Video summary

Boot Camp Day 29: Trading Plan

Main summary

Key takeaways

Business

Business-focused summary (Trading-plan “operating system”)

Core objective

  • Create a repeatable, “can’t screw it up” daily trading plan that reduces emotion, limits risk, and standardizes decision-making (aiming for a “robotic day in and day out” process).

Framework / playbook: Trading Plan Mock-up (written before trading)

1) Risk management (pre-designate losses and trade budget)

  • Pre-designate risk per day so losses are bounded and emotions don’t take over.
  • Define:
    • Lot sizing method
      • Set lot size: use pre-determined tiers (e.g., “high/regular/low”) based on daily risk allocation to avoid repeated calculations.
      • Calculated lot size: use a lot-size calculator (account balance, percent risk, stop-loss in pips).
    • Monetary loss limit
      • Example target: $100/day risk
    • Number of trades per day
      • Recommendation: 1–2 trades/day, but “for now” stick to 1 trade/day until disciplined.
      • If taking 2 trades, de-risk across both so total daily risk equals the daily limit.
  • Operational rule: don’t trade beyond max daily risk; once the limit is hit, stop.

Explicit example KPI

  • Risk target: $100/day
  • Trade count target (early stage): 1 trade/day

2) When to trade (treat it like a job—designated sessions)

  • Define strict trading times/sessions rather than trading whenever available.
  • Treat it as scheduled operations:
    • Example: trade during New York session open
    • Trade window: within the first 1.5 hours of NYSE open
    • If no setup appears in that window: do not force trades
  • Time-zone/sleep/work constraints determine which session is best.

Example execution constraints

  • Only take trades during NYSE open first 90 minutes
  • If no trade is found in that window: no trades for the day

3) News policy (reduce volatility risk)

  • Decide whether to trade:
    • On news
    • After news
    • Avoid high-impact news entirely
  • Recommended for beginners:
    • Avoid high-impact events to keep win rate high and prevent “market gets messed up” days.
  • Include a personal trigger threshold (example given):
    • If news causes a multi-point spike in a short candle (e.g., 5 minutes), opt out / stop trading for the day.
  • Operational rule: if news disrupts the market, exit for the day.

4) What to trade (market focus / reduce diversification complexity)

  • Choose one primary instrument/pair to master.
  • Strongly discourage spreading across many pairs/instruments:
    • framed as lower probability and added complexity (“hardship”).
  • Example guidance:
    • Preference example: S&P 500
    • Other instruments are mentioned as possibilities from prior experience (e.g., gold, GBP/JPY, GU).
  • Rule: “Choose one and leave it at that”
    • Add more only after being consistently profitable on the first.

Key operational directive

  • If you can’t master one market, don’t add more markets.

5) Strategy inputs: “Confluences” and building blocks (entry checklist)

  • Define the building blocks (technical conditions) that must align before entering.
  • Examples of confluence components:
    • Liquidity sweep
    • Break of structure (BOS)
    • Fair value gap (FVG)
    • Order block
    • Optionally: extra confirmation for better risk/reward

Process described

  1. Pick 1–N confluences to test (example: “liquidity sweep + break of structure” for ~2 weeks).
  2. Record outcomes and emotions in a journal.
  3. Decide what makes you:
    • Super probable (higher win rate), or
    • More risk-adverse (better control, potentially lower frequency).

Entry decision logic (explicit “if/then” rules)

  • Take trades only if all of the following align:
    • Occurs during NY session open first 1.5 hours
    • Instrument is S&P 500
    • Market direction/bias aligns (example: daily bullish → look for buys)
    • Entry conditions include the required confluence set (example: liquidity sweep + break of structure + fair value gap/order block)
    • Risk preset is known and confirmed before entering
  • If any condition fails: do not trade
  • If already traded / conditions no longer allow:
    • If you’ve already used the plan steps,
    • or the daily max risk is reached,
    • or a holiday prevents S&P 500 operation,
    • then stop and don’t look elsewhere.

Practical “organizational tactics” / habits

  • Delete unused watchlists to prevent analysis paralysis and impulsive switching:
    • example: delete “34x pairs” (don’t manage too many markets simultaneously)
  • No FOMO entries:
    • ignore “it looks like it’ll go higher” if it doesn’t match the plan
  • Journal + backtesting as a structured learning loop:
    • test confluences and track win rate and emotions

Constraints / stopping rules (risk governance)

  • Hard stops:
    • Max daily risk hit → stop trading for the day
    • No qualifying setup in the defined time window → no trades
    • News disruption threshold → opt out and stop trading
    • If S&P 500 can’t be traded (e.g., U.S. bank holiday):
      • stop looking for other markets/instruments
      • follow the plan

Sources / presenters

  • Presenter: the unnamed speaker/coach in the video (no other presenters identified in the subtitles).

Original video