Summary — key points from the ICT

– Morning routine (practical): hydrate (20 oz water), eat a half banana for potassium, stretch. Then review your market prep (economic calendar, weekly analysis) and have a pen/pad for notes.

– Pre-session checklist: always consult an economic calendar (filter medium/high-impact events and relevant pairs/instruments). Revisit your prior (weekend) weekly analysis to see if anything changed while you were away.

– Weekly-bias framework: pick a weekly bias on the weekend by asking whether the coming weekly candle’s largest expansion is likely up or down (not predicting the weekly close). That bias becomes your primary “buy model” or “sell model” for intraday sizing and trade selection.

– Institutional flow and liquidity: markets are driven by large, slow institutional flows. Trade setups are often the result of engineered moves (opposite, short-term drops or spikes during news) that draw retail liquidity — these are the opportunities to trade into (e.g., runs for sell-side liquidity when you want to go long).

– Entry concepts: look for runs into: (a) lows that draw liquidity, or (b) fair value gaps / imbalances (SIBI/CBI concepts). Use intraday timeframes (15m as a bellwether, down to 1m for execution examples) but always frame trades within the weekly/daily context.

– Position sizing & leverage rules: use maximum leverage for trades that align with your weekly bias. If you trade against the weekly bias, reduce size to ~50% (or less). Build positions in the direction of institutional flow; avoid large leverage on counter-bias trades.

Trade-management rules (practical discipline):
– Use stop losses (you can’t know outcomes).
– Two-trade morning rule: if you lose two specified trades (first larger, second ≤50% size), stop trading for the day (or PM session). After a losing day, reduce risk on next trading day (e.g., trade 2 contracts if prior losses were 10 & 5 until you recover a set percentage).
– Take partials, leave a small runner to target liquidity; don’t overstay positions or turn intraday guesses into long swing exposures.

– Loss & drawdown mindset: losing trades are inevitable; manage how you lose, log every trade, and rebuild systematically. Backtesting, journaling and repetitive practice create “pseudo-experience” and pattern recognition.

– Market choice & study advice: concepts transfer across asset classes (Forex, indices, commodities), but for real-time examples study US index futures (ES/NQ) since data and examples are easy to observe. Forex can be highly manipulated and less consistent; trade what fits your location, regulation and comfort.

– Career / lifestyle advice: don’t quit your job until you have consistent profitability for ~2 years, two years of living expenses saved, and recommended minimum trading equity (~$100k). Avoid trying to hurry success for social media or funded-account fame.

– Teaching philosophy: develop your own adapted model — don’t blindly copy. Specialize in one (or two) markets and timeframes that suit your personality. Embrace the discipline of backtesting and journaling; patience and repetition are required.

– Current environment & final cautions: markets have become tougher and more event-driven recently; expect choppiness and false moves. Be conservative, stick to rules, and avoid chasing hype or “get-rich-quick” bootcamp promises.