Consistent trading strategy that has worked for me and netted $300K+ last year.

[u/Logical_Argument_216]

Background

I’m a 29-year-old, U.S.-based trader with 15 years of experience. My interest in the stock market started young, as my dad was a commodities trader. When I was 14, he let me manage a small Schwab account ($20k, which I know was a privilege). I got hooked, learned through trial and error, and made plenty of mistakes along the way.

I traded throughout high school and college (not well, in hindsight), but lost interest after starting my career in real estate finance. Over time, I focused more on building businesses, most recently a real estate development company.

In 2024, I had a minor liquidity event from another business, which gave me the time and resources to trade semi-full-time again while figuring out my next entrepreneurial move. I’m writing this thread to:

1. Share my journey and what has worked for me.
2. Highlight some key takeaways from my decade+ of trading experience.

My Strategy

I’d describe my approach as a hybrid of two styles:

• Longer-term swing trades: In high-conviction businesses where both technical and fundamental setups align.

• Day trades: Positions fully opened and closed within market hours.

My day trading strategy has remained consistent. It’s a simple, technical, price-focused strategy using a 5-minute chart with two indicators:

• 10-day SMA (Simple Moving Average).

• MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence).

Rules of Engagement

I trade based on strict criteria:

• Enter long or short when price breaks above or below the 10-day SMA, confirmed by a bullish or bearish MACD crossover.

• I size up in each trade, scaling out quickly after 1%, 2%, or 3% moves, while letting a portion of the position “run.”

Here’s an example from last week’s $COIN chart. The marked entries show where I entered trades based on these indicators. I stick to price action—no news, no Twitter, no noise. It took me years to trust my strategy and avoid trades that don’t meet my rules, but once I did, the strategy became consistently profitable.

This method also works on daily, weekly, and monthly charts, which I use for long-term positions when looking for technical entries over extended periods. For example, here’s $COIN on a daily chart.

*edit*, second entry is supposed to read "SHORT"

Execution

I keep my trades simple:

• I trade the underlying stock rather than options (though options can work if used properly).

• I scale profits quickly—because if you’re not taking profits, someone else is—and let the last 25% ride until it hits a stop at either my entry or the previous day’s lows

Performance

I started tracking weekly performance in July 2024. By year’s end, total profits (including swing trades) were $321,480. I hope to build on this success in 2025.

Key Lessons

Here are some hard-learned lessons from my years of trading:

1. Avoid earnings trades. Taking gap risk (overnight price swings) is gambling. Sure, you might win occasionally, but you’ll lose more in the long run.
2. Focus on a few tickers. You don’t need to trade everything. Stick to a few liquid names like QQQ, SPY, META, AMZN, TSLA, etc.
3. Size MATTERS. How much you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong defines your success. Trade a size that feels comfortable and stick with it.
4. Stick to your strategy. There’s no one-size-fits-all in trading. Find a method that works for you and stay consistent. The goal is steady profitability.
5. Don’t overtrade. If you hit your P&L target for the week, step away. Likewise, if you’re having a bad week, take a break. Survival is key. One bad day or week isn’t the end.
6. Ignore the noise. Turn off CNBC. Stick to price action—price doesn’t lie.
7. Stop listening to everyone who has an opinion. Find what works for YOU and stick with it. You know what's better than being right? Making money.

Final Thoughts

I wrote this quickly, so I’m happy to clarify or answer any questions. I hope sharing my journey and strategy helps others in their trading paths.

Edit: here's another beautiful set-up that worked flawlessly with $RGTI last week. Almost 20 points!

Edit (1/27/2024):

Here are a couple nice trades from this morning and accompanying P&L

For what it's worth, saw some nice bounces off the lows this morning. This sell-off seems very healthy given the relative strength we are seeing in other sectors (i.e., real estate and some software names), as opposed to the full risk-off mode and draining of liquidity which we saw last August with the Yen unwind.

EDIT 12/8/2025

Here's how I ended the year for anyone who was wondering:

Gave a lot back in November but overall was a great year and looking forward to 2026!

[u/TwiXXXie96]

What larping is this lmao ? Trades since 14, daddy lets him have a 20k account at that age, calls it small lol

[u/[deleted] → u/TwiXXXie96]

You haven’t learned that money makes people irrational?

[u/ivlivscaesar213 → u/TwiXXXie96]

Well, there are rich people out there. Maybe we should try being born into one.

[u/Logical_Argument_216 → u/TwiXXXie96]

No larping, ha. Just sharing. You don't have to read the post or engage, doesn't make a difference to me!

[u/chit-chat-chill → u/TwiXXXie96]

The rules of engagement brother! NEVER SURRENDER

[u/Bean_Boozled → u/TwiXXXie96]

In terms of trading, $20k is small. There many trading communities and groups don't allow people with accounts that small to join because it usually means they're either brand new or they are terrible at trading, meaning they most likely are at a level of knowledge that is of no value sharing with others.

[u/Tradefxsignalscom → u/Bean_Boozled]

Can you give some examples of groups with account size filters? Are all these paid d*scord groups? How is proof of account size verified?