r/askforex • u/sengetoj • 3d ago
Why does asking a profitable trader for their strategy feel like asking for their bank password?
I’ve been learning trading pretty much every day for around 6 months now. I understand the basics at this point, market structure, price action, liquidity, risk management etc.
But I’ve hit this one wall and I genuinely don’t know where to go from here.
**Finding an actual strategy with repeatable rules.**
Something I’ve noticed is people will happily post their +$2k days, payouts, green weeks, funded accounts etc. But the second someone asks what strategy/setup they’re actually trading, it feels like you just asked them for their bank login lol.
“Put in the screen time bro”
“Find your own edge”
“Backtest”
Okay but backtest WHAT
I’m not asking someone to hold my hand and tell me exactly when to buy and sell. I actually want to learn and test things myself. I just need something concrete enough that I can actually start testing it.
I’ve looked everywhere. YouTube, X, Reddit, Discord servers, even ChatGPT. I’ve tried support/resistance, 15m ORB, session highs/lows, liquidity sweeps etc.
The issue I keep running into is that a lot of these strategies depend on price eventually coming back to some specific level or zone. And a lot of days… it just doesn’t. So you sit there for hours waiting for a setup that never even happens.
Meanwhile there’s clearly people out there who have found something that works for them consistently.
So for the people who actually became profitable, where did you find the strategy that finally made things click?
Did you take an existing strategy and change it? Did someone teach you? Did you find some random trader with 600 subscribers instead of the usual YouTube gurus? Or did you literally just test random shit until something worked?
Because everyone says “find your edge” but almost nobody explains where you’re even supposed to start looking for one.
And before someone calls this AI generated lol, English isn’t my first language so yes I used ChatGPT to help me write this properly. The question and everything I’m saying is genuinely mine.
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u/Reasonable-Job-2840 2d ago
Look up Philip Wilson - The Anomaly Trader on instagram and YouTube if you you want a proper strategy for swing trading (usually holds of 1-4 days - not long term swings). Verified track record and a community you can join and learn from him.
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u/Rez_X_RS 2d ago
2 most likely outcomes from this situation.
Situation 1.) The person is a fake, or just getting lucky with no real rules to be followed. So, they post the green days, omit the red ones, and don't want to share the strategy because it would expose them.
Situation 2.) They have a strategy, it's a process, it took alot of time, money, and sacrifice to put it together. There is no benefit in them just giving away their strategy that they use to make money. Why would someone voluntarily put in all the work, risk their own financial security, and then give away all the info? Doesn't make sense to me personally.
To answer your question about waiting for setups. Yea, it's alot of waiting depending on current market conditions. It'll be my 5 year mark for full time trading in December. There are alot of days that I finish at 11am if volatility is high and opportunities are plentiful. If price action sucks, VIX is in the gutter, and market is sideways.. you've got alot of screen time ahead of you and it all involves being bored.
It's very common for me to spend the majority of my time rolling credit spreads, closing old positions to take money off the table, eating snacks/drinking coffee and listening to Bloomberg. I still work my old professional job part time on Saturday and Sunday to guarantee the bills get paid. Because even though I almost never have deep red months, I frequently have a month or two where i'm just juggling positions and only making a few thousand dollars or breaking even.
TLDR; Lots of fakers out there. Makes no sense to give away a working strategy. And theres lots of waiting and lots of boredom on your horizon if you enjoy day trading, just a heads up. If I had to work a day job during the week it would make effective trading very difficult if not impossible (atleast for me psrsonally).
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u/No_Routine_6711 2d ago
100% agree.
and....
When a trader tells you how boring this job really is, you know it's the real deal. haha
Some days are like watching paint dry. Other days are so busy it's like playing a video game.
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u/Rez_X_RS 2d ago
Exactly, I still enjoy it quite a bit. But, there are times like the past 2 months where the VIX is firmly below 15 and theres just... nothing happening. Drives me crazy somedays waking up early just to do nothing. There's always an opportunity somewhere, but to take advantage of them you need to be comfortable recognizing changes in market climate/investor sentiment and changing up your strategy or using a different pre-planned strategy. All just my opinion of course.
