How to Build a Trading Playbook that Finds Profitable Trades
Do you have a trading playbook to guide you in the heat of the trading day? If not, learn how to make one.
Imagine walking into each trading day with confidence, knowing you have a game plan to consistently find profitable setups. As a day trader, having a clear and reliable playbook isn't just a luxury—it's essential.
A good trading playbook cuts through the noise, helps you recognize patterns, and focuses on high-probability trades. Today, I’m going to show you how to build one.
Before I do that let me tell you a story. I use to take trades within 15 minutes of the open. I’d throw 10k at a trade and make 3k and sometimes lose 7k all in a matter of minutes.
I’d then watch the market, and I’d see a big candle going in the direction I thought a stock was going to go in, and then I’d jump in because I didn’t want to miss where its going! There would often be a pull back, just enough to stop me out before it went to where I wanted it to go!
What was I doing wrong? I’m right, but I’m losing money! Does this sound familiar? Has this happened to you?
It took me years to realize, I needed to get process centric and stop going off just my instincts. This led me to build my trading playbook. A living breathing document that evolves over time and in different market conditions. Just this last year you will have noticed that I also now do credit selling and I also trade futures to take advantage of overnight action.
Look at my alerts leader board where you will see over 2 trades a month that yield 1000% a gain and almost daily where trades yield over 100%. Do all trades work? NO, but with strong yields, it covers the losses.
Just on Friday Oct 4th, I identified an inverse head and shoulders pattern and if I was right there will be a dip and higher low formed at 568.80 on SPY which will lead to high of day being cleared. Guess what that is EXACTLY what happened! SPY dipped right to 568.80 and by end of day made new highs without breaking below 568.80 again. Knowing this pattern led me to plan a trade on SPX 5740c that went from $1.50 to $14, and SPX 5750c from $1 to $5. Imagine that. 9x and 4x gains in less than 2 hours!
My trade ideas and alert results, are not because I’m a fortune teller or me randomly picking trades, but me following my playbook to identify and plan for opportunity!
I want you to build your own trading playbook that can make your trades fly even in a crowded competitive environment with thousands of traders. Why will your trades fly? Because 99% of other traders don’t have a time tested process driven playbook!
Today I’ll show you how to make your Trading Playbook in just 3 steps:
Define your core setup types
Create rules for entry and exits
Build a daily watchlist and track your trades
After reading this post and making your playbook you should have clarity in your trading. At worst you should reduce your overtrading drastically…
I want to help you!
Let’s face it.
You know this section of the newsletter is an ad.
But do you know why it’s here? It’s here to help you.
I believe I can improve your trading, and thus selling my services is a moral obligation.
I want to help you build a trading business that allows you to be free. And if coming across as salesy by having a short ad at the beginning of my newsletter is what I need to do to get there, I’m okay with the trade-off.
I’ve planned for and predicted multiple 3x, 10x, and even 50x trades! Joining our community is not a silver bullet. You will still need to create your playbook. Feel free to make your setups based on the ideas I share in the THT Pro community. It will save you YEARS in figuring it out for yourself.
I’m rooting for you.
But now, back to building a trading playbook…
Step 1: Define Your Core Setup Types
The foundation of any trading playbook is understanding the core types of setups that work for you. These setups should be based on price action and patterns you've tested and refined.
Ask yourself:
What kind of trades do you feel most confident in? (Breakouts, pullbacks, reversals?)
How do these setups fit into different market conditions (bullish, bearish, or sideways)?
What is the win rate of each setup in each market condition?
How long does it take to reach your exit targets?
What are the preconditions for each setup?
This is the heart of your playbook: defining the setups that have repeatedly shown profit.
For example I know my Gap Up Reversal Trade Setup has an 82.1% win rate. I also know that I don’t get this setup every day so I need to have multiple setups.
Step 2: Create Rules for Entry and Exit
Once you know your core setups, it's time to define your rules for entry and exit. This is where discipline comes in, and where a lot of traders fail.
Every setup should have clearly defined:
Entry signals (what specific price action or indicators trigger your entry? How do you price your entry?)
Exit signals (when do you know it's time to take profit or cut your loss? Can set target sell prices in advance?)
Reload signals (stocks usually don’t move in a straight line. Many times, one gets a strong payout on the first leg of the move and with options, you may even get a chance to reload at a better price than your original entry before reaching the overall target!)
Sticking to your rules, no matter how tempting it is to deviate, will save you from overtrading and chasing trades.
Step 3: Build a Watchlist & Track Your Trades
A playbook isn’t just theory—it’s a living, breathing document that evolves over time.
Each day, create a watchlist of stocks or indices that align with your setups. Track your trades in a journal to see what's working and what needs improvement.
Ask yourself daily:
Did the stock behave like I expected based on my playbook?
Did I follow my rules?
Track the win or loss as well as max drawdown and max potential reward.
Which profit taking strategy would have yield the best results?
This helps you fine-tune your playbook and make data-driven adjustments.
Want Real-Time Playbook Examples & My Daily Watchlist?
If you’re ready to take your trading to the next level, I share my live trading ideas based on my playbook in real-time with THT Pro members. These are actionable ideas with target exits based on years of fine-tuning, designed to help you find profitable trades every day.
For more details and real-time analysis, join THT Pro and build your trading business with confidence.
Let’s win together!
That wraps up today’s lesson. Start building your trading playbook today and watch how your trading evolves from guessing to precision. From over-trading to patient trading.
To learn more about the exact setups I use and how to apply them, sign up and join our exclusive trading community.
Stay sharp,
— Spectre
