This is the single most important lesson in all of trading. It’s not close.
There are only 2 ways to become profitable.
And once you understand them, you’ll know:
which strategies can actually work
which trading advice is useful
who is worth learning from
what to learn next
And then you’ll laugh at the idea of paying for anything in this industry. This page will cover everything.
#1: Systematic Trading
Every trading rule is fully defined and quantifiable
Every decision could be executed automatically by code
Success comes from discovering a profitable set of rules through testing, data, and experimentation
#2: Discretionary Trading
Rules guide decisions but don't define every action
Decisions rely on experience, judgment, and adapting to market conditions
Success comes from experience with a specific strategy
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Because regardless of whether you become a systematic or discretionary trader, there is simply no course, substitute, or shortcut for the work and experience required to succeed. Nobody who develops a system capable of making millions would sell it, let alone share it publicly in a strategy video. And nobody who succeeds through discretionary trading can sell you the experience required to make it work. Let’s continue.
This website was designed to answer every question you could have. I want you to succeed and have no course or mentorship to sell you.
The Complete Trading Guide Covers Everything You Need to Build Your Own Trading System.
This video/guide uses hundreds of clips filmed throughout my trading journey, but it has nothing to do with my personal trading strategy. It simply uses clips to reinforce every major lesson during the entire learning process. It teaches principles that apply regardless of the strategy or market you eventually trade. THIS VIDEO IS EVERYTHING.
You'll learn how to:
experiment with strategies, build and refine your own trading system
collect and analyze meaningful trading data
identify what actually works and what doesn't
avoid common mistakes that waste months or years
NinjaTrader is the platform I’ve personally used and recommended since 2021. It can be seen throughout the entire history of both of my channels, including imantradinglive (where my trading journey was publicly documented).
Planning to trade with a prop firm?
Either you trade a live account that you fund yourself, or you take the prop-firm funding route. Both have their pros and cons. If you choose the prop firm route, this guide covers everything from passing evaluations to earning payouts (as well as topics like short-term edge exploitation).
I am a live funded trader and have traded with props since 2024
I created the FREE Prop Firm Center Discord as a central hub ONLY for prop-firm traders.
✅Exclusive discounts & sales
✅Frequent account giveaways
✅Verified funded trader roles
Who should you learn from or follow? It seems like the right question, but it’s not.
Wondering who to follow is a legitimate question every beginner has. But, you should now understand that you can both follow everybody and follow nobody. Nobody is handing out or selling strategies that actually work on their own when automated, and even the greatest discretionary trader of all time can't give you the experience that makes them successful. This means that all books, videos, and people are simply sources of ideas. Ultimately, you are the only one who can make trading work. Either you discover a profitable set of rules that can be automated, or you spend enough time with a strategy to develop the experience required to make it work. Either way, YouTube, TikTok, X, and Instagram are simply places to find ideas. Even if the influencer you’re wondering about was profitable, they still have nothing worth buying. So, sure, go ahead and follow them. Test what they’re saying. Buy nothing. You will learn every lesson on this page for yourself if you continue trading. I’m just saving you money and time.
A terrible trader can give good advice, and an excellent trader can give bad advice. All you can do is test the ideas you find.
AFTER this guide, if you pay for ANY courses, mentorships, indicators, trade alerts, algorithms, or anything else in this industry—you've lost.
If nobody gives away a strategy that works when automated, what exactly are you BUYING in a course or mentorship…?
If nobody can sell you the experience in discretionary strategies, what exactly are you BUYING in a course or mentorship…?
If you aren’t going to watch the entire guide, please watch the section clarifying discretionary vs systematic strategies.
This video has been embedded to start playing at 54:08. That’s the section in the guide that clarifies the difference between systematic vs discretionary trading systems. It’s the missing puzzle piece. Trading influencers give up and sell a course before learning it, and so that’s why all of what you’re seeing on this page isn’t widely discussed. Plus, they’re incentivized to hide it from you, because it proves why their courses are completely useless in terms of developing a real edge in the markets. I repeat: every single trading influencer in this space who sells trade alerts, indicators, trading systems, courses, or mentorships is incentivized to not tell you how the path to profitability actually operates. They can’t sell a 30-second lesson that proves their products are scams.
Are you completely new to trading and looking to just learn the basics?
This video is an “intro to trading” class meant just for beginners. Skip it if not needed. Covered topics include: brokers, indicators, technical analysis, order types, basic trade components, candles, timeframes, charts, psychology, what to trade (futures, Forex, crypto, stocks, options), and other introductory topics.
Most of the biggest influencers in trading are frauds. It’s not an accusation. We have proof.
You learned from the first section that nobody is giving away a system that works without discretion, so, when you buy a course, you’re paying for a broken algorithm. Most courses contain some helpful information, but all of the real learning is actually up to you. The only value a course has is the information that you learned for free in the beginner guide at the top.
Please watch the video above, which will teach you about the red flags for a fake guru. You should now understand the specific information and value that can be extracted from trading videos. However, it’s not that simple. You are at a very high risk of completely ruining any chances of succeeding by following advice that is blatantly wrong. That is why it is essential for you to watch the video where I exposed the “#1 day trading podcast in the world.” It’s not an exaggeration to say that just by understanding the fundamental differences and the implications of systematic vs discretionary trading, your understanding of trading will be greater than most trading influencers. I’m not kidding.
EVEN IF THESE TRADING INFLUENCERS WERE PROFITABLE (they’re not), WHAT THEY’RE SELLING CAN STILL BE LEARNED FOR FREE.
I know MANY consistently profitable traders, and I know a few making a LOT of money. Guess what? None of them sell courses, mentorships, or private communities.
A collection of videos that will HELP you develop your strategy
I spent thousands of hours and multiple years learning to trade through pure experimentation and without ANY outside influence. That means I did a lot of stupid stuff, and I also learned a LOT about crucial topics that others don’t discuss. I poured my entire life into this and became hyper-obsessed for several years, so please benefit from the lessons, breakthroughs, and realizations that I turned into videos in order to benefit others.
1st video: learn about risk reward ratios and win rates, but particularly their relationship to each other as you’re learning and developing a strategy
2nd video: learn the REAL relationship between your trading strategy and “trading psychology”
3rd video: price action isn’t actually fractal, but what are the implications behind not being able to tell the timeframe on a chart? Take the test yourself and see.
4th video: your strategy will or will not work depending on the overall price action conditions, so what are the implications of that when designing a system?
5th video: ATR is a helpful indicator for telling you when volatility changes. That helps you adapt to correct trade sizes. Adjust ATR’s period from 14 to 1 to use it like me.
6th video: this is a collection of some of the most helpful trading advice in the trading industry.
7th video: just a 10-minute guide on trading futures. Personally, that’s what I trade rather than stocks, Forex, crypto, etc.
Interested in taking the prop firm route?
Prop firms are a great way to eventually transition yourself to real money — or, maybe you stay with prop firms like I did for the advantages they offer. I have made a complete prop firm trading guide here, and the video on this page covers the basics as well. There is money to be made with firms if you’re smart about it, but don’t even think about them until you’ve spent some time sim trading. Never use real money until you’re ready.
For getting started with sim trading, go here to see my page on NinjaTrader.
Regardless of which path you take, there is no substitute for the work required to succeed. The videos on this page will merely keep you on the right track while you learn.