Choosing a trading funding firm can offer several advantages for individuals looking to trade financial markets. Here are some reasons why you might consider choosing a trading funding firm:
Simply Pass a basics skills evaluation and get 100% Fully Funded. No longer will you then need to trade with your own money. Keep up to 90% of the profits.
Capital Provision: Trading funding firms provide access to capital that traders can use to execute trades. This can be beneficial for individuals who have limited personal capital or want to leverage additional funds for trading.
Risk Sharing: When you trade with a funding firm, you often share the profits generated from your trades.
Leverage Opportunities: Many trading funding firms offer leverage, allowing you to control larger positions in the market with a smaller amount of capital. This can amplify potential profits, but it’s important to manage leverage responsibly to avoid excessive risk.
Access to Advanced Tools and Technology: Trading funding firms typically provide traders with advanced trading platforms, research tools, and technology that may not be available to individual retail traders. These resources can help enhance your trading capabilities and provide a competitive edge.
Professional Support and Mentorship: Some trading funding firms offer training programs, coaching, and mentorship to help traders improve their skills and develop successful trading strategies. This guidance can be invaluable, particularly for novice traders looking to gain experience.
Reduced Regulatory Requirements: Trading with a funding firm may reduce some regulatory requirements that apply to individual traders, such as minimum capital requirements, registration fees, or compliance obligations. However, it’s essential to understand the specific regulatory framework of the trading funding firm you choose.
Diversification and Multiple Markets: Certain trading funding firms allow traders to access various financial markets, including stocks, options, futures, forex, and commodities. This diversification can provide opportunities in different market conditions and asset classes.
Performance-Based Evaluation: Trading funding firms typically evaluate traders based on their performance, allowing successful traders to progress and potentially access larger amounts of capital. This structure can incentivize traders to continually improve their skills and results.
It’s important to note that not all trading funding firms are the same, and it’s crucial to research and evaluate the reputation, terms, and conditions of any firm you consider partnering with. Understanding the costs, profit-sharing arrangements, risk management policies, and support provided by the firm is vital before making a decision.
We strongly encourage traders both new and experience to take the basic skills evaluations, as once you pass you are 100% funded and do not have to trade with your own money, and get to keep up to 90% of the profits you make. NO BS.
New traders with small accounts can risk under $75 to take the evaluation which is a fraction of the cost of trading (and losing) with your own money. So even if it takes a few times to pass the evaluation to get fully funded, you preserve your own trading account.
Experience traders will be able to trade much large size, and thus bigger profits without risking their own money. Win-Win for all parties.
And if you need assistance in passing the Funding firms evaluations at Apex or Topstep, you can sign up at Microefutures Trading Room as JJ @vwaptrader1 and the team assists members (over 200+ to date) in all they need to know to pass the evaluations.
“Essay From Confessions Of A Market Maker co-host AllxDayxRayx”
The Process
“Focus on the process”. You hear this all the time…. but what does it mean? It’s arguably the most important piece of advice in trading and other statistical edge activities. But for the newcomer or the novice, I believe the majority don’t understand the depth of this simple statement. It’s precisely the process a trader must strictly focus on and not the results. In this article I’ll attempt to succinctly put what it means to me and touch on the various elements that make up the “process”. Note that this may be a bit subjective and personal. It’s hard to exactly pin down everything that encompasses the “process”, but I did my best to capture the essence. I broke it down into 3 pieces: love for the craft, Self-review/Strategy, and mental game.
Love of the Craft
First and foremost, the “process” begins with love. Do you love trading? And no, I’m not asking if you love making money. If you’re in trading because you want to make money, stop. The money is a byproduct; the money is how we keep score. At the same time, I’m not saying NOT to be in it for the money either; a paradox if you will. You should be a trader if you LOVE the game- if you have a borderline obsession with trading. Having the visceral love for an activity serves a two-fold purpose in my mind. You’re competing in a game where there are people obsessed with using every waking hour of the day to optimize their trading; this is who you’re competing with. Secondly, having a deep love for the game pushes you through the difficulties which inevitably arise. When failing to initially succeed, are you going to quit? You’re not because you’re fascinated by the market. When you hit a down streak, are you going to quit? You’re not because you love attempting to design strategies that fit current market conditions. The point being, you can’t quit because there’s something inherent that you love about the game.
This was the realization I’ve stumbled upon myself in my early poker days. I clearly remember several moments throughout my poker career, down moments, where I said to myself maybe I’ve had enough. I’m trying so hard but perhaps I wasn’t where I wanted to be yet, or I was hitting certain setbacks. The next morning or a couple days later it was as if all my anxiety vanished, and I was reinvigorated to see which areas of my game I could improve upon. Simple put, I couldn’t give up if I wanted to; I loved everything about the game of poker and that includes the painful moments- the greatest teachers. I don’t think it’s dramatic to say my connection to the game is spiritual; taught me many lessons that I carry in life, but that’s another topic. I use this example from my early playing days to illustrate to the beginner or novice that trading isn’t going to be all glitz and glamor and potentially quite painful. If you have a strong connection and love for the game, it’s what will keep in you the game. You’ll develop a respect for the game that it deserves, otherwise it’ll humble you. Quitting will not be an option because it’s who you are. Having a love for the game is to not be attached to the results. You trade because you love scrolling through charts looking for potential plays. You trade because you love the challenge. You DON’T trade for the results. You DONT trade because you want to get rich. Attaching yourself to a specific outcome leaves you vulnerable emotionally and that’s something we can’t afford in trading. The less I started focusing on results, the better they’ve become. Sure, having positive results brings a nice dopamine hit, but the real pleasure is in the journey and road traveled, not the destination. Work on your nonattachment.
