Clinical Trading Mastery Framework
CLINICAL TRADING MASTERY FRAMEWORK
All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced (by any means) without the expressed written permission of Stockonomy.
The information contained in “Clinical Trading Mastery Frameworks” is not meant to replace any specific advice you may have been given by a financial professional. The information is not intended as a substitute for professional financial input or action.
All trades involve some inherent risk. If you are unfamiliar with any exercise and unsure of the proper technique, seek supervised guidance from a qualified coach. Stockonomy disclaims any liability or loss in connection with the use of this program or any advice herein.
Table of Contents
CLINICAL [/ˈkli-ni-kəl/] adjective – efficient and unemotional; coldly detach. Done or performed with excellence and precision; exemplary.
About Clinical Trading Mastery
Clinical Trading Mastery is the culmination of 4 years of trial & error. It is meant for one specific group of investors – traders who are aspiring to become exemplary at their craft – financially independent, their own boss, and own their own scalable business. Essentially, this product was created to help you regain control of not only trading & finances, but to build habits to improve your everyday life.
My beginnings started from just the opposite. Going down the proven, safe, and “correct” path. When I discussed trading with friends and colleagues, I was told it was risky, a waste of time, and gambling with enough conviction that it seemed as if they had traded themselves. Initially, I hoped to add another source of income. Maybe make an extra 20% each year as my bank account grew from my 9-5 career.
I learned to swing trade from traders on Instagram, primarily Gerald Peters, @Fullauto11. He would host “Sunday Service” every Sunday morning for 1-2 hours teaching his system and answering questions on Instagram Live. I watched from start to finish every single week. 20-50% trade returns in 3-8 weeks were not unordinary.
My curiosity only grew. Options, day trading, day trading options, weeklies, lottos, Fibonacci, Wave Theory, and so much more. I had a lot of early success in trading, growing an account from 10k to 50k in less than 6 months.
But then it all blew up. My knowledge of the market continued to increase. I knew many different trading strategies. Read many books. But I was losing money more than ever before. It was a downward spiral. You could almost say I enjoyed the thrill of losing. I was trading to lose.
Everything I’ve learned in the markets has been through traders on Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube, along with my own personal experience and long hours of studying. Every single time frame of every ticker every single day. Why did the price move here, what happened there.
Social Media is a wonder of the 21st century. I owe so much of my education & knowledge to social media. From nutrition & exercise to fashion to cholesterol to trading to digital marketing to branding to entrepreneurship. But there was something missing with traders on social media. Everyone taught you how to trade. How to identify a trend. How to see a breakout. But no one teaches you how to execute your trades & trade profitably & sustainably. This is why I created Clinical Trading Mastery – to provide a template to turn education into clinical & profitable traders with a focus on profitable trading actions. Because at the end of the day, price is all that matters. We don’t need a why, just the objective fact that price is price.
At the end of the day, most people know what they should do. They just don’t do it. You know what you have to do. If you had to make money from trading what would you do? Stick to your stop losses. Size smaller. Trade objectively. Wait for A+ setups. Clinical Trading Mastery helps you get back to the Profitable Trading Activities.
Clinical Trading Mastery is the framework that will make it happen for you.
Introduction
Clinical Trading Mastery is inspired by Andy Frisella’s 75 Hard. 75 Hard is a challenge to build mental toughness. Andy often proclaims 75 Hard is NOT a fat loss or fitness challenge, but a mental discipline challenge.
To complete 75 Hard, you must complete 5 basic tasks each day for 75 days straight. If you miss a day, you start over. Here is Andy Frisella’s 75 Hard:
Follow a diet. This can be the diet of your choice, but it must be a structured plan designed with a physical improvement in mind.
You must complete two 45-minute workouts. One of those workouts MUST be outdoors.
Absolutely NO alcohol or cheat meals.
Take a progress picture every day.
Drink 1 gallon of water.
Read 10 pages of a book. **Audiobooks DO NOT COUNT.
ZERO COMPROMISE
ZERO SUBSTITUTION
You have until you go to sleep to complete the day.
If you fail, you MUST start over on Day 1.
I believe that mental discipline is the #1 reason 90% of traders fail. Traders know how to identify trends, support & resistance levels, breakouts & breakdowns, and trading patterns. But most really struggle to control their emotions and are crushed by fear & greed. 75 Hard, a mental discipline program geared around diet & fitness, inspired me to create Clinical Trading Mastery, a mental discipline program geared around trading.
Welcome
CLINICAL TRADING MASTERY IS NOT A TRADING COURSE. IT IS NOT A TRADING SYSTEM. IT IS NOT A TRADING STRATEGY.
