Florian S.

Florian S. from Germany started trading two and a half years ago and quickly hit a wall—his $2,000 personal account vanished under pressure and poor risk management. Prop trading was an unfamiliar territory, and his early attempts with Trade The Pool didn’t go well. He went in with oversized positions and didn’t last long. He scaled down to 100–300 shares, occasionally 1,000, and focused on patience. By his fourth try—within about a week—he passed and earned $25,000 in buying power. The unlimited evaluation time gave him the space to slow down, build discipline, and cut impulsive habits.

His discretionary shorting strategy involves small caps and penny stocks under $15, hunting reversals with price action, volume, and news. He looks for high-probability tops, relying on tools like support/resistance, whole numbers, candle wicks, pivots, VWAP, and the 9 SMA—needing at least two or three solid confluence points before entering. His win rate is 54%, but his edge lies in a 1:7.1 risk/reward ratio. Losses are quick and small—typically $23–$85—keeping drawdowns limited. The built-in guardrails from Trade The Pool, especially the daily loss feature, helped him stay consistent and keep the impulsiveness at bay.

Tip 1

Discretionary style

I just follow the price action. Not using so much indicators and oscillators. I love to trade with volume, and I love to trade news and short. I'm not so successful long. So I focus on short selling, small caps below 15. That's how I screen it. And I use the nine SMA, pivot, trendlines a little bit, but I prefer the whole numbers, support and resistance. That's it. I keep it basic. I think I don't need so much oscillators and stuff like that. And one of the most important things, of course, is volume.

Tip 2

When is the top?

I tried to pass three different endpoints in the charts and the wicks from the candles. I need a whole, whole number if possible, and a pivot and VWAP or an SMA line. And with the closing of the candle. So that's it. Actually, I need a combination of different, different points very often. That's what I prefer. The 2p or 3p. 2p means two points. It's like a resistance line like that and the whole number. And 3p would be, for example, then three points—the wick, the resistance line, the whole number, a pivot or something like that. So it's an A-plus setup.