Self-Review & Strategy
I want to start out the section on self-review & strategy with a note on accountability. In trading and as in other gambling activities and perhaps life, it’s easy to blame external factors for our lack of success. Sometimes it may even be true. Worrying about the external factors is quite literally a waste of mental capital. We focus on what we could do better-if anything- and we move on. It’s never the markets fault! Ingrain that in your head. Blaming your results or lack thereof on the market is a loser’s mentality. You’re passing the blame off yourself. We’re the one whose executing; Its always on us. Part of the process is taking accountability for our execution. And it needs to be done strictly. I can’t emphasis this enough. We and we only are responsible for our PnL. You ever hear a professional sports player or coach blame the other team for their loss? -ok there may be some rare examples. But most of the time they put the blame on their shoulders and say they need to get better. Play like a champion!
Another thing worth noting is we’re in a game of probabilities. So you could actually be trading fine, but still lose. And vice versa of course. I believe this is one of the most important parts of the “process”. Your self-evaluation; your trade review. This is where you see if you have an edge or not. And this is another word that gets thrown around a lot that I believe a lot don’t truly understand it. An edge means you know for CERTAIN a strategy works- or as close to certain as you can get. Not that it’s worked for you a few times, not that its work for you once and you hit a home run. I’m talking about having a concrete sample size and history of a strategy working. When you know you have an edge you can shrug the losses off; you know the strategy will work in the long run. Knowing you have an edge helps temper emotions because you have confidence in the system. For new or novice traders this is part of the process that may take a while. It takes a while to know if you have an edge or not if your manually tracking your trades as its going to take a while to develop a decent sample size- why back testing is very valuable in my opinion. Starting off this can be frustrating and difficult work. Lets hope you love the game!
Simplify your trading. Trading doesn’t need to be complex. The best traders I’ve spoken too, their trading methodology and strategies are quite simple. When designing a system for yourself, make it understandable and clear to yourself. I think its hard for most- it was for myself- to believe that a simple strategy can reap money from the market. “Making money from the market is hard”, “95% of traders fail”. While these statements are true, a simple strategy that makes money lives in conjunction- my opinion is most people’s emotional interference is the issue. This principle appears to be universal, applying to nearly every subject. If your strategy is complex and hard to understand, is it actually good? Maybe, but it has been said that the greatest minds are able to take complex subjects and break it down in a digestible manner. I think the same can be applied to trading.
Mental Game
Honing one’s inner confidence and listening to one’s inner voice I believe is a huge part of the process. It’s truly great to have a mentor, teacher or learn from various individuals and their resources provided, especially in the onset of your journey. Just as a child with his parents, you must leave the nest and form your own opinions. And these opinions can be molded by your teachers, but it’ll be personalized to your uniqueness. Knowledge of self- our strengths and weaknesses- is what will maximize your potential as a trader. This is a game within us. It’s not you vs. the traders on social media. It’s you vs. you, with you being the only person standing in your way. Modern society is a very noisy world. The one who can silence their mind and ignore the ever-growing distractions that are present will succeed. There are only a few things you need to focus on for your trading, yet there are millions of different indicators, charts and news headlines vying for your attention. The key is finding what is truly important to the strategies you’re executing.
I think a lot of what I discussed in this article can fall under the umbrella of “mental game”; all these topics are intertwined really. Having an elite mindset is what all the top performers have. There are many resources devoted to this topic and the pure scope of its depth isn’t appropriate for this article. I will leave you with two resources that personally have had the most impact for myself: “Art of Learning” by Josh Waitzkin and the general study and practice of Zen Buddhism- with an emphasis on practice. We can do all the theorizing we want; we can read all the trading books in the world, you can never become truly elite without repetition.
Thanks to everyone for reading. Always feel free to reach out to Ray on twitter-AllxDayxRayx- or in our EquitiesETC/Microefutures Trading Room Community where he trades and hang our daily with members. Good luck
QUESTION – Thank you for taking the time to participate in the Q & A session. Would you like to share with everyone who you are, your background (current and previous career, education, etc).
Answer:
I grew up in Vanuatu for the first 12 years of my life. I have a Bachelor of Finance and Economics, and I also started a Masters in Computer Science before quitting when I was introduced to crypto.
I compete in international level show jumping and currently own 2 horses.
QUESTION – How long have you been trading (stocks, crypto, NFT’s). And are you more of a day trader, swing trader or longer term investor? What have been your biggest challenges to date?
Answer:
I was first introduced to crypto back in 2012 around the time when Silk Road was getting a lot of attention.
I did not delve in the dark web myself, but naturally I found it intriguing and wanted to dig deeper. How does the website work? There is a token that you can use for untraceable payment? How is this possible? All questions I asked myself.
I researched Tor, the anonymous browser. Which then brought me to Bitcoin. BTC was $70 back then. I bought 1, that was a lot of money for me back then and I sold it a couple weeks later. I never considered it an investment, rather a really cool piece of tech (I was a teenager at the time).
I read the Satoshi white paper about 10 times to try wrap my head around how the blockchain and nodes work. This really fascinated me. This period for me was a time of heavy research, no large amount of money or trading was involved just a lot of reading.
My first investment into crypto was during the 2017 bull run. I had finished my Finance and Economics degree at university, and it seemed like a no brainer to long the tokens I had spent so many years researching. Thanks to this I made enough to quit my 9-5 permanently.
I no longer leverage trade. I now try to find small market cap gems or do simple spot trades. I also trade NFTs.
QUESTION– What personal or professional failure/setback have you experienced in trading AND your life that has set you up for later success?
Answer:
I lost $500 in about 10 seconds leverage trading. It doesn’t seem like much but it made me the realise the risk behind margin loans.
I rarely talk about this but I also got scammed for $200,000 about 2 years ago trusting a registered company in the UK to manage my funds.
It was an awful experience, I felt humiliated and kept wondering how I could be so stupid.
The guy is in jail now but my money gone forever. It was very difficult to recover from.
Now I have realised almost every single person has been scammed at some point. These two experiences have made me realise that taking risk and trusting others especially when it comes to crypto is almost never worth it.
QUESTION : This is becoming a favorite question for many – plus readers get some good gift ideas from it. What purchase of less than $100 have you made in the past year that you simply could not live without now?
Answer:
My ledger wallet for sure.