CLINICAL TRADING MASTERY IS A TRANSFORMATIVE PROGRAM TO TRAIN YOUR EMOTIONAL CONTROL AND DISCIPLINE.
If you are looking for a new trading course or trade alerts this is not it.
This is a framework that will change your trading trajectory.
Are there educational trading strategies & materials? Yes!
Will you learn something new? Yes!
Will you become a better trader? Yes!
But, think of this as an Ironman for your emotions and discipline.
Execution is Everything
The Best Trade Caller I’ve Ever Known
(a story I came across on Twitter)
This is the story of someone who could read the market well but could not translate it into profitability.
Once upon a time, (around 15 years ago), I worked alongside a young man with an incredible talent for predicting market moves.
Every morning, I would sit down at my desk and every morning he would outline his expectations for the day.
“GBP will move up to this level and then it will put in a top for the day and close on its lows”, he would vehemently insist whilst simultaneously shoveling Coco Pops into his mouth and jabbing his finger at his screens.
Every day he anticipated a move or a reaction from a level and almost every day I would watch the market do what he said and marvel at how accurate this young lad was at reading it.
One morning, he told me he expected a solid move up in Crude Oil for the entire day.
It was, he declared, gesticulating wildly and spraying milk everywhere, time to get long in size and hold.
Although I didn’t have the same read, I kept my eyes on it and lo and behold, watched it move up for the entire day.
Around 4pm, as I was wrapping up and thinking about the long drive home, I congratulated him on the call and said something like: “What a day you must have had”.
With a dejected look on his face, he turned to me and said: “I’ve done my arse”.
I looked back at him puzzled.
“How?”, I asked. “The market has done exactly what you said it would!”
“Well, I knew it would go up…but I was waiting for a pullback…and it just wouldn’t pull back, so I missed half the move,” he said.
“Oh, I see.” I replied. “Well, you can’t catch them all”.
He nodded.
“But then I got frustrated and thought it looked overdone on the day, so I went short.” he added slowly.
I nodded, listening with bated breath.
“I got stopped out on it,” he continued.
“And it really frustrated me that I’d gone short when I knew my bias was long. So, then I flipped to long as originally intended and I doubled my size to recoup the loss…which was when Oil started to pull back…”
As he related the events of the day, I could see the pain on his face.
“…and now long at that extra size I knew I’d be in trouble if I was wrong, so I had to cut it and take another big loss…only to see it go straight up again.”
“Risk has just stopped me out for the day.” he ended miserably.
I didn’t know what to say.
Somehow offering a weak platitude about sticking to one’s plan seemed like it might only antagonize.
So, I just nodded sympathetically.
Now I wish I could tell you this was an isolated experience but sadly it wasn’t.
Nearly every day this lad, with his incredible read, anticipated the market well.
And nearly every day this lad subsequently sabotaged his reading, mainly I suspect, due to poor discipline.
The final straw came, one evening, when risk told him to stop trading for the day and he decided to carry on regardless.
A reckless, last-ditch attempt to try and dig himself out of a hole.
He left soon after.
That lad was one of the nicest people I have ever met.
I never saw him again.
But I like to imagine he solved his discipline issues, and he is out there somewhere, crushing these markets and living the dream.
Which leads me to conclude with the moral of this story.
Making calls is not the same as trading.
They are not even in the same ballpark.
This lad was the best caller I’ve ever seen and the worst trader.
I’d rather be average at calling and excel in execution.
Execution is everything.
Without it, your calls mean shit.
Oh, and while you’re reading:
If you have a clear read on a given day, make a plan and try and stick to the fucking thing.
Clinical Trading Mastery Framework
Clinical Trading Mastery is deliberately vague in nature. Trading is an art, not a science, and traders are not robots. We have unique personalities, behaviors, strengths & weaknesses, tendencies, and emotional triggers. There are a million ways to trade profitably. My hope is that this framework will help create the perfect system for you.
Clinical Trading Mastery is the culmination of my education and experiences put together into a brief, actionable section of the most important aspects of trading. Consistency. Execution. Discipline. Mental Well Being. Accountability.. This is what matters. In trading there are only 5 aspects that make or break your PnL. With Clinical Trading Mastery, we master each step with 1 simple action.
1 Strategy
Develop 1 trading strategy. Dial in and focus on trading strategy. Do you buy breakouts? On what timeframe? Where is your stop? Where do you sell for profit? What indicators are you using? Leave no room for subjectivity.
