Pain & Profit: Trader Mastermind Ep. 1 – Dee Futures (ICT Trader)

Pain & Profit: Trader Mastermind Ep. 1 – Dee Futures (ICT Trader)

In this episode of Pain & Profit: Trader Mastermind, Tony and Mike sit down with a prop firm futures trader, Dee Futures, whose journey into the markets started in an unexpected place of survival. After COVID shifted his perspective on income and freedom, he was introduced to trading through a friend and eventually found his way into the world of ICT concepts. But like most traders, the road wasn’t smooth. From turning a $300 account into $6,000 (and realizing it was more luck than skill)… to making $30K in just 21 days… to experiencing the emotional rollercoaster of running an account up $10,000 and back down to $200—this episode dives deep into the real journey behind trading success. We break down: *  Why he prefers futures (NQ/MNQ) over forex and his experience with prop firms like TakeProfitTrader  *  How he uses lower timeframes (like the 2-minute chart) within his model  *  When to stay out of trades—and why most traders force the market  *  The truth about risk management, over leveraging, and discipline  *  Why trading is more psychological than technical—and how the market acts as a mirror  This conversation goes beyond charts and setups. We get into the mindset shifts required to stay in the game, including doing the internal “shadow work” that exposes destructive habits and emotional triggers. If you’ve ever struggled with consistency, revenge trading, or feeling like you’re battling yourself more than the market—this episode is for you. Because at the end of the day:  There are no shortcuts in trading… only lessons. _______________________________________________________________ If you’re tired of fake motivation and ready for the truth behind the grind — this is where it begins.  Follow us @PainAndProfitWorld www.PainAndProfit.com Disclaimer: The Pain & Profit Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. We are not financial advisors. Nothing discussed in this podcast should be considered financial or investment advice. We’re just traders sharing our experiences, lessons, and perspectives on the markets and performance mindset. Always do your own research, manage your own risk, and never trade or invest money you can’t afford to lose.

Everything Is Calculated: Lululemon, Options Timing & Market Maker Games

This week on Pain & Profit, we kick things off with one of the hottest stories in the market — Lululemon. With the CEO stepping down and the founder attempting to reclaim control of the company, we break down what this kind of corporate drama really means for traders and why, as Mike says, everything in the market is calculated. From there, we reflect on last week’s takeaways and outline what we’re focusing on moving forward, diving deep into options contracts and timing. We unpack premium decay, the Greeks (delta, theta, gamma), the decay curve, and why trading options is ultimately a bet against time. Mike explains why at-the-money contracts give gamma and delta the chance to work in your favor, and why your contract choice must align with what you believe the market will do — and how fast it will do it. Tony pushes back on trading style, claiming he doesn’t trade like Mike — but Mike challenges that idea, emphasizing that Tony actually does trade similarly, just without giving the Greeks the respect they deserve. We also get into our daily trading routines and how we ease into the trading day. Tony walks through his checklist-driven approach: setting up his workspace, reviewing night scans, and guidance notes before even loading charts. Mike relates how he puts himself in a state of gratitude as he starts off his trading day before firing up the charts. Then he looks a his benchmarks, the news, and writes up his analysis for the day all before the market opens. We break down this week’s market movement, the late-week selloff, and the true narrative behind why the market failed to close strong. We touch on the reason December price action is often highly volatile, with inflated premiums and aggressive moves, and raises the question of whether market makers engineer wide ranges to maximize returns. Mike closes with key futures price levels to watch and his outlook for the rest of the year. This episode is packed with market psychology, options education, and real trader insight — the pain, the profit, and everything in between. 📉📈 _______________________________________________________________ If you’re tired of fake motivation and ready for the truth behind the grind — this is where it begins.  Follow us @PainAndProfitWorld www.PainAndProfit.com Disclaimer: The Pain & Profit Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. We are not financial advisors. Nothing discussed in this podcast should be considered financial or investment advice. We’re just traders sharing our experiences, lessons, and perspectives on the markets and performance mindset. Always do your own research, manage your own risk, and never trade or invest money you can’t afford to lose.

Trading the Journey, Not the P/L: Building the Trader You Want to Be & Trading with A Purpose

This Thanksgiving week brought slow markets, low volume, and a whole lot of reflection. In this episode, we dive into the deeper side of trading — discipline, purpose, ego, and the journey of becoming the trader you want to be. Tony opens up about wrestling with his “why” and forgetting the purpose behind why he trades. He talks about creating a Trader’s Creed — something he can recite daily to keep him aligned, disciplined, and intentional before entering the market. Holiday markets expose bad habits, and Tony reflects on trading with ego, getting greedy, focusing on P/L instead of objective levels, and why recommitting to process is non-negotiable. Mike shares how he's lowering fear in his trading and sharpening his edge. If the setup isn’t one he’s mastered, he avoids it. But when he is in his zone, he’s adding size with confidence — scaling into the trades he knows best and using calculated exits to protect himself when things move against him. The new style is working, and today… Mike officially passed the combine. We explore the deeper question every trader must answer: Why do you trade? Financial freedom? Providing for family? Digital nomad freedom? The challenge? Because the market doesn’t reward you until your purpose is stronger than your impulses. Tony talks about resetting his trading year — starting fresh in October 2025, planning ahead instead of waiting for January, and using a full-year vision from October to September to track his results. The goal isn’t perfection — it’s proving to yourself that you can show up, stay disciplined, and finish the year in the green. Mike reminds us that trading — like anything in life — is about falling in love with the journey. Tony reflects on how he knows his strategy works, and now it’s time to back it up with results. One trade at a time. One moment of exposure at a time. Pure focus in the minutes you're in the market. Mike relates it all to the flow state — that F1 “in the zone” energy — where trading becomes Zen-like. With journaling, self-awareness, micro-adjustments, and subtle reading of the patterns of the market, you begin to see yourself evolve. Holiday markets or not, one truth remains: Become a better trader, become a better you. _______________________________________________________________ If you’re tired of fake motivation and ready for the truth behind the grind — this is where it begins.  Follow us @PainAndProfitWorld www.PainAndProfit.com Disclaimer: The Pain & Profit Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. We are not financial advisors. Nothing discussed in this podcast should be considered financial or investment advice. We’re just traders sharing our experiences, lessons, and perspectives on the markets and performance mindset. Always do your own research, manage your own risk, and never trade or invest money you can’t afford to lose.