QUESTION – If you could choose three dinner guests dead or alive, who would they be and why?
Answer:
Elon Musk. I don’t care too much for famous people but I’d love to pick his brain about AI, and the future of humanity. He’s such a remarkable person.
My grandma and my brother. They are the best.
QUESTION – What are your goals for the future. Both personally and professionally.
Answer:
I want to do well enough both financially and continue to grow my knowledge to (positively) impact other people’s lives, and to make sure my family never have to work again.
QUESTION – What advice would you give to your younger self and to someone just coming out of school (college or high school)
Answer:
I’d ask why I didn’t put all my savings into bitcoin lol. But really.. Comparing yourself, or worrying about what others think will get you nowhere. Focus on your goals and stick to them
QUESTION – If you could have a big billboard with your favorite saying or message on it, what would it be? And where can our readers find you on social media? Thank you for taking the time with this interview, is there anything else you like to share with our audience?
Answer:
“Buy the dip”
Twitter: @vanessasierra00
Snapchat @vanessa00sierra
TikTok @vanessauncensored
Instagram @vanessa5ierra
Crypto telegram channel: T.me/vanessa5ierra
YouTube YouTube.com/vanessasierra
Beyond The Trades is sponsored by our good friends at https://microefutures.com/ where through their partners, traders can pass a basics trading skills evaluation to become 100% FULLY FUNDED to trade.
TRADERS – Get Funded 100% with Topstep Funding
— Learn safely with other peoples money– Perfect for small accounts — Trade much larger size — Get funded and keep 90% of profits. All you need to do is pass a skills evaluation
Below interview with Lance courtesy of The Haven, one of the leading educational platforms for crypto traders, they are also Alpha Mail’s go to for all things education. Lance spent over a decade at Trillium where he was one of the best intraday traders on the street. Lance managed Trillium’s Chicago office, trained dozens of traders, and was the firm’s Top Trader in 2020 and 2021 with back-to-back 8-figure PNL years. In 2022, Lance stepped down so he could share his knowledge with the trading community. Lance is Trading Advisor to SMB Capital in addition to running his non-profit, The Impact Competition. The Impact Competition challenges students to solve issues for local non-profits and then gives them the seed money to implement their ideas. His dream goal is to promote The Impact Competition to the trading world while live on CNBC.
What attracted you to trading?
The Market Wizard books were what really helped me fall in love with the idea of being a trader and trying to beat the market. The meritocracy, the challenge of it, the competitiveness of it… the ability to build up this skillset that allows you to compound money seemed like an ultimate skill to build!
What’s your take on whether the markets are PVP?
This is a tough question to answer because ultimately, markets are nothing more than the aggregate of its participants, weighted by the dollar value of their positions. Without the individuals, you don’t have the market. So you can get into a debate of semantics. But if I had to answer, I’d say our job is to beat the market rather than any specific participant. Because many individuals can make a correct decision for their strategy or their timeframe. Someone can sell a stock for tax reasons and win, even while I buy the stock from him and win as well.
The other important reason why I don’t think wish to define trading as PvP is because I believe in teamwork. And I believe that the sum is greater than the parts. PvP mindset fosters too much lone wolf mentality. Too many traders trade independently and alone when they would be better and win more if they formed up in pods. We can spot more opportunities, make better decisions, be more informed when we operate as groups.
Ultimately, markets are nothing more than the aggregate of its participants, weighted by the dollar value of their positions.
How long have you been trading and what markets have you traded over your career?
I was professionally trading equities for about 11 years. I continue to trade part-time and do equities, options, and futures.
Have you ever been tempted to trade crypto?
I was heavily involved trading crypto between 2012-2018. A friend and I were one of the first to build algos that arbitraged crypto across exchanges, made markets on various exchanges, as well as trade the coins directionally. I was there for the fall of Mt. Gox, I took the ‘haircut’ when Bitfinex socialised their losses from the 2017 hack. I was printing money for many years trading crypto but stopped due to partnership issues and the toll a 24/7 market takes on you. This info takes many by surprise because I am a fairly vocal hater of crypto nowadays.
I was there for the fall of Mt. Gox, I took the ‘haircut’ when Bitfinex socialised their losses from the 2017 hack. I was printing money for many years trading crypto but stopped due to partnership issues and the toll a 24/7 market takes on you.
I have seen the same bull arguments for crypto for over a decade, yet none of them have come to fruition beyond the same old niche cases. A decade later and still no real adoption has occurred of using crypto for everyday transactions, crypto wasn’t an inflation hedge, and the reality is that crypto doesn’t need to have intrinsic value to utilize the technology it’s based on. Blockchain, beyond how it already existed, has in no way had any affect on my (or almost anyone’s) life. I view crypto as one of the greatest ponzi schemes of all time because the price is almost all driven by speculation as opposed to true demand for any use.
I’ll still dabble in trading crypto during the massive panics or breakouts, but I don’t trust a lot of the exchanges. It’s hard to hold meaningful assets on most exchanges with such opacity around counter-party risk.
How long did it take you to become profitable? Were there any major milestones where things just started to click?
I was negative every month of my first year. But then things started to click slowly but surely. Sizing up conceptually made sense to me, so then it was just rocket fuel. I very quickly started having $100k+ months.
Were there points in that first year where you thought of giving up?
The beauty of being employed by a reputable prop shop is that they gave me all the capital I needed and were very patient in the training process. Not only did I think about giving up, but 1.5 years in I even started to interview elsewhere. I truly questioned whether I’d ever make it. I was putting in so much effort and trying so hard. But my progress was just so slow. Thank god I didn’t get the job I had interviewed at. Those next few months were when everything turned around for me and things finally started coming together.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Nowadays my life is a hodgepodge mix of following and trading the markets, providing free trading education content, running my non-profit, and managing various business I’m involved with.
Tell us about your non-profit
My non-profit, The Impact Competition, is my small way of trying to make a better world. I sponsor competitions at Universities where we challenge students to learn about the social issues facing a local non-profit and then to provide solutions to help that non-profit be more effective. We then seed the winning solution so the students get to actually implement their winning ideas.
