In a recent episode, I mentioned that I'd be doing a few more interviews with less-experienced traders, who begun with $20,000 or more, have completed 12-months of full-time trading and are making a real effort to get better. Here's another one in the series... My guest is Christian Castillo, he resides in California and trades the foreign exchange market using methods of technical analysis. Although Christian is relatively fresh as a trader, he put up—what I would consider to be—a solid first year. He made money 9 of 12-months, and finished 2019 with a profit just shy of $20,000. We speak about Christian funding his account from driving Lyft, his experience going full-time (favorable and adverse moments), the premise of his trading strategy, the forex market in general, among other things too.

In a recent episode, I mentioned that I'd be doing a few more interviews with less-experienced traders, who begun with $20,000 or more, have completed 12-months of full-time trading and are making a real effort to get better. Here's another one in the series... My guest is Christian Castillo, he resides in California and trades the foreign exchange market using methods of technical analysis. Although Christian is relatively fresh as a trader, he put up—what I would consider to be—a solid first year. He made money 9 of 12-months, and finished 2019 with a profit just shy of $20,000. We speak about Christian funding his account from driving Lyft, his experience going full-time (favorable and adverse moments), the premise of his trading strategy, the forex market in general, among other things too.

Chat With Traders · Conversations with talented traders—in stocks, futures, options, forex and crypto markets.

190: Christian Castillo – My First Year Trading Full-Time...

Welcome back, as we continue from where we left off last time—here's the Best of Risk Management, Pt 2. Again, this is a compilation of highlights from past interviews, all of which are applicable to managing risk and staying in the game. My hopes in compiling this 'best of' episode is that you'll have a go-to reference for anytime your risk controls require attention, as well as drawing your focus to a few episodes that may have gone unnoticed. If you'd like to hear the full interview with any guest featured, you'll find the link in the show notes: <a href= "http://chatwithtraders.com/ep-189-best-of-risk-management-pt-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chatwithtraders.com/189</a>

Welcome back, as we continue from where we left off last time—here's the Best of Risk Management, Pt 2. Again, this is a compilation of highlights from past interviews, all of which are applicable to managing risk and staying in the game. My hopes in compiling this 'best of' episode is that you'll have a go-to reference for anytime your risk controls require attention, as well as drawing your focus to a few episodes that may have gone unnoticed. If you'd like to hear the full interview with any guest featured, you'll find the link in the show notes: chatwithtraders.com/189

189: Best of Risk Management, Pt. 2

After sifting through the archive of near-200 episodes, I’ve compiled some of the best bits pertaining to risk management. As there were many bits I deemed fitting for a ‘best of’ episode, it made sense to split the compilation across two parts—this is part one, and part two will follow next (Episode 189). The idea behind creating this compilation, is to reinforce the instrumental role that risk management plays in a traders’ ability to stay in the game. It can also serve as a go-to reference for anytime you find trading loses getting out of hand. One other reason, is to highlight some past interviews which you have missed or skipped over. If you’d like to hear the full interview with any guest featured, you’ll find the link in the show notes: <a href= "https://chatwithtraders.com/ep-188-best-of-risk-management-pt-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chatwithtraders.com/188</a>

After sifting through the archive of near-200 episodes, I’ve compiled some of the best bits pertaining to risk management. As there were many bits I deemed fitting for a ‘best of’ episode, it made sense to split the compilation across two parts—this is part one, and part two will follow next (Episode 189). The idea behind creating this compilation, is to reinforce the instrumental role that risk management plays in a traders’ ability to stay in the game. It can also serve as a go-to reference for anytime you find trading loses getting out of hand. One other reason, is to highlight some past interviews which you have missed or skipped over. If you’d like to hear the full interview with any guest featured, you’ll find the link in the show notes: chatwithtraders.com/188

188: Best of Risk Management, Pt. 1

I recently had an idea, I thought it may be an interesting exercise to have a few less-experienced traders on the show. On Twitter, I wrote that I’d like to chat with someone who: 1. Has just completed their 1st year of full-time trading 2. Started with a minimum of $20,000 3. Is or isn’t profitable (not important), as long as he/she is taking deliberate action to improve From this tweet I received many DM’s for consideration, and after filtering through them, I’ve asked several people who fit this general description to share their experiences on the podcast… The first cab off the rank is Josh Evans; 30-something years of age, living in Melbourne (Australia), and actively trading ASX equities. This conversation with Josh follows his progression from newbie investor to intraday trader—including his motivation and preparation for going full-time. A few specific things which have helped Josh to get his equity curve pointing in the right direction. Plus, deliberate processes Josh has implemented for improvement, one piece of advice he received that made a difference, and that’s not all!