That means:
1 Trading Style
Day Trading, Swing Trading, Options Trading, etc
1 Entry Plan
Breakouts, Pullbacks, Scale in or All at Once
1 Exit Plan
Scale Out? How will you exit? Sell into strength at price targets or use trailing stop losses. Make sure to set your stop loss at your risk level defined in the next section.
1 Timeframe
You will use 1 timeframe to find trade ideas & 1 timeframe to manage your trade
1 Chart Setup
This means Candlesticks, Indicators, Colors, etc.
Note: The less indicators the better. Remember, we are getting back to basics. Basics are support & resistance & price action. NOT MA crossovers, RSIs, Stochastics, Golden Crosses, blah, blah.
Price action is king. We want to really dial in on price action.
You can get the Trading Worksheet to build your personable trading strategy here if you haven’t purchased yet.
Risk Management
You should never lose more than your R (Risk) on one trade.
Your R should be between 0.1%-5% of your trading account.
If you have a $10,000 account and you use 5% as your risk then…
Risk = 10,000 * 0.05 = $500
This DOES NOT mean your trade size is $500.
If you enter a contract at $2.00 and you place your stop loss at $1.50, then you are risking $0.50 per contract ($50).
Since your risk = $500 you should buy 10 contracts with a total position size of $2,000 ($500/$50 = 10 Contracts).
When you size based on your risk it is ESSENTIAL you stick to your stop loss. Never average down or lower your stop loss under any circumstance. Large positions are key to growing your account, however, it will be detrimental if you don’t stick to your loss. Set it and forget it.
The secret to successful trading is protecting your capital. It is also the hardest part. Focus on how much you can lose, not how much you can make.
Use the table below for example position sizing based on account size & risk:
Curated Watchlist
Limit your trades and charting to 5 tickers.
I have pre-selected a handful of tickers for you to choose from which meet the following conditions:
- High Liquidity
- Weekly Contracts
- Strong Correlation with the Overall Market
- Greater than $50B Market Cap
- Technology Sector
- Choose 1 Ticker from each of the following groups:
You can also follow the VIX for market analysis, trend bias, and confirmation. Remember 75% of stocks follow the market. Do not fight the trend. Do NOT fight the VIX.
Trading options allows you to trade the same stocks and learn their personalities. There is no reason to trade tickers not mentioned above. We want to make this process as simple & least time consuming as possible. Limiting the number of stocks you chart & trade allows you to focus 95% of your time and energy on execution which is all that matters.
Mental Clarity & Discipline
Many of you will ignore this thinking it has nothing to do with your trading. But it does. You need to incorporate discipline into your daily life. You need to be more intentional and tedious in everything you do day to day. As traders, discipline will break you no matter how great your win rate is.
The following is an excerpt from an Andy Frisella blog post. In case you haven’t recognized it yet, I’m a big fan:
Greatness requires discipline.
You need to practice discipline on a daily basis…
Which means you have to do things to build your discipline.
So what are ways you can practice discipline?
I would start with this simple exercise that I do every day…
Any time you have the chance to fix something or execute at the highest level possible…
You should do it.
If there’s a piece of trash on the ground … pick it up.
If there’s a spill or a mess that you come across … clean it.
If you still have work to do after your scheduled hours for the day … stay later to finish.
If you use the bathroom … make sure you wipe your piss off the toilet seat and wipe the sink clean.
If you say you’re going to wake up at 5 AM to work out, get up at 5 AM to work out.
You see…
The amount of discipline you exercise in your life will be directly reflected in your level of happiness.
And there is no better way to improve in all areas of life than by increasing your personal standards.
I’m talking about the standards you live by…
These standards will dictate the outcome of your entire life.
That’s a fact.
Funny enough. I noticed this in my daily life. I had a horrible habit of not taking things to 100%. I’d leave 1 spoon in the sink when cleaning dishes. I’d end my workout 1 set short. I’d leave one shirt to hang for later. I‘d draft blog posts and emails, only to let them sit in my drafts for days or weeks or forever.
I never noticed it until 1 day it crossed my mind. And I began to subconsciously notice it throughout my day-to-day life.
And then I noticed it in my trading. I’d be in a profitable trade and subconsciously think to myself, “The hard work is over.” Then it’d turn into a losing trade because I lost focus. In fact it happened earlier today as I’m writing this! If I want to become a better trader, I must create a new habit of taking everything to the finish line.
To be clear, it has taken real concentrated & intentional effort to fix this habit. And to be honest I struggle with it. But I am trying. Because putting that last fork away will improve my blog posts, my trading, my social life, and my aspirations.
Incorporate discipline into your life and be intentional about it. You will reap the benefits. I promise.
