Trading Is a Strategic Game of Percentages

I’m sure most of us are familiar with how some of the tech titans started out…

Usually, it was a genius tinkering away in their garage, school, or lab… scraping together whatever cash they could to buy their next batch of computer parts.

From humble beginnings, companies like Apple and Microsoft grew their market value into the trillions.

It’s true that they were able to ride the start of an entirely new industry. But good timing couldn’t have been the only reason for their success.

Otherwise, hundreds (if not thousands) of other tech startups would still be in business today.

Their success wasn’t about funding either… Plenty of well-funded companies never make it.

Ultimately, their success came from creating a sustainable process and sticking to it, combined with an unwavering passion to continuously improve.

It’s a similar story with trading…

Find the Right Process

It’s easy to think that you need a ton of money when you’re starting out… That if only you had a bigger trading account, then it would help you make it as a trader.

But let me tell you… there’s nothing further from the truth.

The first thing new traders need to work on is finding a system that works. Look for a process that you can repeat day in and day out.

Start by picking just a couple of stocks (or sectors and indexes) to trade and learning everything you can about them. That way you’re not distracted by all the other markets out there.

Next, work out a clearly defined trading strategy… from your entry to your exit. You need to know where you’re going to exit before you place your trade.

But the most important goal is to develop a profitable trading strategy and not focus on the size of your profits.

Because ultimately, the size of those profits will grow as you develop as a trader.

When I first started out, I cleaned out my trading account many times before I figured out how to successfully trade.

I made a lot of common mistakes – like putting on multiple positions and trading way bigger than my account size could justify. I just couldn’t help but chase every move.

Even if I’d started with a lot more money, the result would’ve been the same… I needed to establish good habits before my account started growing.

I grew my account by trading a fixed amount per trade, and trading one thing over and over until I knew everything about it.

Then, at the end of every day, I would run through every trade and work out how I could do better. Sometimes I thought about them so much that it was hard to switch off at the end of the day!

By shooting for lots of small profits – rather than betting on outsized gains – I was able to develop a trading system that works.

Each of these habits made me into the trader I am today.

A Game of Percentages

Too many traders want to get rich quick. They think that if they can just nail a couple of big trades, then they’ll be on their way.

But to be successful, you need to do the opposite…

Even if you aim to make $50 or $100 a trade, that’s all that matters at the beginning. If you can do that consistently, then your account will grow.

That’s exactly what we’ve done since the launch of One Ticker Trader last August. So far, we’ve had 12 options trades in total. Here are our trade outcomes:

• 78%

• 41%

• 89%

• 89%

• 11%

• 65%

• 74%

• 89%

• 47%

• 38%

• 47%

• And for the 12^th trade, we sold half for 42.22% and the remainder for 96.67%.

None of these are huge, retire-early wins. But together, they add up to a cumulative 240% return on our cash used – in less than six months.

And as I often remind my One Ticker Trader subscribers… start with a small position. If you’re trading options, then start with just one contract.

You can start doing bigger trades once you’ve developed a system that works for you and built up your portfolio with some wins.

After all, trading is a strategic game of percentages…

The money you risk on any one trade, the amount you make or lose – it all comes down to percentages. The only thing that changes is the number of dollars in your account.

If you focus on these percentages and not the dollars, your trading results and account will take care of themselves.

Regards,

Larry Benedict
Editor, Trading With Larry Benedict

Reader Mailbag

In today’s mailbag, One Ticker Trader members share their positive experiences with Larry’s process and trade recommendations…

Hi Larry, the One Ticker Trader product is great, especially for a more senior guy like me. Unlike when I was younger, I now have no more “risk appetite” – simply because I can no longer repair much if things go wrong.

Well, I’ve been using your product since the start of August 19. Except for once (-4%) – I’ve had nice gains every time between 11% and 25%! In total, I’ve made $1,230 so far.

I’m quite happy with it, and I’ve now recommended it to two friends of mine who have no capital… but I still dared them to give it a try.

On December 8 they did, and they both saw 21% gains. By now, I trust it increasingly enough to put more contracts in next time and have a bigger return – the “snowball” as you call it.

Still, fingers crossed. But yes, I’m looking forward to it! Thank you again for sharing your expertise with us to our profit. I wish you an excellent week.

– Renaat T.

I really appreciate the excellent communication with your members. It’s efficient, clear, and really effective!

As to your process, it’s as clear and efficient as your communication. Larry, yours is the best service I’m subscribed to (and a couple of the others are so-called “premium” priced services). Thank you!

– Craig M.

If you’d like to learn more about how to join One Ticker Trader, I’d love to share exactly how it works. Simply go right here for the details.

And you can continue sending us your questions and comments to [email protected].