Chapter 9:
Case Study of a Newly Successful Trader
As it has been quite a number of years since I started trading, I recognize I may not properly remember how difficult it was in the beginning. I still try to teach and explain trading in simple language, but it’s hard to recall all of the ups and downs of a truly novice trader. I’ve been wondering lately how I can best deliver a sense of those early challenges to my readers and students. A good teacher should always consider how their students learn and what it takes for them to get through the learning curve. It does not really matter how much the teacher themself knows.
For this 2020 edition of How to Day Trade for a Living
, I decided to include as an additional chapter a case study of a new day trader who had read this book and then implemented the knowledge gained as a starting point for their day trading career. I reached out to John, a member of our community who had recently presented
his story in one of our weekly webinars, and he agreed to kindly and generously share his trading journey with you, the readers of this book. In his webinar to our traders, John’s story was both amazing and inspiring. When John began day trading live, he experienced a horrible first two months (October and November 2019) but, subsequently, he had been on a very promising streak, as set out in Figure 9.1 below.
John’s journey into trading started like everyone else’s does. He had an interest in the market and casually followed it. He opened an account but did not know what exactly he wanted to do as a trader nor what he was supposed to do. He had some initial success (in swing trading) but then experienced some heavy losses (in day trading) as a result of his lack of education and planning. Thus far, John’s story was like many others who begin trading. However, what made John’s story different from most is that he actually realized his inability to day trade properly and he then went about fixing it. Most people are too proud to accept that they do not know what they are doing. Self-confidence is great, but self-awareness is more important.
What is fascinating about John is that he learned the basics from our trading community and my books, but he then found his own edge in the market. As I wrote earlier, John trades completely differently from me. He has his own set of rules and has defined his own strategy, and they are not something that I myself trade or teach.