Can you believe 2018 is gone, just like that? Yep! And what a year it has been… A lot was achieved, and a lot was learned. Now, like for any other year, it's crucial to reflect on where you were the most and least successful in 2018. It'll make your 2019 goals a lot more REALISTIC and allow you to really focus on what can be improved. So, join us in this podcast while we go back in time through the year of 2018 and reveal what we learned, achieved and can improve upon, and what you need to know ...
Jan 16, 2019•25 min
Shiva is a guy like you. He loves trading. He's success driven. He's smart. And he's very passionate about what he does. And he has definitely been one of the most progressive students of the Breakout Strategies Masterclass . He enrolled in the masterclass just 6 months ago, but since then he has already developed and started trading his first breakout portfolio LIVE. Let me repeat that: With the help of the Breakout Masterclass, he has launched his very first breakout portfolio in just 6 months...
Jan 09, 2019•41 min
Handling drawdowns and losing streaks is one of the biggest challenges traders face. We say (or think) that we're ready for them, and that we know what our tolerance is and can handle them… but problems can arise quickly. Traders often underestimate how long, painful and frustrating drawdowns can actually be. They can leave us devastated for months… Or even completely break us… But believe it or not, drawdowns can actually be a good thing. How? In this podcast episode, we discuss drawdowns, how ...
Dec 12, 2018•30 min
It's no secret that trading comes with its own challenges and obstacles. But as for any other worthwhile endeavour, perseverance and persistence is often the key to success. On today's podcast, we have Jim, a retired currency trader, who's a great example of this mantra. Jim took an interest in automated trading as a way to solve a lot of the issues he had with discretionary trading. He started developing automated strategies but was faced with the challenge of trying to build enough diversified...
Dec 05, 2018•33 min
Most traders love "tinkering". We're always looking for the next problem to fix, the next idea to try out, the next thing to learn and tweak. In our trading journeys, we can become obsessed with understanding every single detail that a lot of the time has no relevance to our progress. We can become so occupied with artificial problems that we're not making space for what truly matters… live trading! It's great to be curious and keep wanting to learn, but when it starts delaying our progress it c...
Nov 28, 2018•25 min
Have you ever wondered why there are so many losing traders? You can have all of the know-how, the best techniques, the best software… … You can even be the smartest person on the planet. But still not achieve the success you're looking for. In today's podcast, we talk about what's holding traders back from achieving their full potential. Here's what you'll discover: The key reason why many traders can get stuck and stop moving forward, How the misalignment between your conscious desires and sub...
Nov 21, 2018•28 min
A couple of weeks ago we shared a podcast about Dynamic Position Sizing (DPS). After that episode, we received an interesting comment from BTA podcast listener Paul (thanks Paul!), which we believe could bring more clarity to other traders as well. Paul is a trend follower who's been trading for about 2 years. He's figured out that varying his position sizing can be a good way to improve his results. So, he started applying position sizing to his trading, betting more on trades he thinks have a ...
Nov 14, 2018•27 min
A lot of traders think of performance in terms of the dollars they've made or lost. But knowing how to effectively measure trading strategies, portfolios and overall trading performance is key to long-term success. The overwhelming number of statistics available in backtesting software these days is incredible, but… Most of it doesn't actually matter. So, how do you separate what's important from what's not? In today's episode, we share the most important metrics we've used over the years to ass...
Nov 07, 2018•38 min
Imagine starting your trading journey. You have a super positive mindset and you're excited to learn and succeed. You keep learning and improving your craft, and you keep seeing positive results coming your way. You have profits. You feel great! You have a good number of robust strategies and your equity curve is looking smooth. But all of a sudden… you feel like you've been hit by a hurricane. Your trades start losing, and you feel devastated. You've done everything according to trading "protoc...
Oct 24, 2018•27 min
Last week, we hosted a brilliant discussion with the orthopedic surgeon, Alan. With his outstanding surgical focus and the Breakout Strategies Masterclass , he created more than 70 highly robust strategies in less than 2 months. If you haven't listened to that podcast yet, make sure to check it out first as Alan shares all of the crucial lessons he's learned throughout his trading career. But he's not done yet… As he prepares to go live with his first portfolio, he's here today to give you the E...