It is amazing because students learn about real issues in the world around them and are shown that they can make a difference when they tackle them in a local actionable way. We have tackled everything from housing insecurity to mental illness to gun safety. Hundreds of students have been inspired by these competitions to make the world a better place over the course of their lives.
Who did you look up to when you first started trading?
I had nobody to emulate but my boss. I was in a small satellite office. I saw on some days the ludicrous money he would make and all I would tell myself was “no matter what I need to sacrifice, no matter what it takes… I NEED to make it at this job and make even a fraction of the money this dude is putting up!”
no matter what I need to sacrifice, no matter what it takes… I NEED to make it at this job
What kind of a trader was he?
He was very strict and had a fiery temper. To this day, I haven’t seen too many people flip out like he would. But above all, he was a caring teacher who gave me all the tools to succeed. I could ask him any question about any strategy. He had crafted such an incredible system of technical analysis through endless hours of his own study. He was so detail-oriented and this was an amazing trait to model after. Most importantly, I was role modeling a trader that was extremely aggressive. He always thought big and pushed limits. There is no way I’d have become the trader I did without him.
Is there any trade that was particularly formative in your development as a trader?
One of the most memorable trades I had was an exhaustion gap short in TSLA. Which is funny, because the stock is probably up 100x since. Tesla had been running up and getting overextended over multiple days then it had a really euphoric gap-up. This was a pattern I had seen many times and was one of our favorite patterns. It was also a pattern that I was able to strategize for.
This was occurring at a time when I was starting to lose faith in myself. I had been interviewing elsewhere, questioning whether I had what it takes. Knowing my back was up against a wall and that I might not see such an amazing opportunity again given how rare this pattern was, I gameplanned and made the conscious decision to bet big on this. Extra confidence also came from knowing my boss was going to be betting big too.
This was occurring at a time when I was starting to lose faith in myself. I had been interviewing elsewhere, questioning whether I had what it takes.
Sure enough, the play worked EXACTLY as expected and I think I made $10k in one day which was an unfathomable amount for me at the time. I think my previous best days were a few grand. So with that win, I bought myself a ton of time, but more importantly the trade gave me the recognition that I could learn from past misses and correct my behavior to capture the opportunities in the future.
What’s the best trading advice you’ve been given?
I’ll cheat and not really answer the question. Atomic Habits by James Clear is the Bible I wish existed when I started my career. Many of the major principles I operate by and learned independently, ended up being perfectly summarized and gift-wrapped in that book.
What drives you to keep trading?
Welp, I guess I’m not too driven anymore now that I no longer do so full-time. I find it interesting to still keep up with the markets and sadly still get seduced by the opportunity cost of me otherwise not trading.
Would it be fair to say that you were first driven by the money, but then by the mastery/competition element to become the best?
I’d say money was a big factor, but it would be an oversimplification. I loved the appeal of the stock market and what a performance sport it was. I loved the challenge of doing the impossible and beating the market. I loved the culture, the work environment, and level of autonomy you were provided. So there were many factors that made trading so appealing to me. But yes, money was certainly a big factor having grown up and seen what a stressor finances can be and how much people can struggle to stay above water.
I loved the challenge of doing the impossible and beating the market. I loved the culture, the work environment, and level of autonomy you were provided. So there were many factors that made trading so appealing to me
Would you say you’ve ‘made it’? If not, what does ‘making it’ look like to you?
I’m not sure when I would say that I “made” or even what it means to “make it”. Because everything in life tends to happen gradually and then all at once. Maybe my first Top 10 trophy. But even then I think you are always refining and trying to improve your game and always just trying to be better the year ahead. Or maybe I made it when I no longer had to worry about rent or feeding myself? Who knows.
TRADING:
What’s the most important quality in a trader and why?
Trick question. There really isn’t a most important quality. There are a zillion different qualities that come together in various ways to make one a successful trader and no two traders are alike. It’s hard to put people into boxes. I’ve seen traders succeed of all different personality types and skill sets.
OK, what about overlooked qualities?
I think the ability to change one’s behavior or to make concrete progress after a goal. What I would call “coachability”. How receptive is someone to feedback? How quick is someone to incorporate feedback? How stubborn or arrogant is someone? There is a fine line between confidence and overconfidence. The smartest people I’ve ever hired often ended up being some of the worst traders because they weren’t malleable. They thought they were too smart to struggle or be coached.
The smartest people I’ve ever hired often ended up being some of the worst traders
How would you describe the way you trade?
A lens for technical analysis. Interpreting all the nuances of the chart and the level 2 box in a fairly systematic way despite still being a discretionary trader.
Do you feel most beginners should stick to being purely systematic?
After training dozens of traders, I think most certainly would be better off starting purely systematic. Just because it is simpler and rule-based. It is less cognitively intensive. It is much easier to teach someone to do X when Y occurs. People can practice and gameplan that more easily as well.
The more experienced someone gets, the more it becomes an art rather than a science. They know the rules but have the experience to know when to break them. There is no one answer for when to break them, that is part of what makes the great discretionary traders so great. They have decades of experience whispering to them in their subconscious.
The more experienced someone gets, the more it becomes an art rather than a science. They know the rules but have the experience to know when to break them.
Has the way you trade changed over time?
Yes and no. The technicals and principles always remain the same, but at the same time, markets and strategies and ourselves are always evolving. We must improve at our craft, faster than the competition / market becomes more efficient.
Do you think AI will disrupt trading?
I’m not sure AI will disrupt trading a great deal. If it does, it’ll be slowly and gradually because trading is so heterogenous. There is no one strategy or one way to make money. Plus the markets are always changing and adapting. Technology and algos and HFT and AI has slowly been disrupting over time yet discretionary traders still exist. Since the beginning of electronic trading, every year people have claimed that humans have lost their edge in trading. Yet every year human traders still are out there crushing it. It will be a show-me story until the end.