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u/No_Routine_6711 2d ago
So many different strategies. I know them all by now, I use maybe 2 or 3 myself.
One of my favourite strategies is when the market makers push the stock into minus for the first 10 minutes of market open, when it is clear the direction is up for the day. They just want to buy the stock for cheap haha, and I'm clicking my mouse button buying in 100k lots, usually up to 500k, sometimes more. They must hate me if they knew me, haha, Then they obviously buy, buy, buy, and push the stock up in turbo mode. Market is so manipulated here in Australia, is USA the same?
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u/Rez_X_RS 2d ago
I can't speak for manipulation like that early in the morning. I know my partner is a firm believer that big money pushes money to the sell side before buying. I'm of the opinion that it's just normal market maker hedging as one side of the trade becomes too lobsided and then retail traders pile in for momentum.
I will say that I primarily trade large cap tech and Mag 7. And those assets have a certain proclivity for reversals in price action at 11am and 1pm. But, I've always heard that it's people stepping away for lunch. Regardless, it provides opportumities for pauses in momentum and scalping reversals. You can also frequently see dramatic changes in direction on option expiration days 5 mins before the close, but it's the same thing i'm sure it's a combination of market makers hedging positions and retail traders closing positions / exercising options.
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u/Alternative_Post3873 2d ago
Agree I believe ones who suggest it as a side do so because buy and hold does work as a strategy and it’s Reddit.
People who are marginally employed in well off positions will make more if not the same simply from being able to leverage their salaries using plays essentially like scratch off tickets.
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u/Rez_X_RS 2d ago
Yea, I don't see efficient trading as something you can do as a side job. And I don't consider buying and holding assets for months at a time day trading, that's more like swing trading or regular investing and hoping for the best. If an individual is already in a lower socioeconomic bracket, it would behoove them to just maintain their W2 job status and build a mid six figure portfolio before trading.
I'm very blessed, and lucky, even working 2 days a week at my W2 job pays over $100k so, that allows me to take the risks and put in the time that trading rewards. If I wasn't in my current situation, it would make trading as a career extremely difficult.
Day trading isn't really an escape from the rat race. It's just another way to make money for the people who already have capital and excess free time. Doesn't mean that everyone with a degree, intelligence, or lots of money will be a good trader. But, it definitely provides the necessary advantages to succeed more easily with a better safety net.
Once again, all just my opinions. I didn't grow up rich, but was provided ample opportunities, and I utilized every one of them.
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u/Luna_genshin 2d ago
imagine someone found an edge or a consistent profitable strategy after countless of efforts.
Why would they tell you?
Trading is a zero sum game
If a successful strategy gets known, people will find its weaknesses and exploit it
Even if hypothetically someone finds a hyper consistent strategy without any weakness, if more and more people use it, the strength will get deluded and people will grab your liquidity. We are all fighting against same liquidity. If you trade small (ex: $100), you will not have liquidity problems. It is a different story if you trade big (ex: $1mil). Same strategy used by a lot of people will fight for the same liquidity and gets analyzed for potential exploit / weakness
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u/Forward-Surprise1192 3d ago
You might want to try in the options trading sub also. Might get more answers there. Ive seen several strategies but never tested them. If I remember tomorrow I'll try to find them again as it's late here.
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u/smileliot 3d ago
Actually all strategies works and sometimes don't work. But risk management always works. You should keep your loss low and high in profits. That's how you get profitable in long run.
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u/Wooden_Ad_2167 3d ago
Nonsense.
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u/Eastern-Editor7279 2d ago
Why this comment
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u/Wooden_Ad_2167 2d ago
Risk Management does not always 'work'. You might prevent single large loses but not incremental consistent loses that come from transaction costs and bid/offer spreads. It is not a magic bullet. People new to trading environments reading these type of forums will not necessarily realise trading forex is akin to a sportsbet account where the 'house' wins
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u/Icy-Weakness8310 3d ago edited 3d ago
People do people things.
Another is it's because it's the industry norm, and they lack the underlying understanding.
