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Hi there.
---I have recently become slightly profitable after many years of hard work. Like many traders, I lost a few small accounts in the beginning. Gave "prop" trading a very short try. Some time ago I took a huge step and started treating this as my full time job. I live in a shack, with a dirt floor and a super computer in the corner. I started managing my current account about 2 years ago. I lost about 20k as quickly as I could. It has taken until now but I am currently up ~20k with better than bad risk management. I now have a problem with increasing my profits. Some may call this a good problem to have and they are correct. Here I will attempt to log my journey as I become active in this community again.
-About my current trading
I use half of my money for longer term swing type trading. And that longer term section is split into several groups. Some is automated, others are hedges. Right now this section is the majority of my profits. But this section is not why I am here today. I do have plans to work on this eventually but I would like to focus on my futures trading
The other half is futures trading where I mostly scalp MES, MNQ, M2K, MYM, MGC, and MCL. By scalp I mean trades that are mostly less than 1 minute long. I am not against longer term futures trades I just don't have a valid strategy right now. This is the section of my trading that I want to improve the most. I have a great win rate and I can see much promise in scalping. The problem is that I don't really know where to start in order to increase my profits. Below I go into my latest efforts in this further.
-Below will be my first post and I will try to post as often as I can.
My first attempt to increase my scalping profits did not work out at all. It would help to describe my current strategy for scalping. I use a 5min candlestick chart. On this chart I plot key areas such as Previous day's OHLC, Previous month's OHLC, ORB, and S/R zones. I also use RSI and a volume indicator that breaks up buyers and sellers on the horizontal. Over a long time I have become very good at understanding price action. I wait for price to reach a key area and profit from the short move that often happens unless price action shows a sweep coming. On pull backs I might extend my profit a bit more but mostly I take 3-20 points on the MNQ. I dont worry about how far or how long price might break away from a key area. I just take the initial move. That is the best thing about scalping. This was working great but I wanted to make more. I had little room to increase the amount of contracts due to margin. I could have watched the markets for 24 hours to get every move but that has limits also. And here is where I went wrong. i thought that if I learned something new and used different charts, that I would just be able to trade more and increase my frequency of trades. I spent a lot of time learning about footprint charts and volume profile with the idea that I would somehow get a clearer view than what I already had. Those are great tools but adding more stuff is never the answer. I am now feeling uncomfortable when I load my charts. I have taken my stress level to the moon and now I feel like shitting down everything, plotting my own charts and picking stocks form the paper. I now sit with the realization that complexity was not the answer. I now will clean up my charts to what I had before adn just tradde until I gain back the little bit I lost. But my problem remains. How to increase profits in day trading? I will now start the project and journal it here. One thing has become clear. Without discussion, I tend to become fixated on the wrong things. I will share what trades I take from here on out adn what mistakes I made or lessons I learned. Eventually, I will work on the million other things I have planned to do. I don't know why it took so long to start a real journal but here I am now. Thanks for listening.
By scaling up. Do the same thing, but with more contracts. This is psychologically difficult. Therefore I always trade with one contract (called unit) in simulation (=leader account) and use Flowbots Replikanto (on NinjaTrader) to replicate that to trade multiple contracts on multiple (follower) accounts. This way, I always do the same thing. Periodically I adjust the number of contracts in Replikanto depending on my PnL. One can use a form of the Kelly Criterion for that.
It's also possible to trade one contract NQ in sim leader account replicated to multiple MNQ contracts on the follower accounts. You will have slippage though.
Maybe there are ways to do something like this on TradingView as well.
I have looked into trade copying programs but not for the reasons you stated. I never thought about using them to trick your brain in the way you say. Very interesting. I have slowly been building up contracts and will continue to do so. Still, I want to explore other ways to increase R multiple. And I suppose there is still this fear in the back of my head that says, "you have just been lucky". Holy crap I hate those voices. Thank you for you input. I am wanting to move away from Tradingview and IBKR eventually. They are not the greatest for futures trading. And a trade copier is on the list eventually as well. Work, work, work. There is never enough time.
There is something to be said for comfort and familiarity. Returning to my old bread and butter scalp strategy has brought some much needed clarity. I should cool my jets just a bit and remember that the next big loser can be right around the corner. So I found out volume profile and footprint were not for me. The problem still remains that I want to make more money per day. I do plan on increasing amount of contract in one form or another but I must take it slow. I keep telling myself that I will increase once I have proof that my method works. Soon. Thanks for listening again. Below are my trades for the past couple days. I will include some pictures but it may be hard to see which trades were which. A lot of these trades were just me trying to get back in the groove. I will attempt to streamline the process of documenting my trades right after they happen. But with scalping it can be hard.
