Eric is an independent Breakout customer. What follows is his approach, in his own words. It’s not financial advice or a recommendation to follow any particular strategy. His results aren’t typical, and past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.
How do you take 60+ payouts in just 6 weeks?
First, spend over a decade trading on Wall Street.
OK, no: that’s not mandatory.
But in Eric’s case, it sure didn’t hurt, and his experience just might help you:
Today, Eric trades two hours a night (in Asia, not New York) as a hobby. But before that, he was managing trades and risk for huge institutions.
“That mythical market maker? That was me. My trade size could be $500 million a pop, all day. My particular forte for most of it was volatility options.”
Soon, Eric was training new traders how to win: both with their trades, and with the mental game of trading.
“The C-Suite doesn’t want to hear that the bank blew up their business because some 25-year-old trader decided to speculate.”
We asked him what ultimately separates pro traders from retail traders, and traders who consistently win from the ones who never make it.
At the heart of it, Eric believes the best traders stay grounded and approach trading like a business:
“Are you looking at fantasy, or are you looking at reality? A good trader is dealing with reality. Once you start treating this as a business, it can pay you back as a business.”
And he only went deeper from there. Here are some of the key lessons he shared:
1. Understand the game.
“Understand the statistics: how many people win, and how? How does the market work? How do you control risk?
Understand psychology: the ‘black belts’ aren’t even trading numbers anymore, they’re trading against what YOU are doing, what the big money is doing.
You need to learn to take responsibility for your learning, because trading will always hit your weakest link. Once you know that, you can get to work. It’s like any business: success won’t come overnight. If it does, you’re not as good as you think you are because you don’t know anything yet.”
2. Be the casino, not the player.
“A casino knows that it wins over a series of trades or a series of hands. You can’t look at a trade in terms of one trade, two trades, three trades. What’s going to hit over 50, 100 trades? That’s where you find the confidence to play your edge.
To last those 100 trades, you need the proper risk management to stay in the game until your edge takes effect. If you’re 100 trades in and you’re not managing risk well, you’re not making money? You have no edge.”
3. Learn to love your losers.
“Beginner traders dream of the Ferrari, the shiny object. They’re afraid to lose. Pro traders think first of what they can lose, and make the case for that. If you’re afraid to lose, you’re going to blow up.
It’s OK to lose: you’ve got to love your losers, because the trade wins or loses, not you. Your job is to take the edge: set up the system, enter properly, manage the risk. If the trade loses but you did the right thing, you won.
Pros are generally quick to cut losses, because they know they can make a good trade down the road. Cutting the losses gets you to the winners. The market is not out to get you.”
4. Flexibility is mastery.
“There are many ways to make money with trading. Don’t be rigid. The best traders are flexible; good trading is dynamic. You have to be an independent thinker; you can’t be stubborn. Think of WHY you’re doing something.
If your stop loss is 100 pips, why is it 100 pips? What’s that got to do with the market? If you’re doing a trade for an hour, why are you looking at a monthly? Because someone on YouTube said so, or you did last time? If you start thinking too rigidly, you’re going to lose the game.”
5. Trade for more than money.
“Most lottery winners don’t keep their money, because subconsciously they didn’t feel they earned it. You’ve got to be honest with yourself: did you put in the work, or are you gambling? If you’re gambling, you’re not going to feel you earned it.
You’re going to give it back. Be willing to learn, be centered, be humble, have a purpose beyond money.”
The best way to keep growing as a trader is to apply what you’ve learned.
If you’re feeling inspired by what Eric had to say, keep your journey going by practicing your approach under real-world conditions, with a fully defined downside from day one.
