As 2024 comes to a close, I want to take a moment and share some of the most important lessons I learned this year.
Here are ten of them, in no particular order.
1. Skin in the Game: Don’t be afraid to trade—there are no excuses not to start. Today’s world offers countless platforms and opportunities with low barriers to entry. While this field demands a willingness to take risks, you don’t need to invest everything at once. If fear of loss is holding you back, begin with a small portion of your capital. Taking that first step is essential, as true learning only happens through action and experience.
2. Embrace Relative Strength: By identifying and buying the strongest performers in the market, you position yourself to capture alpha and ride the momentum of the true leaders.
3. Keep It Simple: Simplicity breeds clarity and confidence. Overcomplicating strategies often leads to hesitation, doubt and overfitting. Keep your charts clean, fewer indicators and reduce your parameters.
4. Discipline Wins: Even the best strategy is meaningless without disciplined execution. Avoiding the temptation to force trades or give in to FOMO has been critical. Staying committed to your process and adhering to your rules increase the likelihood of success.
5. Risk Management Is Everything: Capital preservation is key. Before entering any trade, it’s essential to fully understand the risks involved and have a clear plan for where and how to exit. Keep your losses small and let the winners run is how I learned.
6. Options Give Us Options: Options trading has been a game-changer this year. Working with Steve hand in hand in our Breakout Multiplier system pushed me to step up my game. Options have given me a way to leverage positions and face markets with different strategies for different environments. I look forward to continuing to hone this skill set next year.
7. Write to Learn: Writing has been a therapeutic tool for clarity, understanding, and objectivity. Documenting ideas has provided valuable perspective, while connecting with my audience has been both rewarding and fulfilling. I began writing every day since the summer and look forward to continuing this practice in 2025.
8. The Power of Diversification: Diversification is about more than holding multiple stocks; it involves spreading risk across uncorrelated assets, employing varied strategies, and using different timeframes to build a resilient portfolio that performs well in diverse market conditions.
9. The More You Learn, the More You See: Continuous learning has been a recurring theme for me. After achieving my Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation (the only globally recognized credential for this field), this year I’ve embarked on the CAIA program to deepen my understanding of alternative investments. This journey has been both challenging and rewarding, and I’m eager to see how it complements my expertise in traditional markets. I will keep you updating in my journey.
10. Make Trading and Investing Your Life’s Passion: When your work aligns with your passions, it transforms from a job into a purpose. Technical analysis has become that for me in the past years. Each success feels more rewarding, and each challenge more worthwhile, when passion drives your journey.
As I look ahead to 2025, I’m excited to carry these lessons forward. I hope they resonate with you and guide your own journey, whether in trading, investing, or life.