Also, I am looking for a long term MNQ trade when/if we get a break out of the ascending triangle.(see picture)
TRADES-
Ticker Shares L/S Entry Date Average Price Exit Date Average Close Price Net P&L
MNQH6 -9 Short 1/16/2026 2:34 PM 25702 1/16/2026 2:34 PM 25698 69.840
MNQH6 9 Long 1/16/2026 2:08 PM 25739 1/16/2026 2:09 PM 25744 74.340
MNQH6 9 Long 1/16/2026 1:49 PM 25714 1/16/2026 1:50 PM 25718 69.840
MNQH6 14 Long 1/16/2026 1:31 PM 25720 1/16/2026 1:31 PM 25724 106.14
ESH6 -1 Short 1/16/2026 1:17 PM 6989.2 1/16/2026 1:18 PM 6989.0 8.0000
MNQH6 -8 Short 1/16/2026 1:10 PM 25701 1/16/2026 1:10 PM 25698 34.080
MNQH6 -8 Short 1/15/2026 8:31 PM 25775 1/15/2026 8:32 PM 25778 -57.920
MNQH6 4 Long 1/15/2026 6:51 PM 25743 1/15/2026 8:08 PM 25774 242.04
ESH6 -1 Short 1/15/2026 11:02 AM 7010.2 1/15/2026 11:06 AM 7009.2 45.500
MNQH6 8 Long 1/15/2026 10:45 AM 25851 1/15/2026 10:45 AM 25852 21.080
ESH6 -1 Short 1/15/2026 10:39 AM 7007.0 1/15/2026 10:43 AM 7005.2 83.000
ESH6 1 Long 1/15/2026 10:37 AM 7011.5 1/15/2026 10:39 AM 7007.2 -217.00
MNQH6 8 Long 1/15/2026 6:56 AM 25842 1/15/2026 6:57 AM 25844 14.080
MNQH6 8 Long 1/15/2026 6:41 AM 25839 1/15/2026 6:42 AM 25845 92.080
MGCG6 4 Long 1/14/2026 8:31 PM 4595.2 1/14/2026 8:33 PM 4596.8 57.040
MNQH6 -4 Short 1/14/2026 8:03 PM 25630 1/14/2026 8:04 PM 25634 -40.960
What a pain to try and copy trades over. Does anyone have a better way? MNQH2026_2026-01-16_14-46-51_35f37
Just a quick update on my trades and what steps I am taking to improve my current strategy. Upon returning to my only profitable scalping strategy, after trying all sorts of different things, I was winning almost every trade. Perhaps it was the elation at realizing what I cannot do. I am sure some of you can attest to the great feeling one gets from figuring out a major psychological problem. I was even doing little dances and shooting fake pistols in the air. But I knew a big turd was on the horizon and it was inevitable. Almost a bit of a relief to get it out of the way. Below i will list my plan to improve what I already do. I will also list my trades where I left off in the last post. Please forgive any lack of information on the trades. I just recently figured out the best way to record scalp trades the way I want. In the future I will post more about them.
Improvements started on New Praevis Scalp Strategy(the name of my grand strategy)
1. Started a per trade log that can be used quickly without interrupting trade flow too much. I also plan to review this daily.
2. Did a full review on what I did wrong in searching out a perfect scalp strategy
3. Full review and study of all my current indicators
4. Make a list of all my current strengths/weaknesses with this strategy.
5. Find out exactly what it feels like to trade in "the zone" and try to think of ways to force/initiate it. (I plan on talking about this much more in the future)
TRADES( I dont want to write up too much detail right now until II find a way to streamline it better)(I am tired)(all are MNQ)
1.I traded a total 13 times from 01/18/2026 until today and my total P&L since last post= 625.02 USD
2. Largest loser=344.94
3. Largest Gain=450.54
4. Lessons learned today-Always watch price action before placing a trade. Don't enter with just a glance. If you're going to trade, trade. If you're going to type, type.
5. P&L since journal start =1226.20
Again thanks for listening and I swear I will try to get a standard way of reporting my trades and journaling.
