My trading journey, every year:
2016: Rough. Had no idea what I was doing, quickly learned this stuff was hard
2017: slightly better, still negative. Learned a lot!
2018: first profitable year!
2019: very profitable!
2020: very profitable!
2021: very profitable!
2022:
2023 just officially became my best trading year so far in my 7 year trading journey.
But: the year is young. I’ve had a good stretch, and am fully prepared to have losses come in at some point.
No free lunch in trading!
After a win streak, I always reduce my position size on the next few trades. It's a small tweak I've made years ago that's really helped me.
That feeling of invincibility can cause you to make mistakes, and give back profits you shouldn't.
New traders don't yet understand this.
Being a profitable trader means profitable on average, over time.
Being a profitable trader does not mean profitable every day, week, or month.
This is an important thing to understand!
It took me 2.5 years to become a breakeven - slightly profitable trader.
That was at a time in my life when I had plenty of free time to dedicate an hour+ each day to learning/backtesting.
This stuff takes time.
Don't put pressure on yourself to be great at it right away.
Sadly, most traders will quit once they realize that 2-3% per month is quite good, and far more robust than trying to flip accounts.
Think about it... What is 2-3% per month on a 1mill+ account?
I have no issue with people who trade ICT or follow his content - I personally have no idea the success rate etc.
But I can say one thing for sure: profitable traders don’t behave like this. Don’t be this guy - there are many paths to success.
Confidence is quiet, insecurity is
If you're seriously trying to become a professional trader, I hope you have removed all of the "lambo lifestyle" stuff off of your feed.
Highly successful traders don't spend their time flexing on people.
Sketchy salesmen do. Don't fall into that trap.
I’m not impressed with someone who doubles their account in 2 days.
I’m impressed by someone who doubles their account in 2 years, while keeping their risk controlled.
The 1 hour chart is fast enough to produce frequent trading setups, but slow enough to produce clean price action.
It's my favorite timeframe! What's yours?
If someone had a magic money printing machine, everyone would want it.
If the machine required you to spend years learning how to operate it, less people would want it.
If the machine required you to deposit substantial capital into it in order to print more money, less people
In trading, you're not paid to place trades. You're paid to manage risk and play out your edge over time.
Traders lose a lot of money forcing trades when there are no setups to be taken.
Shoutout to
@toritrades
for taking my trading influencer transparency challenge.
She’s legit, and has the broker statements to prove it. There will be an interview dropped soon!
Fake traders get upset when you ask them for a track record, and engage in petty drama on social media.
Real traders drop their broker statements/live logins no question, and have no need to engage in nonsense.
New trader tip: No track record = don't give them your time/money.
With a 1M account, 1% per month is very good money.
Pros realize this, and that’s how they stay in the game - through ups and downs - over the years.
Previously this was unattainable to the average trader. Props have changed the game for profitable traders lacking capital.
Having a trading partner is one of the best decisions I've ever made. Frank, who works at my company and is one of my closest friends, trades with me every day. We discuss latest events, strategy, and do analysis together. 10/10 recommend!
Don't let social media fool you. Your favorite trader on socials has terrible losing streaks, whether they show you or not.
Everyone does. The market doesn't pick favorites, and every strategy has weaknesses.
Don't let a drawdown discourage you. We've all got em!
I remember years ago, sitting there frustrated and wondering if it was even possible to be consistently profitable in trading.
Years later, from the other side, I'm glad I stuck to it - even if it ended up being one of the hardest things I've ever done.
Trading performance on myfxbook, since October 2020 - coming up on 2.5 years of public performance on a third party platform.
Here's a thread detailing some of my performance 👇
90% of my profits come from 10% of my trades.
Trailing stops produce low win rates, but the occasional massive winner.
This, I believe, is where the best money in markets is made.
Some would call holding on to a winner like this greedy, but I’d call it patience!
Did you know:
You can lose 10 trades in a row, even with a very profitable strategy?
It’s all in the position sizing.
Even with a 60% win rate, 10 losses in a row WILL happen at some point.
Some traders call it greed when you hold onto a trade for more.
I disagree. I think greed is taking a profit too soon for fear of losing it, and not sticking to the plan you started out with.
Trading is so difficult, because it is so unnatural to us.
- We don't like to admit we're wrong.
- We struggle to handle emotions
- We are impatient
- We seek short term gratification
Reverse all of these impulses, and you'll see what discipline looks like for the pros.
If I was going to fund a trader, I would want the following before giving them $100k to trade.
- 2 years+ myfxbook
- 1-2% average monthly gains
- Less than 10% max drawdown
- Successful career path
- A kind & trustworthy person
The longer you can stay on demo or a very small live account, the better.
You're going to make mistakes learning this stuff, best not to do big financial damage along the way...
Embrace the journey! You can always scale up later.
It seems like Metatrader is gone for good...
For US traders anyways. They no longer want anything to do with prop firms servicing US clients.
With the crackdown in recent years on firms like MFF from the SEC, it's possible Metaquotes (the company behind the Metatrader 4 & 5
Blown accounts usually occur after stubbornness and a refusal to be wrong...
Growth tends to occur when a trader accepts when they're wrong, and is patient when they're right!
So far I've had 1 trading influencer step up to take my challenge and show 2 years of profitable performance. Tag someone that you'd like to share theirs!
Today I hit a personal record trade, and an all time high on my account. But, there's a catch. Read more:
Context is really important. I had a 3 MONTH drawdown period prior to November and December, employing the same rules and strategy. There was nothing impressive about my
Trading can be really tough, but if you really love this stuff - there’s hope.
The markets seem to reward people that respect it for what it is, and have the patience to learn.
Keep going - you’ve got this!
If you are really struggling to pay bills right now, stop trading immediately.
If you are not profitable yet, go back to a demo account.
Trading is very difficult, and to make money you need a large account and years of experience.
Anyone telling you otherwise is full of it.