I recently had an idea, I thought it may be an interesting exercise to have a few less-experienced traders on the show. On Twitter, I wrote that I’d like to chat with someone who: 1. Has just completed their 1st year of full-time trading 2. Started with a minimum of $20,000 3. Is or isn’t profitable (not important), as long as he/she is taking deliberate action to improve From this tweet I received many DM’s for consideration, and after filtering through them, I’ve asked several people who fit this general description to share their experiences on the podcast… The first cab off the rank is Josh Evans; 30-something years of age, living in Melbourne (Australia), and actively trading ASX equities. This conversation with Josh follows his progression from newbie investor to intraday trader—including his motivation and preparation for going full-time. A few specific things which have helped Josh to get his equity curve pointing in the right direction. Plus, deliberate processes Josh has implemented for improvement, one piece of advice he received that made a difference, and that’s not all!

187: Josh Evans – My First Year Trading Full-Time...

Joining me on this episode is Sudhu Arumugam, the co-founder and Chief Risk Officer of cryptocurrency futures exchange CoinFLEX. Though prior to this, Sudhu spent near 20-years in various trading roles for banks and hedge funds—mostly transacting in options on indices and single stocks, exotic derivatives and fixed income. We start things off by talking about Sudhu’s early days and experience in London’s LIFFE trading pit, meeting and trading with DRW founder Don Wilson—who he identified as a “force to be reckoned with.” Sudhu also speaks about heading a small institutional trading team within Merrill Lynch and shares insight to its OTC dealings. Then in the later part, we speak more about crypto and the efforts of CoinFLEX to become a market leading exchange.

Joining me on this episode is Sudhu Arumugam, the co-founder and Chief Risk Officer of cryptocurrency futures exchange CoinFLEX. Though prior to this, Sudhu spent near 20-years in various trading roles for banks and hedge funds—mostly transacting in options on indices and single stocks, exotic derivatives and fixed income. We start things off by talking about Sudhu’s early days and experience in London’s LIFFE trading pit, meeting and trading with DRW founder Don Wilson—who he identified as a “force to be reckoned with.” Sudhu also speaks about heading a small institutional trading team within Merrill Lynch and shares insight to its OTC dealings. Then in the later part, we speak more about crypto and the efforts of CoinFLEX to become a market leading exchange.

186: Sudhu Arumugam – Advancing crypto ecosystem—post two decades of institutional trading

Jaime Rogozinski, a serial entrepreneur who resides in Mexico, is the man responsible for bringing <a href= "https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/" target="_blank" rel= "noopener noreferrer">WallStreetBets</a> to life—the infamous and wildly popular subreddit, which proudly boasts the tagline, “Like 4Chan found a Bloomberg terminal.” In other words, WSB is an online forum (on Reddit) where the majority of it’s 700k+ members aren’t looking to establish long-term, sustainable trading careers. Instead they’re buying lotto tickets on commission-free trading apps, taking almighty risks, and attempting to strike it rich fast. This is a community, of mainly unsophisticated investors, where losses of 10’s and 100’s of thousands of dollars are so common that it’s considered the norm. And although less common, there’s also the occasional member who’s handsomely rewarded for his or her audacious risk-taking. It’s kind of insane what goes on here, especially because it’s real-life (minus the odd trolling stunt). But make no mistake, I’m not throwing shade at WSB! The brazen culture is fascinating and you can’t help but appreciate the rawness of it all, not to mention the comments provide priceless entertainment value. And there just might be some insight to gleam, if you look hard enough (even if it’s do the opposite!) Sound and rationale financial advice has no place on WSB. Speaking with Jaime, he tells how the subreddit evolved and took on a life of its own, highlights from the timeline; featuring a member who exposed an ‘infinite money cheat code’ on Robinhood and the infamous ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkrelli who was once a moderator, plus the largest gains and losses in WSB history.

