The First Candle Rule‼️
Be at your desk for the 9:30 AM EST open. On the 5-minute chart, let the first candle close (9:30–9:35). Mark its high and low. Those are your two key levels for the session.
From there, drop down to the 1-minute chart and wait for price to come back to one of those levels.
Don't rush the entry. You want to see price break through the level and leave a Fair Value Gap (FVG), with a clear separation between the wicks. A wick through the level or a candle closing beyond it isn't enough. You want to see displacement and a clear indication of momentum.
Next, wait for price to come back and retest the FVG. If the retest gives you an engulfing candle, that's your entry confirmation.
Keep it simple. Set your target at a fixed 3:1 risk-to-reward ratio and stick to the plan.
Two levels. One confirmation process. No chasing.
Join the Wallstreet Bullies Paid Discord to learn more about these strategies and watch me execute them live in real time.
https://t.co/vM1wmasD2r
“Excuse Me Miss” is a storytelling record.
It just so happens to be the story of him courting Beyoncé & people don’t view it as “storytelling” because it’s true.
People of Florida. Y’all better hold your damn head high. We broke state legislature super majorities because we drove turnout while everyone wrote us off.
We have work to do sure, but let’s celebrate the fact we won 17 seats down ballot.
I’m an organizer. And I look forward to getting back to what I love and know best. Organizing THE HELL out of my state.
Let’s get to work!
RIP Patrick Stewart 💔
Thank you for playing Charles Xavier and making us fall in love with the character. No one can ever replace you in this role.
It's heartbreaking that you won't get to see Avengers: Doomsday, a movie you were part of.
The one and only Professor Xavier.
my trading buddy celebrates red days harder than green days
seriously
loses $2k, takes himself to dinner
makes $4k, eats ramen at home
i thought he was insane until he explained the psychology that made him $500k last year:
you're celebrating wins and depressing over losses
you're conditioning your brain backwards
here's the reward system that keeps you broke:
WHAT YOU DO NOW:
win trade: feel amazing, celebrate, post about it
lose trade: feel terrible, hide, hate yourself
YOUR BRAIN LEARNS:
winning = dopamine hit
losing = pain
RESULT:
you become addicted to the winning feeling
you chase winners (need that dopamine NOW)
you hold losers too long (can't accept the pain)
you take trades that aren't there because sitting out feels like missing a dopamine hit
you just programmed yourself to fail
here's what profitable traders do:
INVERSE REWARD SYSTEM:
win trade: stay neutral. it's just data
lose trade properly: CELEBRATE. you followed rules
YOUR BRAIN LEARNS:
winning = normal, no big deal
following rules = reward
RESULT:
you're not addicted to winning
you let winners run (no need for immediate dopamine)
you cut losers fast (still get reward for following rules)
you sit out garbage days without anxiety because not trading IS following rules
the truth is really simple:
i don't celebrate P&L. i celebrate EXECUTION
if i check the candle profile and the wick doesn't support expansion and i close my laptop - that's a win. i followed the filter. most traders would have forced a trade anyway because their brain needed the action
if the previous session didn't reverse and there's no setup at 9:30 and i take zero trades - that's a win. the system said no trade. i listened. the guy who took 6 trades that day lost $3k trying to manufacture setups that didn't exist
if i see NQ break out but YM doesn't confirm and i DON'T enter - that's a win. the divergence said the breakout is fake. sitting out saved me from a wick-out that would have cost $1,200
if i follow every rule perfectly and still lose $1k because the market did some shit nobody could predict - that's a WIN
if i break my rules, add size emotionally, skip the confirmation, and make $2k because i got lucky - that's a LOSS
"so you're happy when you lose money?"
i'm happy when i EXECUTE correctly. the money follows execution. if i chase money, i fuck up execution. if i chase perfect execution, money comes automatically
this is how you should journal:
TRADE 1: -$890
notes: "session profile confirmed continuation. gap was aligned. SMT confirmed. V-shape was there. entered correctly. stop hit exactly where planned. market reversed off a higher timeframe level i didn't see"
rating: 10/10 trade
reward: went to nice dinner
TRADE 2: +$2,340
notes: "no session confirmation. candle profile was a large wick. entered anyway because i felt like it was going to work. got lucky"
rating: 3/10 trade
punishment: no trading next day
REWARD yourself for the loss
PUNISH yourself for the win
because one had perfect process
one had terrible process
results don't matter. process matters
implemented this for 90 days:
OLD SYSTEM (reward outcomes):
celebrated wins → became addicted to the winning feeling
depressed over losses → avoided taking stops
forced trades on no-setup days → needed the dopamine
result: held losers, cut winners, overtraded
net: -$8,200
NEW SYSTEM (reward execution):
celebrated following the system regardless of outcome
celebrated sitting out when the filters said no trade
punished rule breaks even when they made money
result: let winners run, cut losers fast, took 60% fewer trades
net: +$27,600
same strategy
same setups
same market
different reward system
here's the framework:
GOOD EXECUTION + LOSS = REWARD YOURSELF
you followed the system. you checked the candle. you checked the session. you checked the assets. everything aligned. you entered. it lost anyway. that is a PERFECT trade. pay yourself. nice dinner, movie, whatever
BAD EXECUTION + WIN = PUNISH YOURSELF
you skipped the filters. you entered without confirmation. you traded outside your session. you got lucky. you just reinforced every bad habit that will blow your account next month. punish: no trading tomorrow. no reward
your brain doesn't know P&L
it knows REWARDS and PUNISHMENTS
right now you're rewarding P&L
that's why you're broke
start rewarding EXECUTION
watch what happens
I teach the exact trading system i use inside my free Discord. Real entries off the levels. Real data on what pre-session preparation does to your P&L
Link in bio.
