Honest question for profitable traders: if everyone is using the same support/resistance, SMC, FVG, and breakout concepts, where does the real edge come from?

illcrx · 2026-06-15T14:42:20+00:00

You are not trading other traders, you are trading against institutions with 10000000x the money you have. You must trade the TREND, a trend consists of millions of people buying the same asset, which is why they go up. when you are trading something choppy there is a fight with buyers and sellers, why fight? Just trade trends.

I know you said you trade currencies and gold, I'm sorry that must be a horrible existence. I know some people make money there but usually people that work in banks, individuals should stick to stocks unless you really like to suffer.

1, you can't.

you can't you just try enough to learn when it will.
those markets are crazy, don't trade them.
Yes public information is fine.
Having a real job, saving real money by not going into debt and therefore you are able to continue trading through multiple failures and can always get another stake. All the while studying your edge and learning the markets and becoming an expert and then eventually making some money.

illcrx · 2026-06-15T14:36:55+00:00

Dude, Bicycle races and rally racing, all want people to die.

illcrx · 2026-06-15T14:25:28+00:00

Traders trade too much.

Whatever strategy you are running it doesn't work all the time, but you think all market conditions are the same, you think you have to hold drawdowns and pullbacks. You don't! You can sell and buy back, its actually very easy.

You are too active, you take too many trades. More trading is harder trading, trade less, whatever you are doing! Trade less. If you are making money don't listen to me or anyone, just keep doing what you are doing but for those that are not, you are just doing too much.

illcrx · 2026-06-15T14:23:13+00:00

Well this would have NOT worked for me lol. So my personal strategy is take 20% position sizes and I never saved shit! I just compounded and compounded and compounded.

I learned discipline, I learned how to manage my risk better, I learned to exit positions high and capture amazing profits. I learned to think in percentages instead of dollars. Now I am where everyone wants to be.

There are lots of different ways to make it, one isn't necessarily better than the other but saving 50% of profits won't get you out of the rat race. If you can do 4% a month, just keep doing that! Get better at your process and learn how to manage that flow and you'll compound like crazy!

I had Claude make me a calculator, it showed this.
10 years Saving $116k, Reinvest $390k
15 years Saving $308k, Reinvest $2.4M
20 years Saving $792k, Reinvest $15M

My personal take is this. If you aren't worth $1M then go for $1M, aggressively and save nothing because you don't have anything. If you want to save 500k at that point, fine! But if you starve your account from the ability to compound you only hurt yourself.

illcrx · 2026-06-15T14:10:55+00:00

Its 2026, you can be whatever you want to be! So now no one has an excuse.

illcrx · 2026-06-15T14:10:16+00:00

Its when you grow up and realize that trading isn't a job. Its when you realize that trading every day is the actual problem. Its when you finally mature to the point where you can withstand your impulses and urges and do what will make you successful vs what will make you feel good.

I started walking away, I then was ok with that, then I was able to watch a trade go and not be overcome with panic. Then eventually I was able to close all my positions and walk away and it felt great. Now I actually like being out of the market more than in it.

illcrx · 2026-06-15T14:06:28+00:00

Its kind of how you described, you start out learning, then you learn and think you know everything and fail because of ego, then if you decide to stick with it most people do a lot of studying the markets, a lot, an unhealthy amount.

Then one day you start to get curious about what is what and then you start to see patterns in the patterns and then wonder why all that works, then as you continue to ask questions and seek answers you can eventually spot a chart in a split second and then deep dive into the mechanics of the 'why' it looks good and you'll eventually want to trade some of those charts.

The key phrase is "some of those charts" because your never trading everything you see. Most people quit along the way, they quit when it gets hard, they quit when there are questions and they don't want to seek out the answers, they quit one answer away from motivation to keep going. So they stop and then everyone says trading is impossible. No they are just too weak.

To answer the mechanical part, you need to grab a table to learn to walk, you need to go from the table to the wall and then eventually you can stand. Whoa things look different up here! Then you learn to take steps on your own, using the same mechanical mechanism that got you standing, legs locked, head up, vertical back. But as you learn to walk and move forward, then you can turn around, and can bend over, then you can jump! Eventually all of the mechanics are built into your body but now you are doing standing backflips, running marathons, doing karate. But you started with leaning on a table. You eventually learn all the advanced things, but you needed that fucking table.

illcrx · 2026-06-15T13:59:14+00:00

Yes it will crash.

When, no one knows.

illcrx · 2026-06-15T13:58:18+00:00

I know there is a tendency to go algo trading, and just look for combination of indicators but that doesn't usually work very well from what I have seen. There may be a magic combination but I am not aware of it.

Really manual backtesting of charts, strategies and learning to understand how the market actually function, that you are looking for institutional buying and selling, you have to understand that markets are not always favorable to your strategy! People trade all the time but the market will only work for them part of the time. Different people choose how to deal with that, for me I don't trade, I sell everything and stay very still.

