Author: Carlo Aguinaldo

“One of the best things that Trade The Pool can give you is just the ability to work on your craft as a trader.”

Welcome to another Trade The Pool funded interview! Today, we’re joined by Money Mitch, a 20K funded trader and co-host of TTP’s live trading room.

Mitch began trading in 2017 with options but soon realized that the required capital and competition with market makers weren’t worth his time.

He then shifted to stocks, believing that no retail trader should ever be held at a disadvantage—and we couldn’t agree more.

Could you be Trade The Pool’s next funded trader?

Watch Mitch’s Interview

Mitch’s 20K Evaluation: What Moved $EVAX

Evaxion Biotech ($EVAX) surged 30% after Merck acquired an 11.4% stake, and the company executed a 1-for-10 reverse stock split.

Investors responded positively to the news, driving a sharp increase in trading volume.

 

Mitch’s Trading Style

Mitch scans pre-market for volume spikes and psychological washouts in small caps and penny stocks, using Benzinga Pro to spot fading momentum.

He starts with small positions and scales up during regular trading hours, targeting risk-reward ratios of 3:1 to 4:1.

More About Mitch

After earning a Finance degree from UCF, he pursued options trading. However, with its high learning curve and capital demands, he decided to switch to equities.

His commitment to make in the markets was so deep that he sold his car to fund his trading journey.

Mitch’s Tips

• Probabilities and Planning: “The number one thing with those traders in that losing stage is that they’re not focusing on probabilities. This is where I think I adjusted. Start looking into your plan and the results. This is what every trader needs to look at to see if they’re doing things the right way or the wrong way because you can have the right plan and not execute the right trades.”
• Pre-market Movers: “The important part is taking smaller trades in pre-market. A lot of traders want to take a bigger swing because of the bigger moves in pre-market. But I’m trying to use that bigger move to give myself risk to return. That for that 4 to 1 outlook. The smaller size, that’s what’s going to help me.”

Funded Trader, Closing Thoughts

From options trading to hosting Trade The Pool’s live trading room and becoming a $20,000 funded trader, Mitch demonstrates one’s true commitment to his craft.

You can watch him live every Monday to Thursday, 8:30–11:00 AM ET.

“You can trade without negative energy, money—the most emotional thing. That’s the beauty of Trade The Pool. “

Welcome to another Trade The Pool funded trader interview! Today, we have João/John C., a $20K funded trader from Portugal, joining us.

Back in 2017, João started his personal trading journey with a brokerage account. He eventually became profitable around 2019.

Since joining Trade The Pool, João had been able to focus more on his breakout strategy and was able to receive a payout!

Could you be Trade The Pool’s next funded trader?

Watch João’s Interview

João’s 20K Evaluation and His Mindset

João approaches day trading as a business, developing a solid plan, managing his budget and risk, while maintaining discipline by adhering to his rules. His philosophy is to cut losing trades immediately without hesitation and re-enter with a better plan.

While this approach may not guarantee a high success rate, it ensures he stays true to his strategy.

 

João’s Trading Style: Breakout Strategy

João focuses on large cap breakouts (e.g., Apple, Tesla, Nvidia) due to their more predictable and historical patterns.

He would occasionally short penny stocks if his breakout strategy is not working during the day due to rangy markets.

More About João

He was humbled on his first evaluation, attributing it to not being able to stay disciplined and following his rules.

With quick breakeven stops, João managed to recover from near draw-downs and slowly build his buffer.

João’s Tips

• Trading with confidence: “That’s the beauty about Trade The Pool, you can trade without that negative energy… we can’t accept that we are losing, cannot focus on our strategy. Money is the most emotional thing that we have.”
• For those just beginning: “Accept your losses. If the stock starts to go against you, cut your risk immediately. You would have higher success rate, maybe a little bit lower risk reward. At least I’m following my rules.”

Funded Trader, João C. – Closing Thoughts

Trading through Interactive Brokers gave him valuable experience, but the stress of risking his own money led him to Trade The Pool.

Now a funded trader with $20K in buying power, he utilizes his niche in trading large-cap breakouts and has already received a payout with us!

Arbnor’s remarks on his Trade The Pool Journey — “Thank you, you guys changed my life.”

