The routine of a PRO Forex and Crypto trader

Success in trading does not differ much from success in any field. Organizing and planning are the first steps. Then comes the most interesting part: strictly enforcing the plan.

What do we start with?

1. Sleep

2. Nutrition

3. Meditation / Sports

4. Daily Review

5. Weekly Review

6. Monthly Review

7. Mentor

8. Community — Your Network is Your Net Worth

9. Trading Desk (recommended at least 2 monitors, ideally 3–4)

10. diary

11. Emotional intelligence — realize that you can change it

12. Focus on your goals — if you don’t separate yourself from distractions, they will separate you from the goals and life you want.

13. PMP (premarket prep) & post-market session review

14. professional platforms

15. regulated broker

16. analyze your performance

• winning days vs losing days
• · traded markets
• · performance depending on the time of day
• · maximum drawdown from P&L
• · average winner
• · average loser
• · average risk reward ratio

17. Study the best deals and create a Playbook

· Find out what your favorite setups are and see which transactions bring you the best results (range-play, aggressive breakout, pullback breakout, etc.)

Methodology

18. Recognize the A + setups in your Playbook

19. recognizes where the price was accepted in time

20. interprets the relationship between price, time, and volume

21. read order flow (footprints, cumulative delta, etc.)

22. the ability to correlate markets

23. the ability to correlate various information and tools (Market Profile, Weekly DVA, Monthly DVA, Intra-Day Chart, etc.)

o Example: Weekly DVA is IMB Down but the price just breaks out at ETH DVAH and becomes IMB Up intra-day. What is your plan and vision for the market? You can consider 2 scenarios:

o (1) — wait for a Bearish reaction from Weekly DVLA and then the price will make Failed to move IMB Up on the ETH chart intra-day so that it becomes ROT -> Open Short positions with a target to ETH VWAP and in extension, ETH DVLA ca next likely destination.

o (2) — wait for the price to breakout and be accepted over Weekly DVLA so that the market context and structure changes in IMB Up on the Intra-day ETH chart and becomes ROT on Weekly DVA as long as the price is above WDVAL → Open Long positions targeting the next likely destination (CVA, VA and/or other important areas of PVA / DVA on LTVWs).

Trading Skills

· execution of transactions

· recognizes a Balance / Imbalance move

· add to the position if the market allows

· get important LIS from which to place excellent transactions

· remain patient

· zoom out to read the HTF context to get an overview but don’t forget to order flow when you decide to press ‘pull’

Trade Management

· follow the trading plan

· recognize if the market condition has changed and adapt

· you can consider Re-Entry when a Stop Loss has been reached but the market condition has not changed yet

Risk Management

· position size

· Entry / Stop Loss

· the number of transactions allocated for that day

· you need to know your risk per trade, per day, per week, and per month

· does not meet the DLL (Daily Loss Limit) — You must comply with the Daily Loss Limit imposed by you or the prop-trading company for which you trade. DLL is about work ethic but not about risk management. You are not allowed to exceed the DLL by even $ 1.

· always put the risk before the profit. Amateurs focus on profit, professionals manage risk first. Profit is your reward for being an effective risk manager.

· focus on the ‘R-value

Exit Management

· you can consider scaling out 1/2 of the position at RR of + 1.5R / 2R trying an ambitious target to the next likely destination if the market has enough ‘space to move

· Recognizing when to scratch transactions is sometimes an important skill

· try to have an average Risk — Reward of minimum + 2R

Psychology

· To solve mindset problems in trading you need to ask yourself:

· What is the problem?

· Why do I have this problem?

· How can I solve it?

What does a trading day look like?

1. Pre-Market

· Read economic news headlines — Events such as FOMC Statement, ECB, press conferences and speeches, politics, important figures from the economic calendar

· Check the charts and see if everything is ‘okay’ with your template

· Does the market have a fundamental reason for what it has done/is trying to do?

2. OverNight

· Volume and Range?

· Is the market Balance or Imbalance?

· Does the market show you a structure of LL / LH or HH / HL?

3. Premarket Warm-Up (60 minutes before RTH Open)

· You can meditate for 10 minutes if you think it helps

· Try to anticipate the movement in the overnight session for the next 15 minutes

· Consider doing a market replay at yesterday’s Open (first 15 minutes)

4. Build Hypos (Scripts)

· What is the current market condition? Balance or Imbalance?

· Where is the price for CVA / VA / DVA / PVA?

· What did the market participants try to do in the O / N session?

· What did they fail to do?

· What is the current trend?

· What is the general market sentiment?

· What are the important levels to keep in mind?

· Is the market overextended?

· Can the market break down the structure in which it is located?

· Where can I open transactions that offer me the best Risk-Reward?

· What are the potential destination areas if the market becomes Imbalance?

· Is the price at / near / below / above an important level of S / R in the context of HTF?

· What are the best levels where I can trade?

· Where can I pyramid/add to the position if the market goes in my favor?

· Don’t forget to follow the general market bias every 30 minutes because the market is dynamic and sometimes it is necessary to adapt to the current market condition.

5. During the RTH trading session

· What are the possible scenarios I follow?

· Where can I open transactions that offer me the best Risk — Reward?

· What are the potential areas for A + transactions in my Playbook?

· What are the potential areas for FADE?

· Do I see the market clearly and today?

· Where do I put my SL?

· Where do I put my TP?

· Do I have a Risk Reward potential of at least + 2R?

· What potential do I have until the likely final destination if I decide to have a core position after scaling out 1/2 to + 2R?

· What is the risk of my transaction?

o Stop Loss

o Volume

o Position size

· Are the current market conditions good for this transaction?

· The right time of day for this type of trade?

· Is the transaction going as planned? Do I have to adjust or change my plan/scenario in case it doesn’t work in my favor?

· Is Risk Reward suitable to put SL on BE and secure part of the profit?

· Am I disciplined and selective, or am I overtrading?

· How has the intra-day bias changed due to the reaction in this structure and/or LIS?

6. Post-Market Review

· Analyze the transactions of that day

o What did I do well?

o What did I do wrong?

o What transactions brought me profit?

o What transactions have caused me losses?

o How did I manage my risk?

o, Have I adapted to the current market environment and conditions?

o Did I learn anything new?

· Add a Playbook transaction (if there was one)

· How did I perform today about my goals?

o What was the success rate?

o Was it a valid entry according to my plan?

o Was the trade size in line with my plan?

o Was the stop loss according to my plan?

o Did I miss a trade?

o What trade did I miss?

o Where was I paying attention at the time?

o Why did I miss the transaction and what else can I do to focus more on the opportunities that matter?

o Give yourself a grade from 1 to 10

· Check out yesterday’s statement from today’s broker and today’s P&L

Finally

· Set goals for tomorrow.

· Forgive yourself for your mistakes.

· Don’t let Red ruin the rest of your day.

· Don’t let Green Day get in your head one day.

· Be a good person outside of trading.