Oct 17, 2018•33 min
Alan, an electric engineer tuned orthopedic surgeon, went into trading with a positive and enthusiastic attitude. And as most traders do, he learned the hard way… He learned that the beautiful backtesting curves being sold online bring you nothing but pain and frustration. And you can probably guess that Alan lost a big chunk of his account very quickly… Actually, he lost 50% of his account in ONE single day. Ouch! He suffered BIG time. But nevertheless, Alan stood his ground. He was determined ...
Oct 10, 2018•30 min
Trading is a probability game. But the probability of the success of each trade changes every single time. While the market conditions of today may reduce the probability of a trade by 50%, tomorrow the conditions may increase the probabilities. So, it doesn't matter what trading system or strategy we trade… we cannot treat all trades equally. If a trader has a proper understanding of this, it can be leveraged to improve performance, sometimes radically. How, you may ask? Dynamic position sizing...
Sep 26, 2018•26 min
Let's face it… most traders will NEVER make money in their trading career. Yup, you read that right… in their ENTIRE trading career. And why is that, you may ask? Well, we could call it a tradition! Tradition is that one way everyone does something the same. That one path that everyone follows. For example, you see many generations of traders using the same risk management approach. Understandably, you go in the same direction because that's how it's been for a while. But if the majority of trad...
Sep 19, 2018•28 min
Imagine having a trade that's had a nice run and is holding a tidy profit. Then, just before the market closes, right before you're going to exit your trade, there's a fast sell-off and you end up closing the trade with a loss. Yup, one minute you're on the right side of the market and the next you're watching your trading account suffer. It just sucks! Creating good trading strategies is challenging enough. But having to deal with the markets' unpredictable and changing ways makes it even more ...
Sep 12, 2018•27 min
Imagine you need a new pair of shoes. You go to the shoe shop and explain to the store attendant what type of shoes you want. Now, imagine if the store attendant tells you they only have 1 type of shoe and it only comes in 1 size. They recommend this same shoe to ALL of their customers, and they recommend it to you too. They don't even check if it's in your size! Would you take it? Probably not. To get the best results you need shoes that match you. Shoes that match your foot size. Shoes that ma...
Sep 05, 2018•17 min
Do you remember those 'Apple vs PC' ads on the TV in the 1990s? They were a funny but very effective look at the differences between 2 competing options, and they ignited a debate that continues on today.Everybody has their opinion on which is better, but the answer usually comes down to what you want to do with it. And we can often see the same in trading software.A HUGE part of successful trading is being able to execute and monitor your trading strategies effectively. But to do that, you need...
Aug 29, 2018•22 min
There are a lot of wrong assumptions when it comes to trading strategies… One is that you only need 1 or 2 strategies to be successful. Another is that a trading strategy will last forever. Both of these aren't true. The lifespan of trading strategies has been getting shorter and shorter over the years. The markets are getting noisier. There are more algorithms. Greater changes in volatility. Tougher competition... If your strategy lasts 5 years, then consider yourself lucky! So ask yourself thi...
Aug 22, 2018•29 min
Most strategies fail. Most traders will spend their time trying to understand the most intricate detail as to why they failed. Even though that's a good thing overall, it can also be your worst enemy. At some point in your trading journey, you have to embrace that you can't decipher everything. Spending time trying to understand the minute details will make you lose money in the long run. I did just that when developing my brilliant framework that is now the core of the Breakout Strategies Maste...
Aug 15, 2018•27 min
Max Schulz, a swing trader from Germany, was having the time of his life in Thailand. One day, while sipping cocktails on the beach with his trading mates, someone jokingly asked if they could beat Larry Williams 10,000% return in the World Cup Trading Championships. With absolutely no preparation, and barely any experience in trading stock index futures Max took their joke seriously and entered the competition. The result? Max came 3rd place in the 2017 World Cup Trading Championship, with a fa...