For some reason today, I thought I could get all fancy and catch the bottom of the NQ. Somewhere there was a wicked little mite in my head that said, "since you have been doing so good at scalping, lets screw that up". I was down around 3500 for the day at one point. Because when you are trying to become a more profitable scalper it is always a good idea to enter a giant who-knows-what trade with no plan or strategy. Just "looks like bottom to me" and "Ill hold til I make enough". And the worst thing about it is the times those terrible plans have worked because it really messes with your head. But after many years of pain and battle scars, I have become better than bad at digging myself out of a hole. In the first year or two of trading a trader is supposed to walk away after such a shameful display. But at some point you must get back in the fight. The day is still young but I was able to scalp my way out of that hole. FOMO my way in and scalp my way out. If anything this proves the validity of my scalping but I think this wont be the last time I convince myself that I can occasionally be a swing trader without a plan. Again, thanks for listening and I will post the exact number from today in another edition
That realization right there is worth more than most trading courses. You've got a working system with a strong win rate -- the instinct to "learn more" almost torpedoed it. Classic pattern.
Here's what the research on scaling profitable scalpers consistently shows:
1. Session selectivity beats screen time
You don't need to catch every move. The first 30-60 minutes after RTH open on MNQ/MES typically offer the cleanest setups at your key levels. Same for the 2:00-3:00 PM window. Trading only these windows with full focus often produces better results than watching all day and taking mediocre setups.
2. A+ setups only at increased size
You mentioned margin constraints. Rather than trading more contracts on every setup, what if you identified your top 20% of setups and only scaled size on those? Same complexity, same system -- just more selective about when you push chips forward.
3. Capital accumulation is the unsexy answer
With 20k recovered through consistency, you're building the account that eventually removes the margin constraint. Compounding a working edge beats forcing a broken one.
4. Product rotation, not addition
You're already watching MGC and MCL. These have different rhythm than the index micros. When MNQ is chopping at a level, sometimes MCL is trending clean. Same skills, different tape -- no new indicators required.
The fact you caught yourself before the complexity spiral did real damage says a lot. Most don't.
Looking forward to following this journal.
Have a good weekend!
-- Fi "The edge isn't in the indicators -- it's in knowing when to sit on your hands."
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Fi provides educational information on a best-effort basis only. You are responsible for your own trading decisions and for verification of all data. This message is not trading advice.
It has been too long and I apologize. Spent the start of the week moving snow. Made a few very good trades but starting sometime tuesday, futures markets started to become unfit for my strategy. Something does seem strange with how price is rising so quickly in the NQ with very little news besides world tensions subsiding. My recent screw up has taught me that I should never force a trade. I will have updated numbers soon. They are not good when you factor in commissions. My longer term trades have been flat as well with my short AI losses balanced out by my hedges. On top of that I was foolish enough to help out a friend and rent them a room. I really underestimated how much I love being alone(especially when trading). It has been hell for me and a major mistake. Asked them to leave but I gave them plenty of time because I feel like a jerk. Anyway, I can't help but feel like letting someone into my space has hurt my trading. You can see the equity line drop since the day they moved in. Thats enough rant. Thanks for listening and more updates coming soon
Hi There,
It can be hard at times to visualize progress in trading. A large failure can overshadow all the small victories. A feeling of hopelessness sets in and can be hard to drive away. I think I work hard. One thing I love about trading is the inherent idea that someone's level of ability can directly result in an equal reward. In trading, the better you get, the more you can make. There are not many jobs like that out there. At this rate I would say that my hourly income from trading would be about $1.50 a day. And yet I still push on after every failure because I really do love this. The point I was trying to make is that somehow I must admit that the small victories do outweigh the failures. But do they?
This is a record of my recent trades since the 20th.All MNQ and all commissions factored in(I am still working on a standardized way to report here)
1. Jan 21st to Jan 23rd=-1665 and a total of 87 trades!
-This was my black eye period where I failed in all the worst ways
2. Jan 25th to Jan 30th=975.74 and a total of 20 trades for the whole week!!!
-Do you see a pattern here with less trades but more profit. These are the small wins I mean. Just noticing this was a huge event for me. I purposefully made a point to trade less and put more value on each trade.
3. Totals since start of journal=536.94
One gem from this week is the picture below
-this was from Jan 29th at 1205
Price was building under previous month's close at 25735.50 and it became clear that buyers were in control. At the same time RSI was trying to cross 50 and pointing up. Price action too was clean and directional. I figured that if price made it over PMC, that it would jump quite a bit. My only regret was not holding longer. A continuous problem I have is not holding onto trades long enough
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Fi provides educational information on a best-effort basis only. You are responsible for your own trading decisions and for verification of all data. This message is not trading advice.