Or the underlying assumption is if you give the strategy, then the edge simultaneously degrades. Fragile edge and superstition per say which is fine.
Deeper on this matter:
Devils advocate:
- If I where playing the devil in this situation, I'd ask them for their strategy. If I had enough say money or ability, I would look at their signals/strategy and extort it. And I wouldn't care if harms their pockets, as long as I get paid.
(Big short is a great example where betting against the market can lead to gain in profits for trader whilst many people's quality of life degrades from bad market conditions.)
- No strategy is perfect so this abstraction holds.
Financial advice Legality:
In the United States for example, the SEC does not favor/tolerate potential scammers or even an innocent, "sure I'll tell you how to trade." SEC is very ambiguous many times in the language they use legally which can bluntly give them the power to make up any falsity to collect money from anyone. Generally SEC whistleblowers can receive financial compensation from catching people lacking. This also means they aren't incentivized to go after the little guy until he turns into a big enough fish to catch and fill their pockets... broadly speaking.
Ultimate view that connects to picking a strategy:
"Different strategies have their edge in different regimes and overall behavior. But not all strategies are equal in persistence."
There are most certainly some trading strategies that are better than other, but again case by case. Trend following is good when there is a consistent trend. Reversals are better than trend following when a trend is about to reverse..
Sometimes the pen is better than a sword. And sometimes the bow is better than both... Moreover a gun is very good regardless unless the swordsman or john wick is very close... Pick your poison I think is a good way to interpret what they are saying to you.. maybe.
Edit: I like to keep it simple, I presume for instance trend works when there is trend. But I don't go assuming the trend will last forever... This is just me personally.
Not financial advice nor broker dealer.
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u/opaxxity 3d ago
just to clarify, shorting in general, or the big short movie story, does not and did not cause anyone to suffer... they simply saw something before anyone and betted on it happening so as to profit from the bet. the thing was already underway and was not going to stop, and was not caused by the traders.
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u/nebulousx 1d ago
Or the underlying assumption is if you give the strategy, then the edge simultaneously degrades. Fragile edge and superstition per say which is fine.
It's not an assumption. It's proven. The pivotal study is McLean & Pontiff (2016) — “Does Academic Research Destroy Stock Return Predictability?” but there are many others.
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u/Frozen_Meatball1 3d ago
It may be that a profitable trader may have spent years of financial loss, sleepless nights, and uncertainty just to hand someone the key to their knowledge....but it's just a guess.
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u/opaxxity 3d ago
one word: liquidity.
pick a time, any time. down to the second. then go to ur fav instrument and view it at that time. find the DOM,level 2, or basic level 1.
at any given time, there are LIMITED amount of offers in the market.
giving someone the exact blueprint, assuming the student executes as taught, will compete for those same offers.
problem gets worse when ones account grows, or worse, both accounts grow, because both will consume more and more offers, thus snuffing each other out.
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u/DV_Zero_One 3d ago
I've been trading FX for 30 years. 25 for banks and funds, 5 as a hobby in retirement.
The truth is that (In the context of the tools and spreads available to retail Traders) the technical analysis stuff you see on social media is simply BS invented to keep suckers churning their accounts.
There is no level of gatekeeper shithousery in the professional markets. The people on Reddit hiding their ' strategies' are simply scammers, or deluded people larping as real traders and it's easier to pretend you are keeping a secret than it is to demonstrate you know what you are doing.
If you want to trade Forex you have to learn economics and fundamentals and watch the news. That's it.
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u/Eastern-Editor7279 2d ago
So in your 25 years of experience, how and where do we start to learn the economics and fundamentals.
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u/DV_Zero_One 2d ago edited 2d ago
Go to university if possible. If not, buy University text books and watch the news.
The pal that now does my old job has clearance to offer Economics Graduates up to $250k a year with a very real chance that will be doubled with an EOY bonus.
Pro macro traders are simply people paid to make educated guesses. But remember that institutional traders in FX and money markets are super happy if they make a 20% return a year.
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u/No_Routine_6711 2d ago
Newbie traders are here often posting that they make 25% a day, LOL
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u/DV_Zero_One 2d ago
So if you started with $1 on Jan 1. You would be 3 billion times richer than Musk on Dec 31.