Aug 08, 2018•27 min
Imagine having access to thousands of different trading strategies… By analyzing their live performance, you could determine exactly what works and what doesn't. Wouldn't that be amazing? Well, you're in luck! On today's episode, we're joined by Martin Lembak, a veteran broker with 17 years of experience. He's executed and analyzed more than 1000 strategies from some of the best traders and strategy developers in the world. He's also been Tomas' personal broker for almost 14 years. We're very ex...
Aug 01, 2018•30 min
Every day there are billions of dollars turned over in the markets and traders can make (and lose) a lot of money. But there is so much hype, scam and lies on the internet about how much money traders make, it's hard to know what to believe. And whether you realise it or not, your expectations can have a subtle and sometimes radical impact on your trading performance. Many traders come into the game with unrealistic expectations. They become deceived by these fairy-tale stories online. They buil...
Jul 25, 2018•29 min
On today's podcast, we have another success story. This time we're joined by Craig Peters from London, England. Craig is an algorithmic stock trader who scans about 10,000 global stocks every day looking for trading opportunities. He was looking for a way to reduce nasty drawdowns. After taking a technique he saw in a Better Trader Academy course and applying it in a unique way, he saw a BIG difference in his trading… Not just in back tested results, but in LIVE trading too. The results have bee...
Jul 18, 2018•31 min
Failure sucks. It is embarrassing, frustrating and deflating and can lead to doubt, stress and a huge bar tab at the local pub. Unfortunately, in trading, failure is a common occurrence. Especially with trading strategies. They can degrade painfully over time, and even fall apart completely... and sometimes VERY quickly. But there are some steps traders can take to reduce the chance of total strategy failure. In this podcast episode you'll discover: The #1 top technique that will increase your c...
Jul 11, 2018•37 min
On this episode of the BTA podcast, we're joined by a true trading success story. Henrik, who has spent most of his working career as a business consultant, joined the Emini Breakout Strategy course and initially did nothing with it. But then one day he took a key step which resulted in what can only be called an "overnight success". What did he do? How did he do it? And what were the results? Here's what you'll discover in our chat: The key steps Henrik took to achieve results FAST, and the inc...
Jul 05, 2018•45 min
In today's BTA podcast episode, we're joined by a trading legend… Someone who knows what it takes to be the best… Someone with a trading career that spans almost 40 years and has won numerous awards for outstanding trading performance… Someone who has even consulted to power-house firms such as Goldman Sachs… AND he pioneered the use of 'Walk Forward Analysis' too! That's right, today we're honored to be joined by special guest Robert (Bob) Pardo. Not only has Bob had a HUGE impact on the tradin...
Jul 03, 2018•31 min
Entries, entries, entries. Traders LOVE talking about entries. And even though exits are a critical part of trading, almost nobody talks about them. They're just not sexy enough. But exits can make a HUGE difference in your trading results, so it's time to stop ignoring them. We've received a number questions from Breakout Strategies Masterclass students about swing strategies and exits, and today we're going to answer some of them. In this episode you'll discover: How swing trading is different...
Jul 01, 2018•21 min
Breakout trading is a very popular style of trading, however it does have some challenges which can really damage your trading account if you don't know how to handle them. And one of the BIGGEST challenges for breakout traders is false breakouts. Yes, it sucks getting into a trade only to see it reverse and hit your stop-loss soon after, but it's a part of breakout trading. So, what can we do about it? In today's episode, we cover some tough questions about breakout trading, including: Does bre...
Jul 01, 2018•23 min
After months of planning, the first episode of the Better Trader Academy Podcast is finally out! Filled with laughs and lighthearted conversation, we discuss the hot trading topics, answer your trading questions and interview some of our most successful students, uncovering key tips and insights to trading success. Hosted by the two creators of Better Trader Academy, Andrew Swanscott and Tomas Nesnidal, we're here to support you on your journey to becoming a more profitable and consistent trader...
Jun 29, 2018•15 min
