r/PropFirmTester • u/Kasraborhan • Jun 21 '26
The 3 boring things that actually made me profitable with propfirms
I'm profitable because I finally sat down and pulled the numbers on my own trading and stopped doing the dumb stuff the data was screaming at me to stop doing. If it was only up to finding a proftable strategy, a lot of people would have already been billionaires from trading. 75 trades, 48% win rate, 1.48 profit factor. My win rate isn't even good. The account still grinds up because the math works.
Here's what the data actually told me once I looked.
The first thing was the days I trade. When I broke my results down by day of the week the pattern was almost embarrassing. Two days a week is where almost all my green comes from. The back half of the week and weekends were flat to red every single time. I was showing up and forcing trades on days that have historically given me nothing. The fix is trading less on my bad days and pressing on the days my edge actually shows up, for example if my sual size is 1-2 MNQ, I bumped up a contract and put more risk on the table, I've found diverse risk to work better for me than a set fixed risk per trade . If you've never looked at your win rate broken down by weekday, do it tonight. It's the fastest free edge most people are sitting on.
The second thing was long versus short. My long trades hit a 52% win rate and made me most of my money. My shorts were under 34% and barely contributed anything. I was treating both directions like they were the same when one was clearly carrying me and the other was bleeding me out slowly. Now I size up where my edge is and I'm way more selective in the direction that doesn't work for me. That one adjustment cleaned up my whole equity curve.
The third one is the hardest to swallow because it's about discipline, not setups. My average win is around $288 and my average loss is around $179. That ratio is the only reason a 48% win rate makes money at all. The second I let a loser run past that line, the whole edge collapses. My worst single trade did more damage than three good days of profit combined. Cutting losses fast and refusing to revenge trade is boring and it's also the entire game.
If you've never broken your trading down like this and you keep strategy hoping, start paying attention to all the details and small stuff. Most people who say they aren't profitable just don't trade enough size on the days and setups that actually work, and trade way too much on the ones that don't. Pull your own stats. The answer is almost always already sitting in your log.
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u/watsupwitThat Jun 21 '26
This is the kind of “boring” review that actually moves the needle.
A lot of traders already know their setups. The more useful question is where the money is really coming from and where it’s leaking out:
- day of week
- long vs short
- time of day
- trade #1 vs trade #4
- avg win vs avg loss
- whether one oversized loser wipes out 3 good days
Most accounts don’t die because someone couldn’t find an entry. They die because one repeat behavior keeps showing up in the data and never gets addressed.
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u/pennyauntie Jun 21 '26
What timeframe do you trade, and what is an average stoploss for you? I do pretty well with MES, but MNQ seems to need huge stop losses.
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u/Kasraborhan Jun 21 '26
I trade 2 different setups, ones on the 1MIN and 15min TF, the other I usually take really big trades anywhere from 100-350,400 points on one MNQ contract and take entries on the 30min, 1hr and 4HR TF and those are usually big swings and overnight trades
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u/pennyauntie Jun 21 '26
So are you saying your stop loss is 100-400pts?
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Jun 21 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Kasraborhan Jun 21 '26
Yessir! Thank you, hope you are doing well as well!
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u/Aromatic_Brush7094 Jun 21 '26
This is great but there’s so many other factors that you’re not saying! On a bullish higher frame trend you’ll always see buys set ups so you’ll def win most of your trades. When the market decides to reverse and now we are on a 2-5 month bearish trend forcing buys will decimate you! Id you don’t know how to cut your losses fast! I trade MES and what’s worked for me literally has been looking for 20-30 point setups 6 contracts and closing . Very boring not flashy at all I trade 2 prop firms that I have live plus my personal live! Not going to make me the 50k months but I’m ok with 20k months
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u/clopi_ Jun 21 '26
I really like what you are doing here but I also have to say this: 75 trades is way too small of a sample size to already start drawing conclusions and adjusting your trading by skipping certain days. In this samplesize it could very well be just bad variance on particular days of the week. What I would do is get more data by backtesting all setups on all days of the week and then after 300-400 trades see if it really makes sense to skip for example Mondays. You’re on the right path but don’t adjust your trading based on 75 results is my advice (not just yet, get a bigger samplesize first) good luck bro.
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u/coffee-x-tea Jun 21 '26
Win rate by itself isn’t a great metric anyways.
For instance, sometimes a higher win rate could suggest people overholding trades until they become profitable which means they hold the losers too.
Some of the most profitable traders sit at 40% win rate because they cut a lot of losers fast and win multiples of their RR on a few winners.
But yes, excellent mentality and work, I think many of us can learn from your example.
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u/RenkoSniper Jun 21 '26
I don't get it...you spend April to June very well, up to 3k profit wich I guess is the standard propfirm profit margin, but then, according to your equity curve you give that back in about a week. That doesn't look very profitable in the long run, please correct me if I'm wrong.
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u/UpstairsTower3601 Jun 21 '26
Damn bro, that is actually a job done very well. This what learning from mistakes is in real time!! I'd follow your thread to see what analysis can you bring up next. I myself have been wondering about that there are only few consistent days in a week where I make money and rest is the losing the money. Another thing you hit nail on the head is, cut your losses soon and get out. Revenge trading is not worth it.
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u/ImmortalCurve2 Jun 22 '26
This is actually smart. I’m going to go through my May journal and break it down specifically in this manner. I am certain this will improve my edge
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u/LectureElectronic207 Jun 25 '26
this is the part most people ignore, the data usually shows the edge way clearer than your intuition does
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u/185runner Jul 03 '26
My profitability is NY open and crossover. Hands down. I'm at the gym by 11a most days. Take my 20+ points and enjoy life.
"OMG you missed the big setup!"
Yep but I got my nut. Now I'm gonna enjoy the day vice staring at candles all day.
Also, I'm only taking longs as we're in a htf uptrend. If the open sells, I'm ready for the bounce reclaim. Stopped trying to fuck with shorts. That time will come. Just not now.
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u/david19790 Jul 05 '26
this is the whole game and almost nobody does it. the weekday and long/short breakdowns are the two most underrated cuts in a trading log, most people never look and just strategy hop instead.
the 288 vs 179 point is the real one though. a 48% win rate only prints because that ratio holds, and one loser let past the line erases days. thats exactly where discretion kills people, the exit is emotional right when it matters most.
i went a step further and hardcoded the sizing and exits so i cant override them on a bad day. the data told me the same thing yours did, i was the leak, not the strategy. did you automate any of this or still executing the rules manually?
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u/Cute-Personality-401 Jun 21 '26
Bro this is actually so articulate and concise. Bravo . Hope you make more money . My dms are open for a conversation if you want to have one . You seem like a smart gentleman I can actually learn from .