You Are The System
A Note To New Traders: Indicators, Systems and Gurus
There is one poker adage that has stuck with me throughout the years, “poker is like sex, everybody feels that they are the best but the majority don't know what they are doing.” I think the same can be said about the trading universe.
Trading “gurus,” influencers, and KOL’s flood our screens daily. Market participants scrolling through X, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube are bombarded with ads for trading bots, magical systems, custom indicators, and so-called gurus—all promising to make them rich. After all, why take the long road of educating yourself on how markets truly work when you can simply pay for a shortcut?
In this article, I’ll summarize some of the key lessons I’ve learned about indicators and trading in general. I’ll be addressing some hard truths—ones that not everyone will appreciate. But hopefully, this will save some people time, money, and even their sanity. Lord knows I’ve lost mine more times than I can count, lol.
The reality is trading is a marathon. Most traders will be washed out within the first three years. The first year trading can be brutal on new traders. Trying to figure out what does work, over-trading, not really handling the risks, and learning to manage their emotions.
As Matt Damon says in Rounders, “A brilliant player can get a strong hand cracked, go on tilt… and lose his mind along with every last chip in front of him.” Good movie. I learned to play poker during my childhood, played professionally for a couple years, and what the game taught me has worked well for me throughout my trading career.
The new trader's goal for the first year is to learn about the markets, to understand how the markets work to the best one can possibly know how to understand them, and most importantly, survive. If one can survive the first year, trust me that's an accomplishment—even if one hasn't yet made a profit.
Over the next couple of years, the new trader will still focus on survival, but by this stage, they’ll have a clearer idea of what they want to specialize in—whether it’s scalping, swing trading, or position trading. They’ll also develop a deeper understanding of which markets suit them best while refining their trade execution and management skills.
If you make it through those first three years, chances are you’ve tried every moving average strategy under the sun, from opening bell ORB setups to everything in between. Even if you’re not yet consistently profitable, simply surviving puts you ahead of many traders who have been forced out. As my mentor used to say, “If you survive the first three years, your chances of becoming a successful trader increase dramatically.”
Time spent in the market is the most valuable asset a trader can have—I can’t stress that enough. If a strategy can be automated and still work, then automate it. If not, it’s a discretionary system, meaning its profitability depends on your decisions—whether to take a trade or sit it out. Without that discretion, the system will eventually fail to be profitable. Patterns, liquidity zones, pivot points—none of these are inherently profitable on their own in the long run.
So why do we use them? It’s about developing market insight. When a trader draws a trendline or identifies support and resistance, they’re using historical data to form an opinion about market behavior and create a plan for potential outcomes. But at the end of the day, it all comes back to discretion—knowing what to do and when to do it.
I’m not saying you should ignore the technical details—quite the opposite. You should absorb as much as possible. Points of control, value area highs and lows, pivot points—it’s all price action. The more you learn, the deeper your understanding becomes. But the real key to profitability isn’t just following a system—it’s knowing when to step outside of it. A rigid system can only take you so far; the ability to adapt is what separates winning traders from the rest.
I spent years reading about the markets and trading before ever placing a trade. But did all that research actually help me? Maybe. Maybe not. It probably saved me from some major mistakes, but trading is one of those things you have to do to get good at. It’s like sports or playing the guitar—you can’t just read a book or watch a few lessons and expect to dominate on the court or start shredding. Mastery comes from repetition—hundreds of hours of practice.
That said, trading books and videos can be useful—if you apply what you learn. But the most valuable thing you can do is track your trades. Keep a journal, log every trade, and analyze your results. You need to know what works for you and what doesn’t. Maybe you perform best when scalping at market open, or perhaps your edge comes from taking positions near market close and selling at the open. Tracking your trades gives you the insight to refine your approach and turn experience into strategy.
You can be a patient, disciplined trader who thrives in swing and position trading, or you can be an impatient trader with a short attention span, better suited for scalping. There’s no right or wrong approach—only what works best for you. Collect six months or more of data, review it, and I guarantee you’ll discover your strengths. Back-testing your trades and identifying patterns will teach you when to follow your system—and when to step aside.
Look at any successful trader, and you’ll likely find common habits. Back-testing, brutal honesty with themselves, and fact-based decision-making are always on the list. The ability to admit when you’re wrong is just as critical—the sooner you do, the better. The market has a way of humbling those who refuse to adapt. If new information contradicts your original hypothesis, changing course shouldn’t be a struggle. A good trader admits they’re wrong and cuts a losing trade quickly. A great trader admits they’re wrong, closes the losing trade, and immediately shifts in the right direction.
In other words, there are no shortcuts—only discipline and hard work. It’s not some magical insight from a YouTube video that made you profitable; it’s you.
You are the reason for your success. It’s the hours you spent in the markets, testing strategies from videos, experimenting with setups from trading books, and repeating the process over and over. It’s the trial and error, the persistence, and the moments of clarity when things finally start to click. You are the system. You are the one who deserves the credit. It’s you!
So, you’re telling me that all these indicators and setups are really just helping me learn and understand price action?
Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. They’re just different ways of analyzing the same data. Over time, through repetition, your brain will start to recognize patterns and understand what to do and when to do it—whether you realize it or not.
Next time you hear someone talking nonsense, you’ll recognize it instantly.
“Oh, you’re using the MACD and Stochastic? What year is it?”
“I use the blah zee blah nutter fawker indicator—it’s far superior.”
Oh, really? Does the blah zee blah nutter fawker indicator magically pull data from some secret realm the rest of us mere mortals don’t have access to? No, it does not.
“Well, the 126 & 1/3-minute time frame is obviously the best, don’t ya know?”
Sure, because price clearly moves differently on that time frame—duh.
