This week, we had the pleasure of speaking with PJ Trades, a full-time NQ futures day trader with over a decade of market experience. PJ has built a reputation for his structured, process-driven approach and his ability to turn years of early struggles into long-term consistency.
He shared his trading journey, from the first years of losses and break-even results to finally finding his edge in futures. Along the way, PJ explained how journaling, discipline, and focusing on process over profits helped him move past setbacks, avoid revenge trading, and build a repeatable system that keeps him consistent in all market conditions.
PJ’s fascination with the markets started young. The image of Wall Street, the bull, and the world of finance always intrigued him. Through school, he took business classes that deepened his interest, and by 2016, he decided to give trading a serious shot.
He began in the forex markets, trading currencies during the London session. That curiosity quickly grew into an obsession. Over the years, he experimented with:
But it wasn’t until 2019–2020, during COVID lockdowns, that he discovered futures trading.
“For me it was the regulation. In the forex industry, it’s literally the wild west — manipulation, fraud, all of it. I wanted a more regulated market. Futures had no spreads, low fees, and the way NASDAQ moves just fit my style perfectly.”
That’s when he found his home in NQ futures.
Trading success didn’t come quickly for PJ. He openly admits it took four full years just to break even.
“It took me four years to hit break-even. During those years, I wanted to quit so many times. Trading tests your mental strength and psychology like nothing else.”
For four years, he wasn’t making money, he was simply fighting to stop losing. What kept him in the game?
By year four, he finally reached the break-even point, and from there, his growth began to snowball.
In his early years, PJ had no process. He jumped into trades randomly and blew accounts.
“Back then, I had zero process. I just threw money at the market and got my butt kicked. Now my process is robotic, methodical, and boring. If you’re too excited when trading, you’re probably gambling.”
Today, PJ runs a highly structured process:
His advice to new traders is clear:
One of PJ’s favorite setups is a reversal model that combines liquidity sweeps, sharp reversals, and inverse fair value gaps (FVGs).
Step 1: Liquidity Sweep
Step 2: V-Shaped Recovery
Step 3: Inverse Fair Value Gap (FVG)
Step 4: Target Liquidity
“We’re sweeping liquidity, we’re getting a V-shape, flipping the FVG, and targeting a clean draw. That’s the model.”
Confluences
Not every sweep is equal. PJ is quick to dismiss shallow wicks as noise.
“A tiny wick above a high is not a sweep for me. I need candle closures beyond the level, followed by a V-shape. That’s what validates it.”
This filtering keeps him focused on high-quality setups with structure, not false signals.
If there’s one practice PJ credits for his consistency, it’s journaling. He documents every trade with screenshots, notes on why he entered, and a review of whether the setup worked. Over time, this builds a library of patterns he can recognize in real time.
“This is pattern recognition trading. Screenshots and notes build muscle memory. Journaling is boring, but it’s the boring work that pays.”
Journaling also keeps him disciplined. By forcing himself to record every trade, he naturally avoids overtrading.
“If you’re taking 54 trades a day, good luck journaling all of them. That’s how you force yourself to slow down.”
Many traders approach the day with a fixed bullish or bearish outlook. PJ avoids this completely.
“Daily bias anchors you. If you’re bullish but the market shows bearish, pride keeps you stuck. When I switched to reactionary trading, things exploded for me.”
Instead of predicting, he reacts to what the market shows in real time.
PJ views the economic calendar as the market’s script. Early and mid-month, events like CPI, PPI, and NFP drive volatility and opportunity. By the end of the month, conditions slow, so he switches into defense mode.
“This calendar is your compass. Beginning of the month, attack. End of the month, protect. Don’t trade blind.”
He never trades the release itself — he waits for the data to hit, watches the market’s reaction, and only then looks for setups.
PJ adjusts his approach throughout the month:
PJ doesn’t follow ICT in its full complexity. Instead, he distilled the mentorship into the concepts that mattered most for him: draws on liquidity and fair value gaps.
“The two best things you can learn are draws on liquidity and fair value gaps. If you can get those right, you can build a whole strategy around them.”
For PJ, the mental side of trading outweighs everything else.
“Psychology is 80–90% of trading. You can be the best analyst in the world, but if you can’t control yourself, you’ll blow accounts. It won’t be the market — it’ll be you.”
He frames his mindset with a few simple principles:
If traders take only one thing from PJ’s story, it’s this:
“Start journaling seriously. Every trade, every reason, every result. Track your stats. The clarity you’re missing is in the journal you’re not keeping.”
