When not to trade

7 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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0:54

In this segment, the speaker presents a mental model for filtering trade ideas, emphasizing that if a trader can argue both sides of a trade, the trade should be avoided. He illustrates that the most profitable trades are those that are unmistakably clear, with higher, middle, and lower timeframes all aligned in the same direction and any relevant news events supporting the move. Such trades are labeled as "A+ setups" and are taken without hesitation. The speaker asserts that a trader’s overall earnings are directly proportional to the number of these high‑quality A+ trades they capture, making the identification and execution of clear, multi‑timeframe aligned setups the core driver of trading success.

Chapters

This is going to be a very good mental model for you in general to think about filtering through trade ideas. Whenever you can make an argument for both sides of the equation, the answer is going to be no. Because if you really break down or just think back to some of the best trades that you've ever got, right, the trades where, you know, with a single trade you basically make enough money and you're done for the week. If you just look back to the best trades that you have ever taken, think back to it. How clear were they? Chances are it was super clear. Where, okay, the higher timeframe is pointing down, the lower timeframe is pointing down, the middle timeframe is pointing down, Trump is about to come out to speak or whatever. Like everything seems to be aligned. And when you see a trade like that, you're like, oh yeah, you know, you basically just come to the conclusion that, okay, this is— there is no other way for me to explain this other than the fact that this is an A+ setup. So I'm gonna take it. Of course I'm gonna take it 'cause it's an A+ setup. So those are the best trades that you take. And the beautiful thing about trading is that the amount of money that you make from trading is directly correlated to how many of these A+ trades that you manage to take.