At the end of the day, it’s all the same data, just viewed from different angles. And that’s fine. Sometimes, looking at it differently can help people process information in a way that makes sense to them, ultimately guiding them to form their own opinions. Zoom in, zoom out—whatever works best for you.
Personally, I use a set of indicators and start my analysis on higher time frames, gradually working my way down—usually cutting the time in half at each step. As I do this, I evaluate both price action and my indicators, piecing together a clearer picture of the market.
This approach works for me. It’s like reading a hand in poker—analyzing the action pre-flop, the flop, the turn, and the river. Every bet, every card that falls, tells a story. My job is to figure out whether my opponent is being honest or selling me an illusion—in other words, if he’s bluffing and trying to pick my pockets.
Just like in poker, price action and indicators across different time frames tell a story. I’ve become skilled at reading the markets because I’m good at reading people—and at the end of the day, the markets are people. The trick is figuring out who’s telling the truth and who’s just trying to take my money.
I’ll use this opportunity to segue into psychology—something every trader should study. Most traders pick up a book on market psychology, give it a quick read, and call it a day. That’s better than nothing, but I’d recommend taking it a step further.
Herd mentality, for example, is a key concept in social psychology, but it also draws from fields like sociology, behavioral biology, and economics. Understanding how crowds think and behave can give you an edge in the markets.
I’m not saying you need to spend countless hours reading college textbooks just to trade, but I do find a lot of it fascinating and worth learning about. Take, for instance, the way Native Americans famously used buffalo jumps—leading massive herds of bison off cliffs. If you can’t relate that to the markets, well… I don’t know what to tell ya.
Understanding yourself is crucial to becoming a successful trader. But just as important is understanding people—particularly how they behave in large groups when fear and greed take over. Market movements are often driven by herd mentality, and recognizing these psychological patterns can give you an edge.
Take greed, for example. Look at the chaos of a Black Friday sale—the rush, the frenzy, the blind pursuit of deals at any cost. Now, consider the impact of fear. Think of riots or the stampedes that occur when a soccer team wins, where people are trampled in the hysteria. Individually, most wouldn’t behave this way. But when emotions run high and the crowd takes over, rational thinking disappears. The same dynamics play out in the markets—waves of euphoria and panic that create opportunity for those who can stay disciplined and objective.
Modern markets can be tough for retail traders. You’re up against quants, algorithms, and some of the smartest minds in the world—all competing to outmaneuver each other. At the same time, there’s no shortage of fools—what poker players call “fish”—waiting to get picked apart. Learn to swim with the whales, and you won’t get eaten.
You probably don’t need a screen full of indicators. I know successful traders who rely on nothing more than a simple ATR (Average True Range) indicator. Personally, I prefer money flow and momentum indicators, but plenty of traders use none at all. In Market Wizards, Jack D. Schwager interviews an institutional trader who trades purely on instinct—and thrives. Some might find that approach insane, but if it works, that’s all that matters.
It’s best to steer clear of the countless trading “gurus” peddling their so-called magical systems. If you didn’t know before, you do now—there are two types of trading systems: rule-based systems, which can be programmed, and discretionary systems, which rely on a trader’s judgment. But one thing is certain—there’s no secret formula that will make you rich in 30 days. Sorry.
By now, far too many of these so-called experts have been exposed as outright frauds. I could go into detail, but I’d be typing for days. YouTube is packed with videos exposing these scammers, along with content creators breaking down their schemes. I considered listing names, but honestly, they don’t deserve the attention. If you’re curious or just looking for entertainment, you can find plenty of exposés online.
It’s unfortunate to see so many scammers prey on new traders who are just trying to learn. Having the right mentor can make a huge difference—I was lucky enough to have two great traders guide me when I was starting out. One of them, to this day, is the best options trader I’ve ever seen.
If you know a good trader, don’t be afraid to ask questions, especially when you’re just starting out. There’s no such thing as a dumb question. Any experienced trader who’s been through the learning curve remembers what it was like to be a beginner—asking plenty of “dumb” questions of their own.
The crypto space isn’t much different, especially with the rise of meme coins promising quick riches—only for investors to end up getting rug-pulled. Sure, meme coins can be fun to trade occasionally, but don’t go throwing your entire paycheck into some low-liquidity, celebrity-backed token. It’s crazy how even celebrities have jumped into crypto, not to invest, but to make a quick buck at the expense of retail traders and gamblers.
If you’re going to trade meme coins, keep your bets small and expect to lose more often than you win. The goal is for your winners to outweigh the inevitable losers.
In my opinion, the best approach is to take the time to truly learn the markets—whether you choose to invest, trade, or both. Yes, it’s challenging, but nothing worthwhile ever comes easy. If you put in the effort, you can develop a highly valuable skill set with virtually unlimited upside.
This article was originally going to be even longer because I wanted to break down the indicators I personally use and how I apply them. However, I’d rather get this out now and save that for the next article. In that, I’ll walk through a few past trades step by step. I wouldn’t call my approach a strict system—it’s more of a style. It can be taught and has been, with great success, multiple times. But because it’s discretionary, knowing when not to use it is just as important as knowing when to use it. That part is difficult—if not impossible—to teach. The only way to develop that instinct is through time in the market. You have to put in the reps, train your eye, and learn price action firsthand.
As I mentioned earlier, if you become a profitable trader—even with a lot of help along the way—the person who deserves all the credit is you. At the end of the day, you are the system. You’re the one who put in the work and never gave up. People might see the profits from trades that took only a few minutes and think it was easy. What they don’t see is the countless hours spent analyzing charts, keeping up with news and economic data, and constantly studying new strategies to stay ahead of the curve and maintain your edge.
This game requires dedication and isn’t for the faint of heart. But if you love it, then it doesn’t feel like work. When you’re doing something you’re passionate about for a living, it no longer feels like a grind.