Since the beginning of electronic trading, every year people have claimed that humans have lost their edge in trading. Yet every year human traders still are out there crushing it.
Why do you think you have success trading?
I outworked people, I avoided limiting beliefs, I had the cognitive abilities to better grasp the principles, I was hungrier and more competitive, had more grit, more curiosity. It is a zillion factors that makes a trader successful.
What’s the worst thing about trading and why?
The bad days feel far worse than the good days feel good! In behavioral finance world, this is called prospect theory. I think every trader would agree with what the behavioral science researchers are finding out much later than us.
The other downside of trading is what it does to your stress levels and how the stress leads to poor sleep patterns. I’ve had to put a lot of time and effort into re-learning how to sleep again and not wake myself up to check markets are ruminate on positions.
What’s something you’ve learned in the last 6 months that has made you a better trader?
I’ve been developing a set of principles and rules to keep me safe with a new options trading strategy I’ve been doing. Essentially building a way to safely sell vol during huge price spikes. Key is always to size small and stay safe.
How would you describe your relationship with risk?
Everything in life comes down to risk and opportunity cost. The risk of one job vs another. Spending your time on health vs wealth vs relationships. I think the smartest and most successful people recognize this interplay and how integral risk is to every aspect of our life. They recognize how finite time is and make sure that they are allocating it for the greatest return.
So, regarding financial risk, I’m always handicapping the odds and trying to make the smartest decisions I can. What do I stand to gain if right? What will I lose if wrong? I’m a huge fan of taking massive risks, but only when I know the odds are hugely skewed in my favor and that I can endure the loss if wrong.
Life is nothing but a series of risks and the winner is the person that takes the smartest risks given the hands they are dealt. Financially or otherwise.
Life is nothing but a series of risks and the winner is the person that takes the smartest risks given the hands they are dealt. Financially or otherwise.
What’s the mistake you find hardest to avoid when trading?
I think most people always tend to overestimate their edge. As a result they are overconfident. They play way too many trades. They bet too much on most plays. Most traders would do better by being far less confident in the number of hands they play and their edge in any one spot.
The best way to avoid this bias is to always leave a buffer for extra uncertainty or what I call employing “the 20% heuristic”. As humans we tend to be overconfident and overlook a lot of biases. I try to assume that my win rate on a trade or my reward will be 20% less than i expect and my risk will be 20% more than i expect. This helps me be more selective and conservative. You always need to handicap extra the fact that things go wrong more frequently than we otherwise expect.
If I ever still fall into a trap, it is because I get sucked into a trade that isn’t as selective as I need to be. Much like in poker, the worst thing you can do is get emotionally and financially committed to a hand that isn’t going to hold its weight in the end.
If I ever still fall into a trap, it is because I get sucked into a trade that isn’t as selective as I need to be.
If you could give someone starting trading tomorrow one piece of advice what would it be and why?
Really make sure you’re all-in or else don’t even bother stepping into the Thunderdome. The failure rate is incredibly high and the job is not meant for most people. No matter who you are, it is so difficult to survive, let alone thrive. It never gets easy.
No matter who you are, it is so difficult to survive, let alone thrive. It never gets easy.
Are you a day trader trying to make consistent profits trading futures? Haven’t learned that trading is a constant battle between the highs of making money and the lows of losing money, yet?
Well, you are not alone!
I’ve taken plenty of spankings in this business. I’ve found myself struggling to keep up with profitability, which can be an incredibly stressful situation. My job as a trader is to achieve consistent profits, and if the job is not making me money, well, it’s really not a job, right? As a day trader, I know how hard it can be to maintain consistent profits. It’s a stressful situation that many traders find themselves in, and sometimes it feels like you’re just spinning your wheels. But let me say this: keep that grit! Don’t give up yet – with the right strategies and tactics, you can become more consistent and increase your chances of success. In this blog post, I’ll share some of my tips for achieving consistent profits.
Maximizing Success in Day Trading Futures Through Screen Time and Risk Management
When it comes to day trading futures, consistency is key. That means having the right mindset and understanding what works best for you as a trader. It also requires keeping track of your trades, analyzing why certain ones worked or didn’t work, and learning from those experiences. This will help you develop better strategies for future trades, which will ultimately increase your chances of success.
Another important factor is risk management. When trading futures, it’s essential to use stop-loss orders to control losses and limit your risk exposure when things don’t go your way:
● A stop-loss order is an important risk management tool that traders use to limit potential losses when trading futures. ● It works by setting a threshold price at which your market order will be triggered, helping you to stay in control of your positions even when the markets are volatile. Setting realistic goals based on past performance will also help you maintain consistency in your trading patterns by allowing you to adjust accordingly if needed. As long as you have a good plan and stick with it, then chances are that the results will follow suit in time.
Now ask yourself, how much time do you spend in front of the screens? How much screen time am I getting a day, a week, or a month?
Active participation is crucial for success in day trading futures. Being actively involved in the markets means staying on top of news events that could affect prices or movements within them as well as monitoring charts for any changes or trends that may emerge over time. Doing so helps ensure that you are well-informed before making any decisions about trades so that they are calculated rather than impulsive or reactive moves made without much thought behind them.
In my experience, screen time is the most crucial of all strategies, because it’s what helps develop your strategies into consistently profitable outcomes.
Achieving Success as a Day Trader: Strategies and Commitment
Now it takes a lot to make money in this business. Some of the strategies I discussed above are just entry-level understandings a day trader must know. There are other skill sets involved. Consistently achieving success in day trading futures takes dedication and commitment – but if done correctly, it can pay off greatly over time! Taking the right steps such as having the right mindset, tracking your trades closely, managing risk appropriately, setting realistic goals based on past performance data, and actively participating in the markets (screen time) will all help lead to greater success as a day trader over time. Remember, results take time to measure. Good luck!