Jaime Rogozinski, a serial entrepreneur who resides in Mexico, is the man responsible for bringing WallStreetBets to life—the infamous and wildly popular subreddit, which proudly boasts the tagline, “Like 4Chan found a Bloomberg terminal.” In other words, WSB is an online forum (on Reddit) where the majority of it’s 700k+ members aren’t looking to establish long-term, sustainable trading careers. Instead they’re buying lotto tickets on commission-free trading apps, taking almighty risks, and attempting to strike it rich fast. This is a community, of mainly unsophisticated investors, where losses of 10’s and 100’s of thousands of dollars are so common that it’s considered the norm. And although less common, there’s also the occasional member who’s handsomely rewarded for his or her audacious risk-taking. It’s kind of insane what goes on here, especially because it’s real-life (minus the odd trolling stunt). But make no mistake, I’m not throwing shade at WSB! The brazen culture is fascinating and you can’t help but appreciate the rawness of it all, not to mention the comments provide priceless entertainment value. And there just might be some insight to gleam, if you look hard enough (even if it’s do the opposite!) Sound and rationale financial advice has no place on WSB. Speaking with Jaime, he tells how the subreddit evolved and took on a life of its own, highlights from the timeline; featuring a member who exposed an ‘infinite money cheat code’ on Robinhood and the infamous ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkrelli who was once a moderator, plus the largest gains and losses in WSB history.

185: Jaime Rogozinski – The reckless abandon of WallStreetBets—where brazen risk-taking runs rampant

Mike Mangieri’s a co-founder and managing partner of Seven Points Capital—a proprietary trading firm in New York, and with several smaller offices in other U.S. cities as well as Toronto. Although Mike occasionally trades in volatility products, his days mostly revolve around operations of the firm and overseeing the traders. Therefore he has a slightly unique perspective on things, compared to the perspective of an individual trader… In our conversation we roll through subjects, such as; the birth of a trading firm, a day in the life of Mike, monitoring risk—both, on a firm and individual level, psychology and mindset, examples of general interactions that Mike has with the traders—and some of the difficult conversations he has from time to time, plus more.

Mike Mangieri’s a co-founder and managing partner of Seven Points Capital—a proprietary trading firm in New York, and with several smaller offices in other U.S. cities as well as Toronto. Although Mike occasionally trades in volatility products, his days mostly revolve around operations of the firm and overseeing the traders. Therefore he has a slightly unique perspective on things, compared to the perspective of an individual trader… In our conversation we roll through subjects, such as; the birth of a trading firm, a day in the life of Mike, monitoring risk—both, on a firm and individual level, psychology and mindset, examples of general interactions that Mike has with the traders—and some of the difficult conversations he has from time to time, plus more.

184: Mike Mangieri – Behind the scenes of an equities day trading firm

Gregory Zuckerman is a writer at the Wall Street Journal and author of The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched The Quant Revolution. For anyone unfamiliar, Jim Simons is the brilliant-minded mathematician who founded hedge fund Renaissance Technologies. Using quantitative models and with billions in AUM, Renaissance has averaged annualized returns of net 39% since 1988. And these returns only become more spectacular, once you discover that Renaissance investors pay a management and performance fee of 5 and 44—therefore bringing the gross annualized returns to 66%. Due to the superior performance, today, Jim has an estimated net worth of $23-billion. Greg describes him as being, “The greatest money maker in modern financial history.” Although journalists have previously covered the rise of Renaissance, for the longest time, much of it was still shrouded with mystery. But by gaining remarkable access to Jim and also many of the people around him, Greg has been able to tell the full story, in print, with detail and accuracy. Pick up a copy of The Man Who Solved the Market, <a href= "https://chatwithtraders.com/simons" target="_blank" rel= "noopener noreferrer">available on Amazon</a>.

