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Rolando Gonzalez sits down for a straight-talking interview about how he went from bouncing between tactics to becoming a disciplined, funded trader. Recorded with the Desire To Trade team, this conversation charts Rolando’s early missteps, the mentor who pushed him to stop strategy-hopping, and the shift to a 4-hour workflow that finally matched his life and temperament. What stands out is his mantra: be fully compliant with the plan, and don’t touch the trade when conditions don’t align—simple rules that unlocked real consistency.
In this piece, you’ll learn the exact pillars Rolando uses: multi-timeframe market-structure analysis, a clean 4H execution (“Secretariat”) with three-bar reversals as confluence, and risk fixed at 1% split across two positions. You’ll see how he journals, runs a Sunday pre-market review, and, most importantly, decides when to stay on the sidelines—because protecting equity and managing drawdown is the edge. If you’re a beginner or a trader rebuilding from scratch, Rolando’s approach shows how a tight process and patience can compound faster than any “new indicator.”
Rolando Gonzalez Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Setup: Timeframes, Tooling, and the “Secretariat” Engine
Here’s the skeleton of how Rolando operates day-to-day. He builds a clear directional bias from the higher timeframes and executes on the 4-hour chart with a simple, rules-driven system he calls “Secretariat.” The goal is clean structure, zero clutter, and absolute compliance with the plan.
- Work top-down: Monthly → Weekly → Daily → H4 for execution; lower TFs are ignored.
- Use “Secretariat” as the primary H4 execution play; keep chart templates consistent.
- Keep platforms and tools minimal so the system—not indicators—drives decisions.
Trade Selection: When Bias and Structure Actually Align
Rolando only trades when his bias and the market’s structure point in the same direction. If they don’t, he stays flat. This single filter removes most low-quality ideas and protects his equity.
- Build directional bias from higher-timeframe structure first; execution only with the bias.
- If structure and bias don’t match, do nothing—no “small try” or “probe.”
- Only advance to entry when the H4 leg is in sync with the higher-TF swing (no counter-trend shots).
Entry Triggers: Keep It Simple, Add One Confluence
The entry recipe is intentionally boring: a clean structure setup on H4 with a single confluence—Rolando favors the three-bar reversal pattern to time the trigger. This keeps signals objective without cluttering the chart.
- Use the three-bar reversal as timing confirmation; no stacking of multiple lagging indicators.
- Place pending/market orders only when the pattern prints in the direction of your higher-TF bias.
- Skip any setup that requires “interpretation”; if you have to convince yourself, it’s not valid.
Risk & Positioning: 1% Per Trade, Split in Two
Rolando standardizes risk at 1% per idea and splits it across two positions. This gives room to scale out while still letting a portion run if the trend extends.
- Risk exactly 1% of equity per trade idea—no deviations after a win or a loss.
- Open two positions: same entry and stop; manage targets separately (see next section).
- Do not increase risk to “make back” drawdown; consistency beats speed.
Trade Management: Stops, Targets, and Trailing Logic
Management is fully rules-based. Stops sit behind a valid structure; first profit is taken per system logic, and the runner trails against prior swing levels. If the structure breaks, the trade is done.
- Initial stop goes beyond the most recent swing (higher low for longs / lower high for shorts).
- Target #1 follows the system’s pre-defined take-profit; Target #2 trails behind previous swing highs/lows.
- If price reverses and tags your trailing level, exit—no manual “rescuing” or widening.
Equity First: Operating Under Allocation/Prop Constraints
Rolando treats equity and drawdown as the north star, especially under allocator or prop firm metrics. The job is to keep DD shallow so the capital can scale.
- Track daily equity curve and max DD; stop trading if approaching risk limits.
- Avoid end-of-month “equity protection” tinkering; follow the plan or stand aside.
- Size remains fixed at 1% regardless of allocation changes to avoid performance pressure.
No-Trade Rules: The Discipline That Pays
His edge shows up as much in the trades he doesn’t take. When the environment is off—news spikes, structure chop, or bias misalignment—he simply doesn’t touch the market.
- If a biased ≠ structure, skip the setup—log it, but don’t trade it.
- If major news scrambles the structure, stand down until the H4 candle closes and the structure is readable again.
- If you feel rushed by time of month/targets, stop and reset; pressure leads to plan violations.
Journaling & Review: Build Proof, Not Feelings
Rolando treats journaling as a core skill, using a card-style workflow to capture setups, structure notes, and outcomes. Reviews cement the playbook and cut future hesitation.
- Log every trade idea before entry: bias, structure picture, trigger, stop, and two-target plan.
- Tag outcomes by rule compliance (A: full compliance, B: minor deviation, C: violation) to police behavior.
- Run a weekly/H4 review to screenshot structure shifts and refine trigger selectivity.
Daily Execution Checklist: Make It Boring on Purpose
This is how Rolando keeps the machine humming. The checklist forces a consistent routine so decisions feel mechanical, not emotional.
- Pre-market: update higher-TF bias, mark key swings/zones, and pre-write the plan for potential H4 triggers.
- During market: only act on valid H4 pattern with bias alignment and defined stop/targets (two positions).
- Post-trade: record compliance, equity impact, and a one-line lesson; then walk away until the next H4 decision bar.
