Jan. 18 at 5:10 PM
$AAPL $MSFT $NVDA $AMZN $NFLX
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Below is a post I made on my Discord server. I am posting it here in hopes that it might help some people who are willing to hear it.
WHY THE VAST MAJORITY OF RETAIL TRADERS NEVER MAKE BIG MONEY
I am attaching a chart that shows some sobering statistics.
The progression goes like this:
1) All retail traders start with a dream to get rich quick;
2) 40% trade for only one month;
3) 80% quit within the first year;
4) Only 7% remain after 5 years;
5) 1% of all traders can profit net of fees.
To be clear, in this post I am talking about people, like me, who have decided to chose trading stocks for a living, not the casual trader who has another job as their primary source of income.
Interestingly, the attached chart uses a pyramid to show the progression I mentioned above.
I believe this is the PERFECT representation to explain why most people who try trade for a living are gone after a few years.
Specifically, they have unrealistic expectations about how they will profit and they never develop the skills that are truly needed to succeed.
THE MESSAGE NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR
I know what I am about to say is not popular and many will not want to hear it. The reason is that many people have unrealistic expectations regarding how to succeed in the stock market.
As the attached chart suggests, most retail traders think becoming rich in the stock market can be achieved quickly without having to do the massive amount of work needed for that to happen.
Unfortunately for those people, the reality is that being successful as a speculator, like any other vocation, will require hard work and a level of self-mastery that few people will achieve.
I am not suggesting that some people can’t make money quickly since we know that is possible.
However, that usually happens when someone starts out in a market that is amenable to making money quickly.
Then, when the tide of the market changes, those people who made money during the easy times typically lose most, or all, of the money they made previously.
The reason is that they never developed the skills and the discipline needed to achieve long-term success.
Instead of teaching people what they really need to be successful, most “gurus” have figured out that they can make more money selling the promise of “Hope” then selling reality.
So, many of them will sell books, seminars, etc. that promise to give people the next best indicator or method that is going to quickly make others rich quickly.
And…of course, that is what most people will buy because they truly do want to get rich quickly without putting in the sacrifice day in and day out to do what is TRULY required to be consistently successful as a trader.
WHAT IT REALLY TAKES TO SUCCEED
I am NOT a “guru” and I am NOT some kind of prodigy.
Yet, after 11 trading days in 2026, my trading portfolio is up 29.64%.
Yes, that's right…you can read it again, 29.64% after 11 trading days.
When most people hear that fact their initial thought is, “I need to buy the stocks that guy is buying” and would hope to hear of some winning pick they can capitalize on without having to do much work themselves.
To me…THIS IS VERY UNFORTUNATE.
You see, my being up 29.64% after 11 trading days in 2026 was not the result of taking massive risk buying some meme stock or “pump and dump” equity that I was lucky enough to time properly.
My current returns in the market so far this year are a result of tens of thousands of hours I have spent not only learning the principles used by truly master traders who are MUCH smarter than I am BUT ALSO developing the self-mastery needed to execute the investment strategy I have created for myself.
In fact, I will go as far as to say that without the self-mastery even the best system is not going to make you massive money in the stock market.
WHAT THE “GURUS” WON’T TELL YOU
Again, it is easier to make money selling hope then it is to sell reality.
That is why there are so many books out there that claim to have the newest/best indicator or method that will make you rich quickly.
Now please note I believe having the right system is indispensable for making money and I am all for developing one that works for you.
There is no question that is necessary.
However, after tens of thousands of hours doing what I do, I firmly believe that THE MOST IMPORTANT factor to success in the stock market is the development of SELF-MASTERY that enables you do execute a proven strategy.
For example, one of the reason my portfolio has experienced extraordinary gains in 2026 is that I was able to do something over the last few months that most retail traders are incapable of doing.
It is not the only reason but an important one.
You see, back in October 2025 I told a number of people about a stock that was trading (it was in the high 50s at the time) that I believed was set up where the ‘line of least resistance’ was going higher in the near-term.
This assessment was based on many hours of research and after watching the stock for over 3 years…yes, watching for 3 years.
The stock was heading into earnings at the time and I (along with one of my mentors), felt the stock was poised to go higher.
Fortunately, our assessment was correct (please note I am NOT always correct) and the stock proceeded to breakout on huge value.
Over the next few weeks, the stock oscillated trading in the 80s and 90s and MOST of the people I had told about the stock took profits for fear of losing their gains.
Now, I have nothing against taking profits and there are times when I will do just that.
However, in this case, I believed the structural trend for the stock was still at a place and the ‘line of least resistance’ was still higher.
So, while others sold their shares for a very nice profit, I didn’t sell a single share.
In fact, after the stock hit 100 and then proceeded to pull back in to the 80s, I actually ADDED to my position believing the structural trend was not over.
The stock became the biggest position in my portfolio and it closed Friday right around
$150.
HAVE YOU BUILT THE SELF-MASTERY TO DO WHAT MOST TRADERS CAN’T DO?
Let me be clear, that one stock was not the only reason for my extraordinary performance thus far this year.
There are others stocks in my portfolio that have also performed well based on the same principles I apply across my portfolio. I also know that those type of returns are not sustainable.
The point is, the skills I have developed helped me understand the market conditions were right at the time for me to be aggressive with a few trades that massively helped my portfolio.
On the other hand, there are times when the market conditions are not conducive to being aggressive and it requires being patient and doing nothing.
THAT’S RIGHT…I just said that there are times in the market where your job is to DO NOTHING.
In my experience, very few traders have developed the self-discipline to do nothing when the market conditions are not conducive to trades with a high probability of success.
Instead, the desire to constantly want action causes them to do something that harms many traders…they over-trade.
So, instead of preserving their capital for the right market conditions to get aggressive, they exhaust their capital and emotional energy on low probability trades that prevent them from being ready when the right market conditions present themselves.
So, let me ask you…have you developed the self-mastery to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING when the market conditions are not conducive to the system you developed for yourself.
Even further, do you even have a system for trading or do you simply look to jump into the next momentum stock or follow someone else’s trades?
Because, let me tell you, you will never make BIG money in the stock market until you not only learn the fundamental and technical indictors needed to understand market movements BUT ALSO develop the self-mastery to execute your plan, assuming you have one.
When you understand that success in the market comes from self-mastery and self-discipline then a noted Jesse Livermore takes on an entirely new meaning to you and you will see a dimension of the statement that most others will miss or fail to truly understand.
The quote is the following:
“It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight!”
That quote is used by many to inappropriately justify holding onto a stock that has gone against them.
However, that is NOT what the quote was about.
That quote is about the ability to recognize structural trends in the market and having the self-discipline to sit tight when the trend remains in your favor.
In my experience, this is something I don’t see a lot among retail traders.
In fact, there is another part fo the quote that is not frequently cited that validates my last statement.
The other part of the quote is this:
“Men who can both be right and sit tight are uncommon.”