Gregory Zuckerman is a writer at the Wall Street Journal and author of The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched The Quant Revolution. For anyone unfamiliar, Jim Simons is the brilliant-minded mathematician who founded hedge fund Renaissance Technologies. Using quantitative models and with billions in AUM, Renaissance has averaged annualized returns of net 39% since 1988. And these returns only become more spectacular, once you discover that Renaissance investors pay a management and performance fee of 5 and 44—therefore bringing the gross annualized returns to 66%. Due to the superior performance, today, Jim has an estimated net worth of $23-billion. Greg describes him as being, “The greatest money maker in modern financial history.” Although journalists have previously covered the rise of Renaissance, for the longest time, much of it was still shrouded with mystery. But by gaining remarkable access to Jim and also many of the people around him, Greg has been able to tell the full story, in print, with detail and accuracy. Pick up a copy of The Man Who Solved the Market, available on Amazon.

183: Gregory Zuckerman – Jim Simons—the pinnacle of trading greatness

Nico, who goes by <a href="https://twitter.com/inefficientmrkt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@InefficientMrkt</a> on Twitter, is an intraday equities trader. His area of expertise lies in low float, micro cap stocks, near-exclusively playing the short side of overextended moves. Nico and I spoke almost exactly 3 years ago on <a href= "https://chatwithtraders.com/ep-096-nico-inefficientmrkt/">episode 96</a>—which was memorably titled, "An 8-year overnight success story." Now picking up where we left off, we discuss what's been happening as of late... The most notable development being; after many years trading retail, Nico has gone into proprietary trading with Seven Points Capital. Going one step further, he has also established and heads up the firms' San Diego office. During the second half of this episode (from 40:20), I ask Nico to share how he's evolved as a trader in recent years—or more specifically; what has changed, what remains the same and what's been fine tuned.

Nico, who goes by @InefficientMrkt on Twitter, is an intraday equities trader. His area of expertise lies in low float, micro cap stocks, near-exclusively playing the short side of overextended moves. Nico and I spoke almost exactly 3 years ago on episode 96—which was memorably titled, "An 8-year overnight success story." Now picking up where we left off, we discuss what's been happening as of late... The most notable development being; after many years trading retail, Nico has gone into proprietary trading with Seven Points Capital. Going one step further, he has also established and heads up the firms' San Diego office. During the second half of this episode (from 40:20), I ask Nico to share how he's evolved as a trader in recent years—or more specifically; what has changed, what remains the same and what's been fine tuned.

182: Nico, @InefficientMrkt – An eight year overnight success story; three years later

This episode features high-profile American businessman, Robert Greifeld, who from 2003-2017 served as the CEO at Nasdaq—one of the world's largest and widely known financial exchanges. Bob came into this role at a time when Nasdaq was on the verge of an internal crisis, he was tasked with turning it around and making transformational change. Throughout our conversation, he tells of the critical moments and drastic actions, insight to Nasdaq's many acquisitions and its business model, plus lessons in leadership and career advice. Having since stepped down from Nasdaq CEO, Bob's recently written a book that details his entire experience at the helm. The book is titled Market Mover, and you can <a href= "https://chatwithtraders.com/marketmover" target="_blank" rel= "noopener noreferrer">get a copy here</a>. Today, Bob is the managing partner of Cornerstone Investment Capital—a fin-tech investment firm, and the Chairman of Virtu Financial—a prominent trading and technology firm.

This episode features high-profile American businessman, Robert Greifeld, who from 2003-2017 served as the CEO at Nasdaq—one of the world's largest and widely known financial exchanges. Bob came into this role at a time when Nasdaq was on the verge of an internal crisis, he was tasked with turning it around and making transformational change. Throughout our conversation, he tells of the critical moments and drastic actions, insight to Nasdaq's many acquisitions and its business model, plus lessons in leadership and career advice. Having since stepped down from Nasdaq CEO, Bob's recently written a book that details his entire experience at the helm. The book is titled Market Mover, and you can get a copy here. Today, Bob is the managing partner of Cornerstone Investment Capital—a fin-tech investment firm, and the Chairman of Virtu Financial—a prominent trading and technology firm.

