Embracing Change and Finding Trading Success

Today, I have the pleasure of sharing a truly delightful letter that we received from one of our valued members, Ben. In his letter, Ben expresses his heartfelt appreciation for our incredible moderator, Peter, and the profound impact Peter has had on his trading journey. I couldn’t help but feel compelled to share Ben’s kind words with all of you, as they serve as a testament to the exceptional work that our moderators do and the positive influence they have on our community. – Andrew

Dear Peter,

After several months of trying to find consistency in Day Trading, I had to admit I was clearly not making consistent trades and struggled with FOMO and seeing things that were just not so. I tried tape reading and utilizing pivot points but my TraderVue clearly showed it did not yield results after 100 trades. To this end, I decided to shift focus to swing trading, and utilizing the capital differently.

My results have been better this last 90 days given the long bias of my portfolio and the bull moves we have seen in the market. I’m still trading small, and tracking clear setups, and monitoring entries and exits in a tradelog.

My focus is on momentum stocks, with a sound financial balance sheet and revenue growth. In addition, I have kept somewhat of a balance between long and short positions, utilizing a combination of equities and options. The combination of fundamental analysis, technical analysis, and forecasting appeals to me, and I enjoy the process much better.

My point for reaching out was to thank you for the help you provided me back in December, and for providing the insights that enabled me to track results and reflect on the psychology aspects of trading. My assessment now six months in, is to be an effective trader one has to first be effective in more extended time frames, and then once achieved be willing to reduce the time frame but yet trade the same patterns. Maybe in the future, I get back to intraday trading, but for now, swing trading is yielding more success and satisfaction.

Honestly, I think maintaining a long/short portfolio based on assessing the macro picture, the fundamentals of the company, and finally the technical setup, is the trading style for me given the portfolio size, return expectation, and daily process. Sorry, I will not see you in NYC, but hopefully will get to chat in person sometime later in the year. I’m back in England for July, and November/December, but will commit to getting to a BBT event in the next 12 months.

Keep up the great work, and thanks again for the insights. Seeing your “shame” performance a few weeks back was hilarious. I almost lost my breakfast laughing.

Priceless. Cheers,

Ben