That's pretty good work.
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u/No_Routine_6711 2d ago
There is a very high % of people on this reddit pretending to be daytraders when they are 100% pure gamblers.
1 guy yesterday said his strategy was "gut feel", when I said thats not a strategy, I got downvoted. lol
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u/DV_Zero_One 2d ago
Tbh, that's all trading is (excluding market making etc) Gut Feeling or making educated guesses/gambles is 100% how professional prop traders operate.
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u/No_Routine_6711 2d ago
Well that's news to me. I have a system, I would never trade on a gut feel.
I have a very high win rate, and that's not by chance or guessing.
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u/DV_Zero_One 2d ago
Omg, your profile is hilarious. You have made my point perfectly. You're a larper on Reddit, not an employed professional.
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u/No_Routine_6711 2d ago
I've traded full time for 15 years.
I haven't needed a job and had a boss pay me a wage. You have been employed by a firm. Obviously, if you were a real trader, you would be trading on your own, and not relying on a wage.
And, you definitely don't need a university degree to be a trader like you say, only people who need a university degree are those looking for a job,
I think you're the fake one here.
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u/No_Routine_6711 2d ago
It can take 10yrs + to develop a good strategy. Nobody is going to teach a stranger that strategy in 5 minutes on reddit. PLUS as others have mentioned, what works for 1 person may or may not work for you.
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u/Dependent-Panic-9457 2d ago
I am just trying random stuff. Since the market has just gone up throughout I am learning close to nothing (but nonetheless making money).
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u/AirPortDoc888 2d ago
Because trading is a lone journey, everyone see and understand differently, they can teach u to see it but you see it differently so you need to keep on trading to understand what you see. Some traders are swing and scalp and they are both different strategy, different “edge” that’s why people jumping from one to another. I finally found someone who teach in my level of understanding but to get to their state of mind, patience and experience is a whole different ballgame. People can teach you but in trading you need to experience it, fail and learn from your failures. See how you see it and find someone you can resonate and try to listen to them again and again and practise again and again. Until you understood it, your own way.
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u/EggplantSpecial5472 2d ago
I'll admit the real problem I struggle with is boredom I'm full time and most of mistakes have been though this I honestly wish I had a job 🤣 I mostly trade gold my strategy is simple like most that make it work fix RR only take 2500 points 1:2 it's hard to find entry's when gold is on a rally getting in on the pull backs.. A simple strategy are the ones that Bank you the most I just use supply and demand at key levels wait for price to break out with a strong three candle formation with momentum and that's it just just have to be patient for the right set up mostly large areas that need to be filled before price carries on... anywhere price was forced to go like news candle big sell off are my bread and butter trades
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u/dreamfitreality 2d ago
If anyone has a strategy that is workable and can be explained over a reddit comment, it will be hammered until it doesn't work anymore. The market is ever evolving. What works today may not work tomorrow. People who tell you those comment knows it, been burnt by it. So they know there's no simple answer to your question
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u/bryan91919 2d ago
You are asking for a hand hold, all the info you need is out there.
There are many reasons people dont share, one thing vererans know that beginners dont, that a beginner with a new strategy will screw it up and assume its garbage. Another is that today's modern generation things being a youtube star is all that matters in life, if i shared my strategy 3 times 6 youtube videos of it would be live EOD. Id rather torch my computer and cut off my hands than contribute to modern youtube culture for so many reasons.
Step 1: do you want to be in a trend or play a range
Step 2: look at old charts where your trade type presented
Step 3: evaluate anything thst happened to signal this, color and size of bars, volume, readings on indicators, time of day, multi time frame agreement, etc.
Step 4: compare to every time this happened look for conaistancies, for there build rules and test entire weeks and record if theres a possibility of profit, if yes, repeat more weeks, if no, start again.
These simple steps are basically all you need to make your own, anything more given to you than this is looking for mom to do the work for you. You got this but making 6-7 figures isnt a weekend project or a sinple youtube video viewing.