23-year old Ernestine Fu joined VC firm Alsop Louie Partners as an associate while in college and made the cover of Forbes magazine in her young but impressive career in the Venture Capitalist industry. She’s already made a name for herself as the youngest VC in Silicon Valley. She started her career at 20 years old while still a student at Stanford University. (reprinted from Business Insider)
Monday mornings are partner meetings for Alsop Louie Partners. I have to wake up and be ready early to participate!
Two months into the job, I found a team of Stanford PhD’s and convinced my firm to fund them $1.3M. Qwhisper’s still in stealth mode! I talk about them in the meeting.
I got to downtown Palo Alto to Philz Coffee, which just opened a few weeks ago. It’s my favorite spot to hold meetings with young entrepreneurs.
Meet my favorite baristas making my usual drink: soy chai with honey.
Ok, got to get back to campus for class!
I got into Stanford’s graduate school during the beginning of my 3rd year of undergraduate year at Stanford. So I have a lot of work to do.
Between class and meetings, I am trying to get some work done.
Today, I’m working on physics homework – analyzing trusses, calculating moments, and graphing shear forces. Fun!
I also teach, so I have to get the course syllabus ready for my entrepreneurship course. My printer ran out of ink a couple times when I tried printing out all the documents. Pretty exciting!
I’m taking a study break and reading up on news. As a student representative to the Board of Trustees and voting member on the Committee of Lands & Buildings, I was a part of this. (It’s crazy seeing the impact of my decisions!)
Sushi = best study break ever. (I’m working on inventing the Ernestine roll; there’s going to be some mango, salmon, and more.)
Time to head back to the dorm.
Got a surprise. Popcornopolis!
Finishing some regular household chores. Oh, laundry.
Thank you for taking the time for our readers to get to know a little bit more about you and a typical college day in the life of a VC.
Topstep is the world’s first and most established funding opportunity for futures traders. Founded in 2012 in Chicago, Topstep enables traders to grow and profit in the financial markets without risking their own capital. Pass our objective evaluation, the Trading Combine®, and Topstep will give you proprietary capital to pursue your strategies. You keep 80% of the profits — we take 100% of the losses. Guaranteed.
QUESTION – Thank you for taking the time to participate in the Q & A session. Would you like to share with everyone who you are, your background (current and previous career, education, etc). And your role with Topstep?
My name’s John Hoagland, Senior Performance Coach at Topstep and Chicago born and bred. My Dad was on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade for over 40 years. Personally, I went to art school but ultimately didn’t want to starve for my art and got my first job on the trading floor of the CME and the rest is history. I got to start and learn from professionals, which is something that is missing for traders today. I am a married Father of 2 great people, a musician, and a foodie.
QUESTION – For our readers who may not know. What exactly is Topstep and how do you serve the trading community?
Topstep is exactly what the industry is missing. With electronic trading being available to just about everybody, I think there are too many people funding their own personal accounts with little or no knowledge of what it takes to be profitable as a trader. It’s never easy, and it breaks my heart to hear the losses so many have taken. A random SIM account does nothing to prepare a new trader as there are no rules, accountabilities, or consequences. Without that sense of duress you have no idea how you will respond when you have real risk. Topstep gives traders the sense of having that skin in the game, in a much smaller way, some basic risk management rules everybody needs — and on top of that, funding. Topstep is the first, and only place for traders.
QUESTION – Can you explain your rules that you have for potential traders who join your firm. With such strong rules, how can the average trader thrive and make money with Topstep? Explain the pros and cons of them for better understanding.
All of our rules are based on creating good risk management habits. Professional traders have loss limits, and we all should. I have blown up accounts because of 3 little words, “But what if.” It is vital to understand when your strategy is not in alignment with market state, or if we are personally compromised by emotion and can’t follow your process. As a performance coach, I have spoken to thousands of traders, and almost all of us have something in common. We are hardwired in our brains to respond to the market and risk in the exact opposite way that successful traders respond. In losing trades we default to “I’ll just wait, the market will come back” or any number of rationalizations, and after creating some large losses the next winning trade is cut too soon, just to “feel better.” I had the benefit of family in the industry and I can still hear my Dad telling me “Learn how to take a loss.” Performance coaching has me creating good risk managers and changing the “wiring” of traders to cutting losses quickly and letting winners run. To me it’s all about math. Winning trades twice what your losses are, be right half the time. Another “Dad” wisdom,”Money is easy to make, easy to lose, and hard to keep.”
QUESTION- Now some non-trading questions. What personal or professional failure/setback haveyou experienced in your life that has set you up for this success?
Well, it’s not just one, it’s the whole journey. I quit almost every day for a while but I always kept coming back. I learned a lot of hard lessons and I consider those lessons to be priceless. I don’t really feel successful because I know this can end any time, so I just keep trying to enjoy the ride and it’s a rollercoaster. I like the rollercoaster.
QUESTION : This is becoming a favorite question for many – plus readers get some good gift ideas from it. What purchase of less than $100 have you made in the past year that you simply could not live without now?
Oh boy, okay. My wife and I recently reupholstered our kitchen chairs. So a spring loaded staple gun was not doing the job so I bought a pneumatic staple gun, I think it was about $80. Now I think about what I can upholster next, and the chairs look great! I don’t need much, at one point in my life, everything I owned fit on the back of a motorcycle.
QUESTION – If you could choose three dinner guests dead or alive, who would they be?
— Jesus — My Dad — John Bonham (drummer Led Zepplin?)
QUESTION – Can you explain the markets today versus the markets from years ago, decade ago, etc. And where do you see it five years from now?
Without being too obvious, the way the transactions are established has forever changed. I can’t see my competitors eye to eye. Markets are just about 24/5. I remember sweating in a position all night because I couldn’t get out. 8:30-3:15 was it. On top of that and to reiterate we are all alone out here. We can’t see our direct competitors. In the future I see more self-directed investors and traders, and I shudder to think of the consequences for some of them.
QUESTION – What advice would you give to your younger self and to someone just coming out of school (college or high school)
10% rule. Save and invest 10% of every dollar you make, no if, ands, or buts.
QUESTION – What are your thoughts on cryptocurrency and will your firm have any role in them down the road?