Every time a hurricane hits Florida a guy I know wires $200,000 in 0% credit card money to a roofing crew and makes half a million dollars in 90 days
He doesn't own a roofing company. He doesn't own a ladder. He can't name a single type of shingle. He's a middleman with a phone, a credit stack, and absolutely zero shame
Here's the play. When a Category 3+ hurricane hits, every house in a 50-mile radius needs a new roof. Insurance covers it. But the homeowner has to pay the deductible ($5,000-$15,000) and front the contractor costs before the insurance reimbursement arrives. That reimbursement takes 60-120 days
The homeowners are desperate. Their ceiling is leaking. Mold is growing. They need a roof NOW, not in 4 months when State Farm finally cuts the check
He shows up 48 hours after the storm. Knocks on doors. "I'll coordinate your entire roof replacement. I handle the contractor, the insurance claim, the supplement negotiation, everything. You pay your deductible and sign an Assignment of Benefits. I do the rest"
The Assignment of Benefits (AOB) transfers the insurance payment from the homeowner to his company. When State Farm cuts the check 90 days later, it goes directly to him
His cost structure per roof:
Roofing crew (subcontracted): $8,000-$14,000 depending on size
Materials (purchased on 0% business cards): $6,000-$10,000
Permit and inspection: $500-$800
Total cost: $14,500-$24,800 per roof
Insurance payout per roof (after supplement negotiations where he argues for more money from the insurer): $28,000-$45,000
Average profit per roof: $15,000-$20,000
In 90 days after a major hurricane he completes 25-35 roofs. At $17,500 average profit: $437,500-$612,500
The 0% credit cards fund everything upfront. Materials on Chase. Crew deposits on Amex. Equipment rentals on Capital One. He's floating $150,000-$200,000 at any given time. The insurance checks arrive 60-120 days later and pay the cards to zero
His annual income depends entirely on how many storms hit. A quiet hurricane season: $200,000. An active season: $800,000+. The year Hurricane Ian hit Fort Myers he cleared $1.1 million in 5 months
"isn't storm chasing predatory"
The alternative for the homeowner is calling 40 roofing companies who are all booked for 6 months, living under a tarp, watching mold eat their drywall, and fighting with their insurance company alone. He shows up within 48 hours, puts a crew on the roof within a week, and handles the insurance nightmare so the homeowner doesn't have to
His Yelp reviews are 4.8 stars. The homeowners love him. The insurance companies hate him because he's too good at supplement negotiations (arguing that the damage is worse than the adjuster estimated, which it usually is)
"what about when there's no hurricane"
He does the same play with hailstorms in Texas and tornado damage in the Midwest. There's always a natural disaster somewhere. He follows the weather like a hedge fund follows earnings reports
He has a weather app that sends alerts for any storm system with destructive potential. When it hits, he's on a plane within 12 hours with a laptop and a stack of business cards (both kinds)
"this has to require a license"
Depends on the state. He holds a general contractor license in Florida ($300 + exam). In Texas he operates as a "roofing sales organization" which has different requirements. In some states he operates as a public adjuster ($1,000 license). He holds whatever license the state requires to legally write the contract
His crew is a team of 8 roofers from Guatemala who've been with him for 4 years. They travel to whatever state just got hit. They can roof a house in 2 days. He pays them $4,000-$6,000 per house and they do 30 houses per storm
He told me "everyone acts like disaster recovery is charity work. It's not. It's the most profitable trade in America and it happens on a schedule published by the National Hurricane Center. I just read the schedule"
Mother Nature is his lead generation. State Farm is his customer. Chase is his bank. The homeowner gets a roof. He gets $500K. The only loser is the insurance company who priced their premiums too low lmfaooo
I've coached over 30 Olympic gold medals.
I've worked with some of the greatest athletes in history.
Here are the lessons I wish more people understood:🧵
Been watching the Jay-Z doc with Rick Rubin and something about it has been fucking with me.
His music has basically been a diary for the world.
The dad who left. The hustling. The fear. The regret. The marriage. Decades of his life put into songs for everybody to hear.
And hearing him talk about 4:44 made something click for me.
There’s a difference between expressing yourself and actually letting yourself be known.
I think art can blur that line in a really interesting way.
You can tell the world something deeply personal through a song and still control the whole interaction. You decide what gets said. How it gets said. When people hear it.
You don’t have to sit across from somebody you love and watch their face while you say it.
A song can’t interrupt you. It can’t misunderstand you. It can’t ask the question you weren’t ready for.
That’s a very different kind of vulnerability from the one that happens in a room with another person.
Jay called 4:44 the album he was always afraid to make because it was so vulnerable and contained his real interior thoughts. He said he can barely listen to it now.
But something else he said recently really stayed with me.
He was talking about going through a difficult period and said he needed the people around him more than ever because normally when he felt that way, he would make music and it would be therapeutic.
I don’t know what that means for him personally and I don’t want to pretend I do.
But it made me think about how many different levels there are to vulnerability.
You can tell the truth. You can understand the truth.
And then there’s sitting in front of somebody who actually matters to you and letting them see you in it before you’ve figured everything out. Before you’ve turned it into something coherent. Before you know what the lesson is.
That shit is hard.
And I think anybody who creates for a living probably has to be careful with this because the work can become such a convincing substitute.
You can write the essay. Make the song. Record the podcast. Explain yourself beautifully.
Everybody can feel like they know you.
Meanwhile the people actually closest to you might only ever get the finished version too.
That’s the part I’ve been sitting with.
Does all this vulnerability on the page actually bring me closer to the people in my life?
Do the people closest to me get to see the version before I’ve figured it all out?
Or does being really good at expressing myself sometimes save me from having to be known?
That last question has been fucking with me.