Build Higher-Timeframe Bias, Execute Cleanly on the 4-Hour
Rolando Gonzalez starts every trading day by reading the higher timeframes first, then drilling down to the 4-hour for execution. He maps monthly and weekly swing structure, confirms the daily path of least resistance, and only then looks for 4-hour entries. That top-down cascade gives him a clear directional “yes” or “no” before he touches the keyboard. If the higher timeframes don’t agree, he doesn’t trade—simple as that.
On the 4-hour, Rolando keeps the chart clean and the rules even cleaner: find the setup that matches the higher-timeframe bias and execute without hesitation. He won’t chase intra-candle noise or flip bias mid-session; the 4-hour close is the decision bar. This rhythm forces patience, reduces overtrading, and keeps risk concentrated in A-setups. By separating bias formation from trigger execution, Rolando Gonzalez converts analysis into action without emotion.
Risk One Percent Split in Two, Let Winners Ride
Rolando Gonzalez treats risk like a fixed operating expense: exactly one percent per trade idea, no exceptions. He splits that one percent into two equal positions so he can manage them independently without changing the initial risk. This structure lets him take partial profits methodically while keeping a runner to capture extended moves. By anchoring every decision to a constant percentage, Rolando keeps his head clear after wins and during drawdowns.
Once the price moves in his favor, Rolando Gonzalez secures the first half at a logical target and shifts attention to the second half. The runner stays alive as long as the structure holds, often trailing behind prior swing levels rather than arbitrary pip counts. If the market snaps back and breaks structure, he exits the remainder without negotiation. The result is a consistent risk floor with an uncapped upside when trends stretch, turning discipline into asymmetric outcomes.
Trade Only When Structure Aligns—No Counter-Trend “Hero” Entries
Rolando Gonzalez refuses to fight the tape; if a higher-timeframe structure doesn’t support the idea, he passes. He waits for the market to show a clear sequence of swings in the same direction across the bigger charts before considering an entry. When the structure is mixed—higher highs on one timeframe, lower highs on another—he labels it “no trade” and moves on. This removes the impulse to predict turns or catch knives.
Once alignment is present, Rolando Gonzalez acts decisively but only in the direction of that structure. He avoids fading strong moves, skipping the seductive “it’s overextended” counter-trend shot that drains accounts. His rule is blunt: if the last meaningful swing breaks against the bias, the setup is invalid until structure repairs itself. By treating misalignment as a stop sign, he converts patience into a real edge and keeps his equity curve smoother.
Use One Simple Trigger With Confluence, Skip All Ambiguous Setups
Rolando Gonzalez keeps entries mechanical by using a single, well-defined trigger and adding just one confluence—never a soup of indicators. His go-to approach is to let structure lead, then time the entry with a clear candle pattern or break/close rule that’s easy to verify. If the trigger isn’t obvious at a glance, he labels the setup “ambiguous” and stands down. This prevents overfitting, arguments with the chart, and the endless tweaking that usually precedes a loss.
When the trigger fires in the direction of his bias, Rolando Gonzalez executes without negotiation and places the stop behind a meaningful swing. He ignores mid-candle noise, waits for the close if that’s part of the rule, and doesn’t chase if the price leaves without him. One clean confluence—such as a fresh break of structure holding above a retest—beats stacking weak signals that only create false confidence. By enforcing a binary filter—clear or skip—he keeps his process crisp, scalable, and repeatable across markets.
Protect Equity First: Rules For Drawdown, News, And No-Trade Days
Rolando Gonzalez treats capital like inventory—you don’t risk tomorrow’s sales to make today’s quota. He defines a hard daily and weekly drawdown line; if he approaches it, he stops trading and reviews rather than trying to “win it back.” News is a separate filter: when high-impact events distort structure, he stands aside and waits for the next 4-hour close before reassessing. No-trade days are part of the plan, not a failure; if bias and structure don’t align, he preserves energy and equity.
His rule set is blunt and protective: never raise risk after a loss, never widen stops to “save” a trade, and never add to losers. If structure breaks against the position, he’s out—full stop—then resets bias from the higher timeframes. He uses a fixed 1% risk per idea to keep the emotional temperature low and the process consistent in funded or allocator environments. By prioritizing preservation over action, Rolando Gonzalez ensures the next A-setup arrives with a clear mind and intact capital—two edges most traders squander.
In the end, Rolando Gonzalez’s edge isn’t a fancy indicator—it’s compliance. He builds bias on higher timeframes, then does nothing when structure and plan don’t align, treating “no trade” as a winning decision rather than a missed opportunity. That restraint shows up repeatedly in his story: don’t touch the market when you shouldn’t, stay on the sidelines until the setup is truly there, and then execute exactly as planned.
Risk is standardized, mechanical, and boring by design. Rolando runs 1% per idea, split into two positions (0.5% each), and he keeps that constant across programs to avoid confusing risk engines and, more importantly, his own decision-making. He sets the stop where the structure says it belongs, takes first profit per plan, and lets the runner trail behind prior swing levels—no widening, no rescuing, no end-of-month tinkering. The throughline is equity protection: respect drawdown limits, ignore the urge to react to news mid-trade, and remember that the job is to preserve capital so the next A-setup can pay.
His journey also underscores why process beats prediction. Early mistakes—strategy hopping, emotional reactions after losses, and reacting to noisy headlines—taught him that consistency comes from a simple playbook executed the same way every time. Today, Rolando times entries with a clear, easy-to-verify trigger (“three-bar reversal”) only when it matches a higher-timeframe structure, then lets the system do the heavy lifting. That mix of patience, fixed risk, and clean triggers is what turned “trying to trade” into actually trading like a pro.
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