I’m of the age that I am very distrustful of them. I feel like the governments of the world are going to find a way to either delegitimize or take them over, and if the government gets involved, they’ll screw it up like they do everything. Topstep is looking at adding it as a tradable product as we want traders to have access to it, but I don’t have any kind of timeline.
QUESTION – Thank you for taking the time for this interview. How can our readers contact you,including on social media. And is there anything else you like for our readers to know about you?
You can share any messages for me at support@topstep.com. Come say hello during Topstep’s daily Market Forecast at 7:45 AM CT and Market Recap at 3:00 PM CT on Youtube, or during our free Group Coaching sessions every Monday and Wednesday at 1pm CST!
$TWTR is making me feel like I am in a Lizzo video right now.
Let’s talk about Bottoms and whether or not we are in one.
Just as in real life no one likes a flat bottom. The rounder the bottom the better and it looks like the $SPX has not stepped foot in the gym in months.
First things first, unless someone hires me as a TA this is just for educational and informational purposes only.
Let me preface this by saying there is always a bull market somewhere. Energy and grain have been doing extremely well. A lesson for newer traders or maybe stubborn ones, it is ok to leave your beloved tech and growth stocks and move over to a new sector when they are not working. I give you permission.
In a sea obsessed with bottoms everyone is looking to “nail” the bottom. Let them at it. A broken clock can be right twice a day. Our job is to, especially if you want to stay in this career long term, figure out the truth by reading what is in front of us. The charts.
Today I am not going to speak on inflation, CPI, QE, Investors reevaluating based on P/E or anything to that nature. These are all lagging imho. All that matters to me is what the charts are telling me. I really don’t care why. My time is better spent elsewhere.
So what pattern were technicians looking at wayyy before CPI etc?
What’s that? Try again.
You Got it. Classic topping pattern Head & Shoulders.
Looking at the chart we can clearly see the H&S forming and the confirmation of the break was 4300.
3800 has been a massive talking point between experts, because it is the 38.2% retracement area. I adore measured moves. It is like ballet. Poetic justice if you will lol.
So taking into account the March 2020 lows we can see the 50% retracement would put us at 3500. This doesn’t mean we cannot bounce around.
Let’s take a quick look at the largest weighing company in the S&P $APPLE.
With 7% of the S&P , trading 26x its forward earnings and having just broken support conforming a double top formation I can safely say this adds to the case of the bottom is not in
Take a look at the measured move targets below on the break of $151.50. Bullish case if reclaims this level and holds, as there will be a lot of trapped shorts expecting more downside.
Remember, we let the charts tell us the story and we allow the patterns to work themselves out. Every rally begins with an end to selling pressure and every selloff comes after bullish action, so it is important to not get tied into a bias.
I really hope you have enjoyed this quick article!
Please feel free to reachout to me on Twitter https://twitter.com/tradebeautiful to chat stocks, trading, technical analysis, and to let me know if you would like more . Send me a message or tweet of what you would like me to cover next!
Til next time.
Trade safe. Trade Beautiful.
Les xoxo – @tradebeautiful (Twitter)
Beyond The Trades is sponsored by our good friends at Microefutures.com / EquitiesETC.com
Trading in uncertain market conditions – from the desk of vwaptrader1
The market has changed drastically. We have to adapt our style of trading and manage risk and expectations. To thrive in uncertainty follow these rules as a start and remember that risk management is the MOST important thing in these trying times.
Time of day. For new traders with limited skills in trading, the market open in RTH is not wise. Let the market open and let the order flow establish itself. This means letting the big traders do the work and take on the fast volatile new orders that come in off the open. For more seasoned traders who have the skill and account size, size down so you don’t get whipsawed with SIZE. New traders should trade Globex where the price action is slower and you can see moves coming and reacting.
Before trading watch the market. Figure out where inventory is. Where longs or shorts are trapped. Look at the structure and how the price action is. Is the market moving fast or slow? Is the price jumping around or is it stable? Where are the stops? How is price acting at the stops? How many stops are sellouts taking out? Make notes of all this before you execute
When looking to buy dips remember we have SUPPLY in these markets now. This means the market will take the lowest stop before stabilizing and making a move higher. Short sellers KNOW there is supply and will not bid the market as aggressively as they did last year when there was no SUPPLY.
Make a plan for your out/ safety stop BEFORE you enter a trade so you are not caught off-guard.
Let the size traders work at extremes when markets sell-off, remember there is more supply now, let those big-money accounts take the risk, then look to execute. Being patient is allowing those big-money accounts the time to do their business. Getting in the way means getting unnecessarily stopped out.
Remember it takes TIME to clean up supply after a sell-off. If a market has been over VWAP for 4 hours it is going to take longer than 5 minutes to clean it up when it breaks VWAP as not everyone who is trapped long over it will sell at the same time. Allow time for the sellers to all realize they are trapped and head for the exits
Be aware of margin call selling when you are taking longs. When markets cannot hold settlement we will have margin calls. When other asset classes sell-off we get cascading margin calls as funds sell whatever they can to avoid sending money to their brokers. What this means for you the retail trader is DON’T GET GREEDY on longs. Sell into strength! If you are long and the market cannot take out the first upper stop above you get out and get paid. Always trail stops when in profit in case of selling that will hit the market like a rogue wave. Your stops are your lifevest, do not go into storms without one.
If you cannot figure out the trade, wait and watch the market will tell you what is going on. Resist the urge to jump in and boredom trade or revenge trade. If you have trouble doing this, reach out to one of the moderators in our room. We are here to help.
Use Globex trading to put together information so you can build trades in RTH. Be disciplined and always make sure you think risk before reward. The markets are not going to treat bad decisions and greed kindly. Govern yourselves accordingly.
If you are having trouble with a market, size down and trade less. The emotional wear and tear of losing money and blowing up accounts can be avoided by not pushing trades. We have to be vigilant and smart now. Anyone can make money in a bull market with no supply. We have a two-sided market now so remember we have to be smarter, faster executing, and more patient to allow trades to develop. Do not get upset if you miss a trade because you hesitated and chase it. There will be thousands of trades for you.
