“Developing My Own Style” @mdavid
In Members in Profile, we interview stand-out members that show strong aptitude and work ethic. Our goal is to highlight different folks so that you can see the effort that our members are putting into their trading and hopefully learn from their experiences of the Convergent Trading Community.
We hope you enjoy hearing what @mdavid has to say!
What brought you into trading?
When I was a young child my father watched Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser which piqued my interest in the markets at a young age. Once in high school, I was part of a stock market competition and from there I began investing my savings in Equities. By the end of college, I was making decent returns and dumping all my earnings into the market, and living off 0% credit cards. Naturally, I was looking to take things to the next level and I discovered an automated day-trading system that traded ES and NQ and thought I could earn 6 figures a year while doing nothing, unfortunately, that never came to fruition.
A few years later I pivoted a bit and got someone to manage options positions for me figuring I could learn by watching what he did, after a few months the market had a pretty steep decline and I was out over $40k in a few days, I canceled him and subsequently became pretty uninterested in the market for the next few years. Fast forward to 2018 when I decided to learn futures the proper way, I attended a Van Tharp class on futures, got a mentor, and eventually found Convergent!
What do you like most about Convergent?
For me initially Convergent was about finding and developing my own style as a trader. I liked that there were multiple head traders all with different styles so it gave me an idea of the many ways one can trade and the many different tools available to traders. The Van Tharp class I took was all about systems trading which I quickly realized was not for me.
Before Convergent I was trying to learn to trade on Tradestation using price action, I knew without volume I was only getting half of the story at best but it was really difficult to learn how to use volume and the volume profile plugins for Tradestation were mediocre at best. I remember after joining Convergent I felt like I was finally discovering all of Wall St’s closely kept secrets!
How have these aspects helped you grow as a trader?
Shortly after joining Convergent I jumped right in and got set up with IRT which was a huge improvement over Tradestation for a shorter timeframe in day-trading. I spent a few months setting up my charts and building indicators. With IRT I was able to automate many of the lines I was drawing and calculating manually on Tradestation. At Convergent I learned the importance of doing homework, identifying areas of interest, and labeling important price levels before the market opened. I also discovered the footprint and became intrigued with it and it has become a valuable tool for me.
Do you have a favorite community quote or webinar?
“When you go to the bar to meet women you go when there is a lot of opportunity, later in the night once the opportunity diminishes you leave, you don’t just keep hanging out there, treat trading the same way, show up for the open and leave when the opportunities thin out, don’t sit there all day looking and hoping for something.”
Do you have any advice for new members?
Take your time, learn the basics and find a style that fits you, get off sim as soon as possible but start as small as possible. Work to get in peak condition both physically and mentally. Commit to doing whatever it takes to attain success, focus on your process, and remain disciplined.
What is your favorite non-trading activity/hobby?
Hard to pick a favorite, I have a passion for real estate, and for a few years, I was buying distressed real estate and either flipping it or adding it to my rental portfolio. I still very much enjoy creating renovation plans, doing finish carpentry, and tile work. I have been practicing Aikido (Japanese martial art) for 6 years, am an avid runner, cyclist, rower, and explorer of the outdoors.
On occasion when I find time to relax I enjoy time out on the boat, traveling, and reading books I can learn from. I am constantly looking for ways to optimize myself and reach the next level.
