349. Trading Nut

349: $280k Prop Trader Banned For Taking Payouts w/ AJ Does Trading

AJ Does Trading

36 minsNov 11, 2026

Two years after his first appearance on Trading Nut, AJ Does Trading returns to share how he extracted over $280,000 from prop trading firms—and why a couple of them actually banned him for taking too many payouts. From living in his truck despite holding four degrees to observing a veteran hedge fund manager’s daily order flow, AJ refined a highly disciplined momentum approach on the 5-minute chart.

In this episode, AJ breaks down his 66.2% win rate performance, explaining why static risk management is the single biggest filter separating funded traders who cash out from those who blow up. He reveals insider lessons from running a 3,000-member prop firm, why retail traders falsely believe institutions are hunting their stop losses, and how eliminating ego allows you to take losses without revenge trading.

Be sure to stick around for the accompanying strategy video tease below, where AJ steps onto the charts to demonstrate how he netted $2,200 in just two and a half minutes trading the New York open breakout on NQ futures.

Podcast Interview

Listen to the audio

AJ Does Trading

0:00—:—

Strategy Breakdown

Key Lessons

[00:08] How AJ pulled over $280,000 in payouts from prop firms and why two firms banned him.
[01:50] The transition from living in a truck with 4 degrees to learning momentum trading.
[02:40] Spending a week watching a 55-year-old hedge fund manager scalping 5-minute levels.
[06:00] Why patience and static daily risk control are the real keys to prop firm longevity.
[07:03] Maintaining a 66.2% win rate and 1.73 profit factor while averaging 7-minute hold times.
[12:05] Why simple math and physics principles apply directly to clean chart setups.
[17:46] How to structure static risk ($250 loss limit) on a $50k funded prop account.
[20:16] How a student passed 20 Apex challenge accounts in 1 day during CPI and pulled $29.6k.
[21:38] Lessons learned from running a 3,000-member prop firm and analyzing trader failure data.
[25:16] Achieving ego death through jiu-jitsu and mushrooms to eliminate revenge trading.
[29:14] Why moving stop loss to break even can actually destroy your long-term win rate.
[33:25] Debunking the retail myth that institutional market makers are 'hunting' your stop loss.
[35:30] Step-by-step breakdown of the 5-minute NQ New York open momentum breakout setup.