181: Robert Greifeld – Crisis Averted: Saving Nasdaq from a path of ruin

There’s no other way to say it; Larry Hite is the definition of a market veteran, he’s someone who first developed an interest for trading and markets during the 60’s… Besides a reputation for extreme risk management, Larry is perhaps best known as co-founding Mint Investments—a hedge fund formed in 1981. He’s also considered to be one of the forefathers of trading systems and a pioneer of trend following. By 1988, Mint achieved an average annual compounded return of over 30%—it’s best year being 60% (in 1987, the year of the stock market crash) and it’s worst year up 13%. By 1990, Mint was the world’s largest hedge fund at the time, with $1-billion of assets under management. It was also around this time, that Mint’s performance caught the attention of Jack Schwager, as Larry was profiled and interviewed in the first book of the best-selling Market Wizards series. Now almost 30-years on, Larry has written a book of his own titled <a href="https://chatwithtraders.com/therule" target= "_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Rule</a>. It reflects on life experiences, trading lessons, and pretty much, how the most unlikely kid in the classroom went on to generate a significant personal fortune. During this episode, Larry and I discuss trading, risk philosophy and probability, life and memorable moments, and Larry’s work as a philanthropist too.

There’s no other way to say it; Larry Hite is the definition of a market veteran, he’s someone who first developed an interest for trading and markets during the 60’s… Besides a reputation for extreme risk management, Larry is perhaps best known as co-founding Mint Investments—a hedge fund formed in 1981. He’s also considered to be one of the forefathers of trading systems and a pioneer of trend following. By 1988, Mint achieved an average annual compounded return of over 30%—it’s best year being 60% (in 1987, the year of the stock market crash) and it’s worst year up 13%. By 1990, Mint was the world’s largest hedge fund at the time, with $1-billion of assets under management. It was also around this time, that Mint’s performance caught the attention of Jack Schwager, as Larry was profiled and interviewed in the first book of the best-selling Market Wizards series. Now almost 30-years on, Larry has written a book of his own titled The Rule. It reflects on life experiences, trading lessons, and pretty much, how the most unlikely kid in the classroom went on to generate a significant personal fortune. During this episode, Larry and I discuss trading, risk philosophy and probability, life and memorable moments, and Larry’s work as a philanthropist too.

180: Larry Hite – Reflection on markets and life—with a man who’s had vast financial success

For many, this will likely be the first time hearing about Mike Komaransky, but those who know him already, know him as a Bitcoin OG—and deservedly so, as he began accumulating the cryptocurrency around 2010. Though Mike has been a professional trader of fixed income derivatives since 2001, when he joined powerhouse trading firm DRW. Mike later became a partner at DRW, and in 2014 he launched its cryptocurrency trading business Cumberland—which grew to become one of the world’s largest market makers. After leaving the company in 2017 and a hiatus from active trading, Mike has returned as the founder and head of Grapefruit Trading. Over the course of our conversation, we chat about; Mike’s distinguished trading career, the strange ways that he bought Bitcoin in the past (when it was far less accessible), Cumberland’s participation in the auction of seized Bitcoin from the Silk Road bust, Mike’s disdain for technical analysis, and plenty more…

For many, this will likely be the first time hearing about Mike Komaransky, but those who know him already, know him as a Bitcoin OG—and deservedly so, as he began accumulating the cryptocurrency around 2010. Though Mike has been a professional trader of fixed income derivatives since 2001, when he joined powerhouse trading firm DRW. Mike later became a partner at DRW, and in 2014 he launched its cryptocurrency trading business Cumberland—which grew to become one of the world’s largest market makers. After leaving the company in 2017 and a hiatus from active trading, Mike has returned as the founder and head of Grapefruit Trading. Over the course of our conversation, we chat about; Mike’s distinguished trading career, the strange ways that he bought Bitcoin in the past (when it was far less accessible), Cumberland’s participation in the auction of seized Bitcoin from the Silk Road bust, Mike’s disdain for technical analysis, and plenty more…

179: Mike Komaransky – Going All In: The fixed income trader early to Bitcoin

Returning guest Nick Radge is a systematic trader of trend following, momentum and mean reversion strategies—which he runs across Australian and U.S. equity markets. When I asked Nick if he'd be willing to do another podcast, I said to him, "This time around, I'd like to discuss something very specific with you; how to create a simple trend following system." So, that's exactly what we did; a complete breakdown of Nick's process. This includes details about strategy objectives and idea generation, portfolio testing and analyzing results, position sizing and risk management, and execution in a live market. This episode should be helpful for anyone interested in riding big market trends (regardless of asset class). And even if trend following doesn't overly appeal to you, then you'll still pick up useful insight to trading systems.