Admit you are wrong when you get it wrong and get out fast! Do not let that “ oh it may turn” get in your head. Be savage and cut losses quickly this preserves capital. If you get stopped out 3 times take a break and review what you got wrong.
Stay flexible and learn to adapt to different market dynamics. We will see many in the upcoming weeks.
Reminder that @vwaptrader1 teaches and trades live at Microefutures.com / EquitiesETC.com Trading Room Community
QUESTION – Thank you for taking the time to participate in the Q & A session. Would you like to share with everyone who you are, your background (current and previous career, education, etc).
Answer: I’m Martin Papp.
I grew up in the Colorado mountains, spending much of my childhood and teens outdoors. I studied Political Science at St. Lawrence University, graduating in 2009. I then moved to China to learn Chinese and immerse myself in at the time the fastest growing economy in the world. There is no doubt that when I moved to China 12 years ago, living in a big city was fun, but I didn’t want to lose my connection with nature. In 2015 I founded PAPP’S TEA with the idea that tea and other herbs bring enormous value to our identity, and the relationship we have with them should not be lost in our fast-paced urban lives. After receiving venture capital funding from BitsxBites in Shanghai, we grew to become a multimillion-dollar tea and kombucha business. Currently PAPP’S TEA provides tea to over 400+ locations throughout China including cafes, restaurants, hotels, and ecommerce store on Taobao. When my son was born, my wife and I decided to relocate to United States. Since 2020, I have become a fulltime stock trader and crypto trader as well as continue to monitor tea operations in China. I joined a great group of traders at TrueTrader.net and learned to become a self-sufficient trader.
I launched myself into NFTs six months ago, seeing it much as an extension of my trading career and venture capital intentions for the future. I co-founded Alpha Traders Country Club, a community specifically for stock traders, crypto investors, and NFT enthusiasts. Mint day is coming soon. LFG!
QUESTION – For our readers who may not know, you are heading up a very unique vision like NFT and Trading project called “Alpha Traders Country Club”. I will not do justice trying to explain it, so please go into detail for our readers.
ATCC is a community of traders and investors that support each other, learn from each other, and help each other become better traders.
Membership is granted via the mechanism of a profile picture NFT collection of trading desk sloths expertly trained in the art of trading and finance. One must be a holder of a Alpha Trader NFT in order to be part of the elusive country club nestled off the tropical coast of Costa Rica.
Think of our club as a cross between WALL STREET BETS and BORED APE YACHT CLUB.
We talk about all things trading, inviting industry professionals to speak on our livestream events and also host in real life events where people can mingle and make real world connections.
QUESTION – How long have you been trading (stocks, crypto, NFT’s). And are you more of a day trader, swing trader or longer term investor? What have been your biggest challenges to date?
Answer:
I personally have been trading stocks fulltime since 2020. My preferred method of trading is swing trading. I also have long term holdings in stocks and crypto.
I started investing in NFTs at the end of 2021.
Biggest challenge of trading has been learning how to focus less on the monetary gains and more of capital preservation.
QUESTION– What personal or professional failure/setback have you experienced in trading AND your life that has set you up for later success?
Answer:
I think my perseverance and my Dunning-Kruger exuberance has helped me never feel I fail. Everything has always led to the next. Sure there are many things I did not do perfectly or even well, but I did them, and that stupidity (some call courage) has led me to be successful in a lot of things I do.
In terms of failed businesses, yes, I have had two startups fail prior to successfully launching my tea company in 2015. In 2007 I co-founded a coffee company called Buywell Coffee. We operated a few years before eventually closing. In 2011 I co-founded a real estate investment company in China for investment in Mongolia. Project did not take off and stopped in end of 2011.
QUESTION : This is becoming a favorite question for many – plus readers get some good gift ideas from it. What purchase of less than $100 have you made in the past year that you simply could not live without now?
I got three of them now and have gifted all my family at least one! Best $20 dollars I’ve spent in a long time.
QUESTION – If you could choose three dinner guests dead or alive, who would they be and why?
Answer:
Elon Musk – b/c he is the goat of entrepreneurship
Lionel Messi – b/c he is the goat of soccer, the sport I love. (play three times a week)
Robin Williams – b/c he made me laugh my whole life growing up and I would want to tell him that.
QUESTION – What are your goals for the future. Say in 5 to 10 years as the metaverse becomes more of an everyday reality for us?
Answer:
I think the entire economy will be revolutionized through tokenization of goods and services. The assetification of all items will become prominent in mainstream businesses.
I’m not fully sold in the Virtual Reality thing taking off, but I am very bullish on Augmented Reality.
QUESTION – What advice would you give to your younger self and to someone just coming out of school (college or high school)
Answer:
The environment you surround yourself in is everything. You become what the environment lets you become. If you are NOT happy about where your life is or is heading. MOVE! Get yourself somewhere that will change you into a different person.
Immediately graduating from college I had a hard time finding a job. It was 2009 and job market was not great. I found a job a car sales rep in my hometown. Did that for three months and was miserable. I read the book OUTLIERS by Malcolm Gladwell and really helped changed my perspective. I quickly realized I needed to leave the United States for the sake of my career trajectory. Moving to China in 2009 was one of the best and most life changing decisions in my life, all based on the principle that environment dictates your success way more than most people are willing to admit. Do you think Elon Musk could achieve what he has achieved staying South Africa? Not impossible, but highly unlikely. Elon finding success in Silicon Valley is not a coincidence.
QUESTION – If you could have a big billboard with your favorite saying or message on it, what would it be? And where can our readers find you on social media? Thank you for taking the time with this interview, is there anything else you like to share with our audience?
Answer:
“There is no such thing as paranoia, even your worst fears will come true if you chase them long enough.” – Hunter S. Thompson
“Don’t be so humble, you’re not so great.” – My high school teacher, Professor X
Beyond The Trades 