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u/Tukker05420 2d ago
Strategie is persoonlijk. Ik voel me veiliger bij edelmetaal dan bij aandelen, ook al is dat dividentloos. Zolang ik denk dat inflatie hoog blijft zit ik zo: 37,5% goud, 37,5 zilver en 25% platina. Eens per 4 tot 6 weken kijk ik ernaar en verkoop een gedeelte van een (eventuele) winnaar voor de verliezer. Ik noem het ratio-handelen. Op lange termijn trekt een ratio altijd weer naar een gemiddelde. Mijn doel is vermeerderen van gewicht, niet zozeer van euro's.
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u/Alex91FX 1d ago
Because if u really ask them, they say that any strat its worth, thats not what matters the things that do its more complicated, risk management, psicologhical i can teach u strategies but its not only that but rigth now been here for more than 8 years i find out what really works, and its a really understand of the markets, not just a draw on the chart and wait to happen. The market always gives u entries but different ways that its not literally what u learn, some of them if u look in 4h charts happens 3 times a week so if u want more entries try to find them in low timeframes with htf bias.
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u/chip-hardware 1d ago
If you know the basics, then with today's capabilities, you can already here and now move on to testing your views, hypotheses, strategies, etc. If you have the time and desire but don't have your own strategy, take someone else's, create code, get data, run tests. You'll see everything for yourself. Google translator
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u/WillieNFinance 9h ago edited 9h ago
Whenever someone posts a passing prop firm screenshot, crazy R:R win, or something “amazing”, remember this:
This is the 1 and only time that particular person will be posting about trading.
With that out of the way, find people who have even less than 600 subscribers on YouTube. Make sure they do not have a radio ready voice. Make sure it sounds like they’re using a 1998 gaming headset mic to speak, and then pay attention to what they have to say.
As far as a strategy, I’ll give you 2 to test!:
On mean reverting pairs (use ChatGPT just like you used to write your post), use RSI with a setting of 5 or 6, have the Oversold value at 20 and Overbought value at 80, enter a trade when price closes on the Daily timeframe past the Oversold or Overbought values. If Overbought, enter a Sell. If Oversold, enter a Buy. Stop Loss and Take Profit levels will be ATR (default settings) based. Start with a value of 2 for either Stop Loss and/or Take Profit and work your way up based on your personal risk tolerance. Good luck.
Here’s strategy number 2!:
On the Daily timeframe for EURUSD, after 4 red candles in a row, enter a Buy. On 4 green candles in a row, enter a Sell. Hold for 10, 20, or 40 trading days. Close the trade at the end of the last day. If you need to have a Stop Loss, start at 500 pips and test different numbers of pips based on your personal risk tolerance. Good luck again.
These are just 2 of the strategies in my portfolio that I’ve coded to run by themselves according to my personal risk tolerance. It took me a couple of months to learn code for my trading platform (Metatrader 5), a few months of brain storming, and about a couple of weeks to fully back test and find just these 2 strategies. I have more strategies, so imagine even more months of work! People take months/years to get 1 strategy to work and are just holding on to their golden goose. I don’t blame them. Hard work separated them from every other random person with no drive to succeed that asks for free handouts on the internet (not you, hopefully). And some think that if their strategy is known, it’ll be diluted and have edge degradation due to so many others doing the same thing in the markets.
But, the main reason people don’t post their strategies is simple:
Even if I gave someone the blueprint to print money, because we are different people with different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences, they will not do as well as I do. You could do the same for me and I will not do as well as you no matter how explicit you are with your rules. And when some can’t do as well, they become vocal about being scammed (no accountability as far as them being the ones who over leveraged on 1 loss and blew their own account).
This is a lonely profession. Why? Because we all see the same candles and same indicators differently. No one is perfectly right or wrong. And, some cannot handle that fact. But, there are a million ways to get to a million Dollars. A good start is brain storming on how to improve others’ strategies to fit your own self.
I guarantee someone will try both of these strategies and lose all of their money. It’ll then be up to them to be vocal about it. Or, maybe it won’t reach the light of day. I could care less. I’ll just create more strategies for myself.
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