Returning guest Nick Radge is a systematic trader of trend following, momentum and mean reversion strategies—which he runs across Australian and U.S. equity markets. When I asked Nick if he'd be willing to do another podcast, I said to him, "This time around, I'd like to discuss something very specific with you; how to create a simple trend following system." So, that's exactly what we did; a complete breakdown of Nick's process. This includes details about strategy objectives and idea generation, portfolio testing and analyzing results, position sizing and risk management, and execution in a live market. This episode should be helpful for anyone interested in riding big market trends (regardless of asset class). And even if trend following doesn't overly appeal to you, then you'll still pick up useful insight to trading systems.

178: Nick Radge – The Blueprint: Create a simple trend following system

This episode features Sam Bankman-Fried, who’s trading skill originated from 3-years at Jane Street—a proprietary trading firm renown for being one of the world’s largest ETF liquidity providers. In late-2017, Sam relocated to Hong Kong and began his foray into the cryptocurrency market when he co-founded Alameda Research. Alameda trade a range of quantitative strategies—such as statistical arbitrage and market making—which are mostly automated, but with a layer of human intervention. Within 2-years Alameda has grown to a point, where each day, it does approximately one billion dollars of turnover across 35 exchanges, accounting for somewhere near 5% of global crypto volume. Sam and I got to discuss many aspects of how Alameda operate and how his team have found lucrative opportunity amongst a chaotic environment…

This episode features Sam Bankman-Fried, who’s trading skill originated from 3-years at Jane Street—a proprietary trading firm renown for being one of the world’s largest ETF liquidity providers. In late-2017, Sam relocated to Hong Kong and began his foray into the cryptocurrency market when he co-founded Alameda Research. Alameda trade a range of quantitative strategies—such as statistical arbitrage and market making—which are mostly automated, but with a layer of human intervention. Within 2-years Alameda has grown to a point, where each day, it does approximately one billion dollars of turnover across 35 exchanges, accounting for somewhere near 5% of global crypto volume. Sam and I got to discuss many aspects of how Alameda operate and how his team have found lucrative opportunity amongst a chaotic environment…

177: Sam Bankman-Fried – Leaving Wall Street, entering crypto chaos

This episode takes on a slightly different format to normal. Essentially, it’s a response to an email that I received from a listener… The email comes from a gentleman who’s 38 years old with a full-time job, his wife is currently studying and he has three kids. He also has the goal to transition out of his current career into full-time trading, but he has a family who are dependent on his income. And that’s the part he has questions about. Therefore, I asked Alex (<a href= "https://twitter.com/TAGRtrades" target="_blank" rel= "noopener noreferrer">@TAGRtrades</a>) if he’d be willing to join me on this episode and share his thoughts on the matter. Alex is a full-time day trader, who has developed skill for trading long side momentum in U.S. equities. He’s also appeared previously on episodes 119 and 157.

This episode takes on a slightly different format to normal. Essentially, it’s a response to an email that I received from a listener… The email comes from a gentleman who’s 38 years old with a full-time job, his wife is currently studying and he has three kids. He also has the goal to transition out of his current career into full-time trading, but he has a family who are dependent on his income. And that’s the part he has questions about. Therefore, I asked Alex (@TAGRtrades) if he’d be willing to join me on this episode and share his thoughts on the matter. Alex is a full-time day trader, who has developed skill for trading long side momentum in U.S. equities. He’s also appeared previously on episodes 119 and 157.

176: Alex, @TAGRtrades – Can the family breadwinner become a full-time trader?

Chat With Traders is your key to the minds of trading's elite performers. Start listening to learn how a diverse mix of traders went from zero to hero, how they successfully trade markets today, and get their best tips 'n pointers for profitable performance, plus much more. Note: You are responsible for your own trading decisions, this is not financial advice.

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Chat With Traders · Conversations with talented traders—in s...

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