand new overview of the entire week of trading since the turn of the month, all of the things we did wrong (which are many things) and also do a deep dive on how the market is actually moving, with trade of the day setups, and over viewing all of the trades I took to try to understand how to approach this upcoming week of trading. 

 

WE HAVE $750 DOLLARS OF DRAWDOWN LEFT TO WORK WITH:

So with that being said, we will have a max daily loss limit of $75 dollars. YES. 75 dollars.

for this reason, we may have no other choice than to trade the S&P500 as its less volatile than NASDAQ. 

We will have a realistic target of $150 dollars a day which is 2:1 ratio for our daily loss limit.

 

S&P500 Daily ATR is currently: 65 Points

NASDAQ Daily ATR is currently: 337 Points

So this means NASDAQ is currently 5X(times) more volatile than the S&P500 at the moment. 

 

SO the goal for this week, is the massively drop our expectations, DO NOT think about the money, make the trading week as boring as possible, completely reduce stress with low dollar fluctuations on the account, look to hit $150 and WALK.

if we are able to make $150 a day for this upcoming week, we will be breakeven on our equity for the week. and double our drawdown limit.

THAT IS THE GOAL, nothing more, nothing less. 

YOU MUST KEEP THIS IN MIND. do not come into the trading session swinging the bat hard. OR YOU WILL REGRET IT, and likely lose your trading account.

there is no reason to rush anything, you have all the time in the world, and you will be saving yourself the discouragement of failing this funded account.

A good way to approach it, is to imagine you just received your first payout, and this is you trading the account with a $750 dollar limit, which is a realistic scenario, do not approach is from a loss perspective. 

 

Things clearly done wrong during the trading week:

- We have broke our daily loss limit rule multiple times, losing WAY more than $200 dollars, multiple days, and on average losing more than double the daily loss limit

- OVERTRADING, and this could be one of the worst. I went from taking MAX 3-4 trades a day, on my evaluation, to literally taking 15-20 or more trades per day on my funded account

- Continuously taking trades that were proven to be wrong over and over again, thinking that the outcome would somehow change, contantly being short minded, and taking paper cut after papercut on the 1 minute and even somehow the 2 and 5 minute charts

- Not doing any deep dive journaling sessions, relying on what was working from the evaluation and the setups from the evaluation stage, thinking I had everything in the bag, and getting mentally lazy

- NOT taking profit, and letting almost every single trade that was in profit go against me, either resulting in a loss, or breakeven trade, which is completely unnacpetable, because friday, not only did I not lock in an $800 short trade, but I let the day go from what could have been a massive green, turning my entire week from negative to positive, but I wound up LOSING my biggest day, around over $500 dollars. THIS HAS TO END IMMEDIATELTY. Either by cutting our profit targets in HALF when when trading the NASDAQ, which would mean VWAP targets rather than the entire range from Lower to Upperband. The targets simply were not hitting, and I lost alot of money in unrealized gains by letting many trades go against me. In theory, had I taken profit all of the times I was up more than $200 unrealized, I likely would have over 1,000 dollars on the week of trading, potentially even more. So we have to keep this in perspective. 

- Self sabotage, which is something ive realized about myself, I get very very negative, and I almost expected the outcome of each trade to be a loser, yet still took the trade. I have to envision myself winning. to manifest it. 

 

So now, we will overview all of the trade of the day setups, for both premarket 9:30 session.

 

 

One thing I want to note, Is that the defualt timeframes are the 1 Day 1 minute chart. And then the next chart is 5 Day 5 Minute.

So basically, the default timeframes, suggest that anything more than a 1 day LEVEL, will require a minimum timeframe of 5 minute, and 15 minute timeframe confirmation.

Anything more than a WEEKLY level, meaning a monthly and above with require a 20 Day, 1 Hour chart and above, and all of those entries can be fine tuned with price imbalances on the shorter timeframes.

This first setup that we saw, took place from a 3D mean reversion, therefor, it required a minumum of 5 minute confirmation. 

 

(NEW TRADING RULE)

the Weight of the LEVEL, that correlates with a timeframe, has to be taken on the amount of days suggested on the lower timeframes.

EXAMPLE: A weekly level, is a level that consists of a full trading week. (5 Days)

So the trade must be taken from a (5 DAY) 5 minute or 15 minute default trading chart. 

 

1 Day Moving Average Long, 1D Bullish Orderblock Target, 2 Day Moving Average, 2D Bullish Orderblock Target, Daily Bearish Trend Shift 50% Fib Retracement, Moving Average Confluence, Moving Average Short, Overniight Short,