For this framework, you are going to workout daily. Daily workouts will not only incorporate discipline into your daily life, but they will give you mental clarity, energy boosts, and mental stamina.
Exercise doesn’t only change your body. It changes your mind & soul. Exercise provides an outlet to express suppressed energies. The release and direction of this energy toward something positive has benefits far beyond what can be discussed in a trading book.
- Exercise outperformed counseling for the treatment of emotional well-being across a 16-week program.
- Aerobic exercise reliably lowers anxiety in people who have clinical anxiety.
- High-Intensity exercise and resistance training more often than not lower anxiety even greater than aerobic exercise
- Exercise seems to be on par with therapy with regard to benefits, but expectedly doesn’t perform as well as exercise plus drug treatment combined.
“Healthy” is an outfit that looks different on everybody. In no way shape or form are we suggesting that we know the way toward mental health for everyone. However, we have a strong and admittedly biased belief that exercise is key to peace of mind. Movement is medicine, and although stress and anxiety are legitimate, you are not giving yourself a fighting chance if you’re not involved in regular physical activity.
Self care is not self indulgent, it’s self preservation.
The truth is, I’ve had some major trading losses. Moments I wanted to quit. Moments I was pissed at myself. The only thing that got me through and kept me going? Mental, emotional, and physical health that I owe to a daily workout routine. I don’t think I would’ve kept going if I was not physically active. Working out keeps my mind sharp.
Create a daily, 45-minute workout routine.
The workouts can be lifting weights, biking, running, competitive sports, etc. The minimum workout will be a fast paced walk. Look up Zone 2 Training if you are unsure what this is.
Journal & Accountability
The ultimate gift you can give yourself in life is holding yourself accountable. If you can do that, if you can really hold yourself accountable, you can do anything. Sometimes it’s really hard to hold yourself accountable.
Journal & track every trade you take.
I have built an app called TradeDash that works together with Clinical Trading Mastery. In fact, they were built together to help me follow the Clinical Trading Mastery Framework. TradeDash tracks and analyzes each trade and measures your performance and execution.
You can get a 30-Day FREE Trial of Stockonomy’s Journaling App TradeDash with a purchase of my trading tools here if you haven’t purchased yet. TradeDash features include a scrollable journal, an Instagram-like feed of your charts from every trade, a PnL calendar, and trade metrics.
Otherwise you can use a notebook, Excel, or Google Sheets. Regardless, journaling and tracking your trades is essential. It provides you with an accountability coach.
Ultimately this will make or break you. Record keeping ritualizes the trading process. Your journal is not only a blueprint for your trading success, but it is your most important tool in the gym.
The Clinical Trading Mastery Challenge
The Clinical Trading Mastery Challenge is to follow the 5 frameworks for 30 Trading Days (6 weeks in a row). If you fail to follow any one of the 5 frameworks you must start over from Day 1. Make it to Day 30, and I guarantee your trading will improve.
(1) 1 Strategy
You will stick to one trading plan. The same timeframe, indicators, charts, entries, breakouts, etc. You can purchase the trading worksheet here .
(2) Risk Management
You will never lose more than R (0.1%-5% of account) on a single trade.
(3) Tickers
You will select 5 tickers from my list. These are the only tickers you will trade & chart. Plus the VIX. Don’t even look at another chart.
(4) Workout
1-45 minute workout each trading day. Monday – Friday.
(5) Journal
You will journal & track every trade you take.
Remember, this is a discipline program. You are here because your risk management & emotional control is fucked up. Trading is not meant to be a thrilling, dopamine seeking event. Clinical Trading Mastery is the mastery of efficient and unemotional trading performed with excellence and precision.
Remember if you miss a day on any of the tasks above you must start over on Day 1.
Note: Not taking a trade is acceptable and you do not have to take a trade each of the 30 days. Not taking a trade is okay. But you should be watching the market. Part of trading discipline is being able to sit on your hands when your setup does not present itself.
Final Words
You have read the framework. It is simple. If you decide to do it, please keep track of your progress. Send me a message about how you went from emotional to Clinical Trading Mastery.
I get a lot of people who purchase the program but few who actually put in the work. If you are in this minority, I would genuinely appreciate you reaching out to let me know how it’s worked for you.
In the words of none other than Andy Frisella:
Zero Substitutions
Zero Compromise
If you do not follow the directions with PROPER INTENT exactly as they are defined you will not get the benefit this program provides.
The fact that you feel the need to make adjustments or make it “your version” is only enabling your entitlement and justification tendencies and serves as a perfect example of one of the many reasons you need this Mental Toughness Program.
If you come to a fork in the road where you have choices:
CHOOSE THE HARDEST OPTION.