The Market Doesn’t Love You: Psychology Over Strategy & Keeping Traders in the Game

In this episode of the Pain & Profit Podcast, we go deep into the psychology behind trading — and why most traders never make it. We open by breaking down our theories on why Bitcoin is tanking and how that ripples through larger markets. But the real story for us as traders isn’t about the charts…it’s about how the human mind reacts when real money is on the line. Mike shares how he can make great returns in a combine practice account but doesn’t care about it nearly as much as his live account. Paper accounts and live accounts trigger completely different versions of a trader, because money is emotional. Mike believes fear is the #1 killer of traders. Tony argues that risk management is the real #1 killer. It takes time to evolve from a “deer in the headlights” trader who freezes on losing trades to someone who cuts quickly, resets, and focuses on risk vs. reward — because holding and hoping is how accounts die. We challenge each other’s methods. Mike studies everything — from economic news to data flows, gamma scalping, individual stock behavior — because his long-term goal is to manage portfolios. Tony keeps it simple as a pure day trader, taking trades that last under 15 minutes. Tony argues that more information doesn’t make you a better trader, just a more distracted one. His philosophy: > “The market does the same thing every day. I don’t need to know everything. I just need to do my simple steps 1,000 times.” We zoom out to the bigger truth: the market wasn’t built for retail traders — it was built for banks to move money around the world. Yet we choose this game anyway. Trading isn’t just technical; it’s identity, discipline, and introspection. It tests your character. It isolates you. It exposes you to yourself. Trading is a sport — a brutal, lonely, and deeply personal one. We hope you don’t quit. We hope you become who you need to become to win. Welcome to the Pain & Profit. _______________________________________________________________ If you’re tired of fake motivation and ready for the truth behind the grind — this is where it begins.  Follow us @PainAndProfitWorld www.PainAndProfit.com Disclaimer: The Pain & Profit Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. We are not financial advisors. Nothing discussed in this podcast should be considered financial or investment advice. We’re just traders sharing our experiences, lessons, and perspectives on the markets and performance mindset. Always do your own research, manage your own risk, and never trade or invest money you can’t afford to lose.

The Unhinged Episode: Crypto Pain, Blown Funded Prop Firm Accounts & The State of Big Tech Bullsh*t in America

Episode 5 of the Pain & Profit Podcast is pure chaos in the best way. We kick things off unhinged—venting about the struggle of staying consistent with weekly episodes while dreaming big about where we want to take the Pain & Profit brand next. From there, we dive straight into the trading trenches. Tony just took his first swing at a prop firm combine…and blew the account on Day 1. Even though he’s become a disciplined trader on his personal account, the combine felt like a video game where it’s way too easy to become a "button-clicker". Mike breaks down the real path to getting funded—from passing evals to interviewing with the firm to earning access to a live funded account—and why the combine is only half the “game.” We dig deeper into our systems and daily routines:  • Mike’s morning analysis and how he feeds insights to his Discord and Telegram every single day  • Tony’s nomad-trader lifestyle—from Starbucks trading setups to pre-market prep, live recordings, and post-trade recaps  • The discipline behind respecting every level on your chart and why being in true flow with the market is a game changer for a serious trader. We get into the crypto drawdown, Bitcoin sliding under $100K again, and why even a painful month can still produce a winning trading week when you stick to your strategy. Mike drops insider gems on how brokers allegedly rate retail traders—A-list, B-list, and C-list—based on your habits, and how C-list orders might not even hit the market. Combine accounts are gamified, but so are brokers. Nothing in this game is what it seems. And don’t get us started on news… smoke and mirrors. To close, we zoom out into the state of Big Tech and America’s workforce problem. We talk herd mentality, how decision-makers don’t think for themselves, why big companies cannibalize smaller ones, and how the top of the tech curve is flattening. If America wants to win again, we need new innovators, new operators, and new ideas. This episode is a mix of pain, profit, frustration, strategy, and the raw truth behind markets and technology—exactly what Pain & Profit was built for. _______________________________________________________________ If you’re tired of fake motivation and ready for the truth behind the grind — this is where it begins.  Follow us @PainAndProfitWorld www.PainAndProfit.com Disclaimer: The Pain & Profit Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. We are not financial advisors. Nothing discussed in this podcast should be considered financial or investment advice. We’re just traders sharing our experiences, lessons, and perspectives on the markets and performance mindset. Always do your own research, manage your own risk, and never trade or invest money you can’t afford to lose.