Welcome back to another Trade The Pool funded payout interview! Today, we’re thrilled to feature Arbnor, one of our standout traders from the USA, who’s managed to cash out a total of $50,000 in profits so far.

With his scaled $260K accounts, Arbnor continues to prove why he’s one of our favorites. This marks the third time Michael has had the pleasure of interviewing him.

He’s expressed gratitude for the opportunity to trade within a limited-risk environment, leveraging our trading platform to participate in the markets with confidence.

Will you be Trade The Pool’s next funded trader?

Watch Arbnor’s Interview

Arbnor’s 260K Funded Account: Path to Multiple Payouts

He is highly disciplined, sticking to proven setups that consistently yield profitable results. Viewing trading as a business, he approaches it with patience, waiting for the perfect opportunities rather than rushing into trades.

Once he has confidently built enough buffer, he shifts gears and executes his short-selling strategy with greater aggression and precision.

 

Arbnor’s Trading Style

He focuses on short selling, with a bias toward sub-$20 small-cap penny stocks that experience intraday surges of 300% to 1,000% due to overvaluation and hyperbolic moves.

His entries are primarily post-opening bell or 15-30 minutes pre-market, starting with smaller sizes and scaling up as volatility peaks. He advocates for 2 to 3 finely tuned setups to target high-probability trades while adjusting risk.

More About Arbnor

He dynamically adjusts risk and gets aggressive as he’s built enough buffer. Despite his success, Arbnor is no different, he too, has blown up multiple accounts.

In addition, he has been able to cash out almost every month with Trade The Pool.

Arbnor’s Tips

• Keep trading simple “Stick to like 2 or 3 very profitable setups, not ten different ones, and then just wait for those to come, and you’ll see the change in your account pretty quickly.”
• Know when to play aggressive “When I’ve got buffer, and I’m in a good place, I tend to get very aggressive… but if I don’t have a buffer, and I’m in a down draw, then I shift my mind to just playing defense.”

Funded Trader, Arbnor T. – Closing Thoughts

Arbnor is a ‘Stock Star’ who traded with a scaled 260K buying power account and has made $50,000 in profit.

Knowing him, he would most likely buy the MAX-200K plan, trying to maximize his profits the best he can.

How was it to get the payout? “The best day of my life, it was great, very easy—after a day or two, that was it.”

Welcome to another Trade The Pool funded trader interview! Today, we have Dana O., an $80K funded trader from Canada, who received a whooping $5.3k payout.

Inspired by “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” he wanted to emerge from the lockdowns with more knowledge. He started trading every day, and it all began to click.

Since joining Trade The Pool, he was able to short small caps with ease and earn a huge profit with a limited risk trading platform.

Will you be Trade The Pool’s next funded trader?

Watch Dana’s Interview

Dana’s 80K Evaluation: How He Got Funded

For his successful $80,000 evaluation, he made it a habit to journal every day. This practice enabled him to identify his trading edge and systematically refine his strategies.

He attributes this habit to keeping him on track and achieving optimal performance over time.

 

Dana’s Trading Style

He primarily focuses on shorting daily gappers with significant pre-market or intraday price gaps, targeting double tops with a doji candle confirmation.

Dana uses TradingView’s replay feature for backtesting and exits losing trades quickly, the instant momentum shifts against him.

More About Dana

In the past, he tried trading Tesla and Nvidia, but didn’t suit his preferred style and strategy. Dana has been with Trade The Pool since May 2024.

Not only was he able to achieve a $5,300 payout, he also scaled his account from 80 to 85K buying power.

Dana’s Tips

• How do we know it’s time to short? “When there’s a Doji, two long wicks and a very small body, that’s something I look at. When the candle closes, I enter right away.”
• How do we know if it’s the top? “Maybe it will go to $12, I wouldn’t know. That’s the risk I’m taking. I’ve seen it a lot on backtest, if it keeps going higher, then I’m out, like $0.03, $0.04, I’m out.”

Funded Trader, Dana O. – Closing Thoughts

Dana O. is an autodidact who started his journey during the lockdowns. From that moment, he decided to take day trading seriously and began to trade daily.

He eventually found his edge, everything started to click, which led to his success of cashing out a huge $5.3K payout with Trade The Pool.