Laurens Bensdorp - Trading Mastery School

The following is adapted from Automated Stock Trading Systems by Laurens Bensdorp. As a trader, you may make some profit and start to feel pretty good about your strategy. Then the profit stalls or you experience a long draw down, or you hear from a friend who is doing even better, and doubt creeps in: Do you really know what you’re doing? Is your strategy working? That doubt will infect your decisions. Where before you executed trades without hesitation, you’ll begin to second-guess. Though your strategy could very well be working, you’ll start to abandon it at key moments. Trading is a long-haul game, and consistency is key. To succeed, you must be able to trust your strategy and execute it with confidence. By comparing your results to a benchmark, you can evaluate the effectiveness of your trading system and either build confidence or identify a need for improvement. Let’s look at two different benchmarks you should strive to beat with your trading system. Th...

Not every trader is looking for 30 and 40% annual returns. I remember one trader, Samuel, who was managing his parents’ retirement account. With interest rates at nearly zero and with very little tolerance for a drawdown, they were barely getting by with their bond portfolio despite a lifetime of saving and sacrificing. Samuel was able to quickly transform their portfolio into a profit-generating machine earning them 10% a year with very little risk. Imagine having a $1 million portfolio that was previously providing just $30,000 a year in income that now easily provides three times that! For this couple in their 70s, the greater returns radically changed their lifestyle AND gave them the confidence that they could spend without worrying about whether they’d have a legacy for their children. Samuel wasn’t a typical student-most of my students are professionals in their 40s and 50s who want to maximize the growth of their portfolio so they can retire early o...