“If you decide to venture into the woods, be prepared for a heroic fight before you reap those epic rewards” @Easyslope
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 @Easyslope has to say!
What brought you into trading?
Initially, I believed that playing the stock market without inside information or an army of analysts was purely a game of chance. In the spring of 2022, I got curious when a Swedish trader was listed among the top taxpayers for the second year in a row. After dipping my toe, I was immediately hooked. My wife has also been encouraging me to try this for years, and having her support has been crucial.
After spending about eight months in wonderland and listening to all the Market Wizards books and “Chat with Traders” episodes, I was drawn by the allure of day trading.
What do you like most about Convergent?
In my experience, Convergent has a unique place in the world of trading education. It offers excellent training and support wherever you are on the path. For me, Morad and Convergent exemplify a professional, generous, honest, and humble culture in an otherwise depraved landscape of trading education.
How have these aspects helped you grow as a trader?
In every aspect. The teaching covers all aspects of trading, including psychology, risk management and market understanding. Receiving the Mavens live views and analysis is gold and witnessing the struggles of traders at all levels gives a sense of camaraderie.
Do you have a favorite community quote or webinar?
All study halls are essential. My favorites are the “Trader Mindset” webinars. They have some raw and honest passages that made my eyes water and made me realize just how much this undertaking wore on me. The archive is a treasure that I believe more members could benefit from.
Do you have any advice for new members?
For context I’m 2.5 years in and have been seeing promising results with a consistent approach over the last 4 months.
- Avoid focusing on profits early on. Instead, set goals that match your level of competence. Any intentional engagement with the market is valuable and focusing on profits can muddy your perception and slow your progress. Accept that as a retail trader, especially part-time, your education will take time. From my experience, three years seems to be an optimistic but realistic goal before you have a consistent approach and enough understanding to trade confidently in different conditions. After that, you must continue evolving. Linda Raschke said, ‘Learning to trade is not a one-time event; it’s a continuous process of refinement and adaptation to changing market conditions.’ You will do well to think of yourself as a student of the market.
- Learning to trade feels strange. When I look at all my notes and the material I’ve processed, it’s too hard express any of it. It’s more like peeling off layer after layer of understanding, but there is always another layer. The only way forward is to constantly reflect, adapt and navigate guided by your best guess. That’s how trading is a great metaphor for life. In my opinion, life is about growth, overcoming obstacles, increasing the ability to sense the right path and exercise discernment. Let me crown this tiresome rant with a favourite quote from Donald Hoffman, “evolution has shaped us with perceptions that allow us to survive. But part of that involves hiding from us the stuff we don’t need to know. And that’s pretty much all of reality, whatever reality might be.”
- Also manage your expectations regarding the effort required. Trading is a complex skill with random feedback over both short and long periods. This can be extremely frustrating and is why psychology plays such a significant role. Trying to learn this kind of skill without a serious intention is a waste.
- Allow yourself time to explore different approaches and timeframes. What risk profile and win rate are you comfortable with? Try trend-following and mean-reverting approaches but expect to eventually focus on one that you like. Great traders often have a narrow niche or a “bread & butter” setup.
- Avoid getting involved in debates about trading. What matters is what works for you. Every trader I trust agrees that there are countless ways to trade the markets, all highly individual. The key is to find tools and an approach that resonate with you, stick to them, and become an expert in them. I do recommend learning some fundamental analysis and order flow, even if they’re not part of your strategy.
- Get an accountability partner. This will accelerate your learning process.
I believe that the auction in any actively traded market represents a complex adaptive system. You can’t and don’t need to understand everything perfectly. By refining your skills, strategy, mindset, and routines, you shape yourself into a tool designed to interact with the market consistently, exploiting small inefficiencies.
To summarize, if you decide to venture into the woods, be prepared for a heroic fight before you reap those epic rewards
What is your favorite non-trading activity/hobby?
Now that I’m working and trading, I spend most of my remaining hours with my family. I take trading very seriously, perhaps too seriously because its time spent away from them. Once I can support myself as a trader, I’d love to revisit old interests like endurance sports (I used to be into swim-run), calisthenics, studying history, prehistory, and exploring different belief systems.
Have you participated in the #TradeRight program/challenges? What discoveries have you made?
I participated in the #TradeRight program immediately upon joining. It provided a structure that tied everything together, and my system is built around it. I also took part in a few 30-day challenges. I don’t have much to say; the program and journaling are fundamental for me.
If you read this far, thanks for showing interest!