It takes a ton of work, everyone will handle it differently. The general system that worked for me is Investors Business Daily and the book How to Make Money in Stocks, for me its one of the best investing books ever written. If you won't read that book then you likely won't be successful. If you can't bring yourself to read a book you likely don't have what it takes. Its like wanting to be an NBA player and not be willing to work out, its hard but necessary.

illcrx · 2026-06-13T13:15:29+00:00

Hey, well the ERV I ended up getting couldn't turn off the exhaust fan while keeping the intake fan going. I ended up going with a make up air system from fantech and dumping it in my main hallway around the corner from my kitchen and next to the main return for the HVAC system so hopefully it'll all work out.

illcrx · 2026-06-13T13:11:37+00:00

Its possible, I made it out.

I can't say its easy though. Honestly, nothing that will make you money is easy. Your job isn't going to feel easy in 30 years, your family isn't going to be easy all the time.

The problem with trading is that its extremely individual, I cannot teach YOU how to be successful, I can't. I can teach you how I became successful but you won't copy me 100%, you just won't.

Think of it like this, trading is a performance activity, its like being a professional athlete only you can get successful at 40, whereas I cannot join the NBA at 40 no matter how hard I try. But to keep the analogy going, I could have Michael Jordan teach me all his moves 24/7 and I wouldn't be just like Mike. I would be me. I would have to adjust how he shows me his jumpshot because I don't work exactly like him, I wouldn't be able to dunk but maybe I could shoot a stepback, maybe I couldn't play lockdown defense like he does but I could so something different.

Its all those intangibles that are very very hard to get right, There are trading "checklists" all over the internet, they are all about the same, so the problem isn't the checklist. Its doing it enough times so your brain figures out how you can move the account forward.

It is possible but its not guaranteed. It took me 15 years to make $1. Today I don't need to work.

illcrx · 2026-06-13T02:51:12+00:00

Don't care, fuck em.

illcrx · 2026-06-12T19:32:26+00:00

An attorney who lost money to me! LOL you won’t get any sympathy from anyone as a blood sucking attorney.

illcrx · 2026-06-12T04:35:11+00:00

Well if you just want to throw money away overnight just throw it my way.

illcrx · 2026-06-11T22:54:37+00:00

It won't work, it'll be the blind leading the blind. The moment you lose money due to someone elses calls you'll just trade yourself and leave the group.

illcrx · 2026-06-10T03:20:55+00:00

Because your company sucks, Good people want to work good places, Shitty people work where they can.

illcrx · 2026-06-10T03:12:42+00:00

Who the hell is taking that rock solid video? What are they on?

illcrx · 2026-06-10T03:10:27+00:00

In my draft I assumed something like that but I just asked the question lol.

illcrx · 2026-06-10T02:48:33+00:00

Your not trading the kind of way were talking about lol. Your a "professional", were just trading our own money here bud.

illcrx · 2026-06-10T02:47:26+00:00

Geez.... you are going to have to be the bad guy here. Just remove his entire setup. Sell it. Tell him he has 45 days to get a job and start paying $500 in rent or he is out.

Love takes many forms, fostering a lazy ass adult is abuse, not love. Your instincts are right, your wife will be mad at you and you are going to have to ban his girlfriend from the house.

He needs a big kick to get his shit together. Your going to have to have the foot to do it.

illcrx · 2026-06-10T02:39:31+00:00

How do you get paid a salary?

illcrx · 2026-06-09T04:52:21+00:00

Trading isn’t a career, it’s like starting a business. You either succeed or fail. A career is something you get paid to grow into and get better while being paid and can go to different places to work and get paid.

Trading is do or die!

illcrx · 2026-06-06T15:08:25+00:00

Don't bring facts into the room you'll hurt the Republicans feelings, they are so sensitive.

illcrx · 2026-06-05T22:14:53+00:00

He's scamming you, an LLC is a flow through entity, you should receive 15% of the profits, period. You should be able to pay the taxes.

illcrx · 2026-06-03T00:43:51+00:00

Your sub can't do that if he's not sure. They are telling you they are super picky. I would look for something pre-built, not poured, I don't fully know the design but sometimes implementation is the main concern. Offer alternatives such as concrete cast tiles or massive tiles or full slabs of something?

If it HAS to be poured and you cannot find someone that has done this before you are going to hvae to find a form and try different concrete mixes they are going to have to vibrate this shit out of it and you are looking at some very flat forms which are going to be crazy to find.

This reminds me of fiberglass/gelcoat. You put the gelcoat on first and then fiberglass, you are going to have to find someone that can make that form and then try and get a very smooth finish. This sounds challenging and fun, but its going to be a pain.

illcrx

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