Championship week. That’s how I call them. The ones that can put you well for the start of the year or hurt you.
In this episode, I invite you inside my head for the week we just lived. Not my easiest writing, but I promised myself to always be transparent with you. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, I’ll share a new record week.
I came laser-focused into this week. I had my eyes on the prize: multiple trend days in CL and NQ.
The rules were simple:
Pyramiding.
No scalping.
I wanted to focus my mental energy on these 1 or 2 trades that will make the month. From Sunday, that’s the only thing I was thinking about. And I carried that through the whole week.
Many talk about the mental in trading. To me, that’s what mental is all about laser focus. The rest is mostly execution, routine, etc.
Welcome to my world.
Weekend
I was already preparing for this week the week before (!). I was sized down, not worrying too much about the chop (I did get chopped for a flat week). It didn’t bother me at all. I knew the following week was the key. My job is to manage my expectations and use the Pareto law to maximize my returns.
My system gave me a clear signal to trade both CL and NQ this week and let RTY, ES, and co on the side. Stats-wise, these two had the highest chances of delivering larger rotations. They sure did.
When the bell rang during Sunday Globex, CL was already off the charts, delivering multiple-percent moves. It was the first sign that volatility was indeed here.
The idea was to be risk-on this week. Walking in happy to lose up to $10,000. That was my max risk for the championship week. Knowing that amount before hearing the bell on Sunday is a big help (for me). Maybe I hit that on Wednesday and I call it a week. Maybe I have a few home runs and a new best week. It doesn’t matter. My job was to up my game and execute like a professional. And that’s exactly what I did.
Monday
530 AM alarm.
6 AM at the gym.
8 AM on my charts.
915AM - 230 PM livestream in Hampton Traders
Tough start to the week. CL played me a couple of times on the long side, but the trend day on NQ made my day (see in the video, chapter III) and finally put me in a good start for the week. I did battle for almost 6 hours, losing some energy in the battle, but still up > $1,000 for the day.
I can’t be too hard with myself, I have bigger goals for the week. Risk was respected, but execution was not the best. Fine. There’s the weekend to review that.
Tuesday
530 AM alarm.
6 AM at the gym.
8 AM massage
9 AM on my charts
915AM - 1130 AM livestream in Hampton Traders
Amazing day. Trades on CL felt easy, same on NQ. Caught multiple 70 cents move on Crude Oil and a few shorts on NQ after failing on the long side. I was done by lunchtime. Beautiful.
+ $1,700 and up $3k on the week. In my head, I’m thinking “Do I finally have an easy week?”
Wednesday
5 AM alarm
6 AM programming
11 AM run
2 PM gym
I didn’t trade. Why would I use energy on FOMC day? FOMC days lead to more intraday V-shape moves than any other day. V-shape is the worst for me (and a lot of full-time scalpers I know). You do you, I do me. Instead, I went to the gym, wrote some content for Hampton Traders, recorded a podcast, and watched movies. I’ll confess, I did watch the action from 3 PM and took some notes. A very light day.
Thursday
345 Wake up (fml)
530 AM at the gym.
8 AM massage
9 AM on my charts.
I’m aware that I do poorly post large red days, yet I’m ready and feel good. I did my homework and was ready to size up for the last 2 days of the week. I start the day with a long on NQ around the open, stopped on 3 contracts for a couple of thousand loss. I also have a few signals on CL that do poorly. Quite quickly, I find myself down $7k. I take a little break to assess how I feel. I’m still ok. My max loss can be another $5.5k, after which the 10k weekly loss would be reached.
I shorted NQ and longed CL. Both work instantly and I’m now ‘only’ down 3k, but profits are unrealized. I protect my position on CL, but not on NQ. CL goes back to breakeven and NQ reverses quite violently against me. Now, I might be slightly tilted. But in the moment, I feel good.
The reason I say that is because, upon review of my trades, I realized that I did short above ADR without my trigger, which is outside of my system for this type of day.
-$12.5k on the day and - $10k on the week. Worst loss since going full-time (ex. FTX).
Welcome to the greatest game.
Hard pill to swallow, even though I’m not tilting. I knew my risk going into the week, now is the time to be strong and skip Friday.
I did have a relaxing evening, not overthinking too much the loss.
Friday
A pretty relaxing day, did some work inside Hampton Traders, a couple 1 :1 coaching, and some trade reviews. My biggest mistake was definitely to have a bias on CL like I rarely had. Everything was aligned for some green on the weekly for my system. It absolutely failed. I should have realized it earlier on in real time. Otherwise, I got top ticked 2 times on what could have made me a few more thousands in the green, but no regrets about that.
No trading through Friday. You have to take the little wins.
As I’m writing these lines, I’m about to go on weekend. I would usually polish the article on Saturday, but frankly, I don’t want to be at my screens until Sunday for the weekly prep. Restaurant and movie theater tonight for a good date to end this tough week. Life goes on. Something like this would have ruined my weekend in the past. Right now, I’m not happy, but I sure don’t feel mad/sad. I learned a lot and hopefully will better manage a similar week in the future.
I’m grateful to be able to do this for a living. This is my worst week in years, but that’s life. I’m happy to have done all of that while streaming every single trade live, and guiding as best as I could the members of Hampton Traders. I’m not perfect, but I sure give my best.
The PODs are amazing and traders play the game. Exchanging with other traders regularly, cheering for each other, and helping each other is key. Camaraderie and improved trading skills are the goals. It’s easy to feel motivated. But motivation comes and goes. That’s why the PODs are great.
I’m opening a new POD with 2 seats available if you’re interested.
I performed some updates to Hampton Traders and added a written summary of my process (charts, weekly prep, risk management, setups, and executions). Now, on top of the PODs, daily streams, educational content, and 30+ hours of video, this new piece of information should help people in search of a framework.
Looking forward to next week (and UFC tomorrow). Enjoy the weekend folks, and if you lost big, you’re not alone :)
Go for your dreams folks.
Life is short.
RC
Your abilities extend well beyond the charts sir! While I don’t like seeing any of us lose, when you make it seem as it’s merely a bump in the road brings joy and hope. I am excited for you for the coming week to teach us something new!
Love this. Bad Beat but we go again.