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Two-person trading team setup: Bill (quant/algorithmic) and Colette (market observer). Includes phase-by-phase curriculum, separate sprint tracks, trade journal templates, roadmap to prop firm challenge, and agent handoff documentation. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
5.0 KiB
Colette's Learning Track — Market Observer
Background: News-aware, macro-focused, strong intuition for market narratives Role: Observe and flag — identify macro themes, news catalysts, sector strength, and trade ideas
The goal is to build on the market awareness you already have and give it a framework. You're not learning to trade from scratch — you're learning to translate what you see into structured ideas that can be tested and acted on.
Phase 1 — Chart Literacy (TradingView Basics)
Goal: Read a chart and understand what it's showing — no indicators yet
- What a candlestick shows (open, high, low, close)
- What timeframes mean (daily vs weekly vs monthly)
- How to spot a trend (is price making higher highs, or lower lows?)
- What volume tells you (is this move significant?)
- How to use TradingView: add a ticker, change timeframe, draw a line
- What a 52-week high/low means and why people watch it
Exercise: Pull up 3 tickers. For each: is it in an uptrend, downtrend, or sideways? Is volume rising or falling?
Milestone: Can look at a chart and describe what the price is doing
Phase 2 — News & Macro Awareness
Goal: Connect the news you're already reading to what it means for price
- What the Fed does and why interest rates matter to stocks
- What earnings season is and how it affects price
- What sector rotation means (money moving from tech → energy, etc.)
- Understanding the difference between a news catalyst and a hype cycle
- How to cross-reference a news story with the actual chart — was the move already priced in?
- The DXYZ case study: what premium-to-NAV means, and what the historical pattern looks like
Key habit: When you see a headline or hear a recommendation, check the chart first:
- Did the price already move before this news broke?
- What's the proposed exit — where would you get out if wrong?
- What does the broader sector look like?
Exercise: Read a financial headline and check the chart of the ticker mentioned. Write one sentence: did the chart confirm the story, or had the move already happened?
Milestone: Can explain why the DXYZ premium exists and what historical precedents look like
Phase 3 — Sector & Macro Indicators
Goal: Know the high-level picture before looking at individual stocks
- The major S&P 500 sectors (XLK, XLE, XLF, XLV, etc.) and how to track them
- What the VIX is and what elevated fear looks like on a chart
- How to read a sector heatmap (TradingView has one built in)
- What the yield curve is (simplified: are long rates higher than short rates?)
- Dollar strength (DXY) and its relationship to commodities and international stocks
- How to identify the strongest sector and focus there
Exercise: Every Sunday, look at the sector ETFs for the past week. Which sector was strongest? Which was weakest? Write it down. Do this for 4 weeks in a row.
Milestone: Can give a 2-minute sector summary each week
Phase 4 — Generating Trade Ideas
Goal: Turn observations into structured, communicable ideas for Bill to evaluate
A strong trade idea connects what you're seeing in the news or macro picture to what's happening on the chart.
Example:
- Weak: "I read that SpaceX is doing something big."
- Strong: "XLK has been the strongest sector 3 weeks running, NVDA just broke to a new 52-week high on heavy volume, and earnings are in 3 weeks — might be worth a look."
Format for flagging an idea:
Ticker:
Why I noticed it: (news, chart, sector strength)
What the chart looks like: (uptrend / breakout / pullback to support)
Timeframe: (daily / weekly)
Questions for Bill: (anything to backtest or dig into)
- Submit 2 trade ideas per week using the format above
- Review together: did the idea have merit? What happened?
- Build a personal watchlist of 10–15 tickers you understand well
Milestone: 8 trade ideas submitted, at least 3 that Bill validated as having a testable edge
Phase 5 — Prop Challenge Support
Goal: Be the eyes during the trading day while Bill's system runs
- Monitor the watchlist for news that could affect open trades
- Flag upcoming macro events (Fed meeting, CPI report, earnings)
- Keep a simple daily log: what happened in the market today (2–3 sentences)
- Review open positions: is the original thesis still intact?
Milestone: Consistent daily market log for 30 days
Recommended Resources
| Resource | What It's Good For |
|---|---|
| TradingView (free) | Charts, sector heatmap, economic calendar |
| Finviz.com | Sector/market overview at a glance |
| FRED (St. Louis Fed) | Real macro data — interest rates, inflation, jobs |
| Investopedia | Clear definitions for any term |
A useful filter for any recommendation you encounter: Does the person showing you this also show you the data behind it? A good idea holds up to a chart check.