Hey hey, what's up my friend!

So...

For four years, I looked for my edge in all the wrong places.

I hopped from Bollinger Bands to order flow to harmonic patterns like a man speed-dating strategies, hoping one of them would finally love me back.

I lost half my account doing this. And the painful part?

I wasn't stupid or lazy. I was working hard but in the wrong direction.

Because here's what nobody told me…

An edge isn't something you feel. It's something you can prove.

So here’s the process I wish someone handed me before I fed my account to the market gods…

1. Read books with backtested results

I'm not talking about motivational fluff like "believe in yourself and the pips will follow."

I mean books that give you complete trading systems. Exact rules. Backed by real data.

Why?

Because Isaac Newton once said…

"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."

In other words, why reinvent the wheel when smarter people have already done the hard work for you?

You can reinvent wheels after you're profitable. But right now? Steal from the giants.

2. Extract the concepts

This is where you want to understand the idea behind a trading system

Is it momentum, mean reversion, or trend following? Most trading systems will fall into one of these categories.

Here are some questions to help you extract the concepts…

1. Which markets do you trade?

2. What’s the risk management?

3. What’s the timeframe?

4. What’s the setup?

5. When do you enter?

6. When do you exit?

Once you understand the concept, something shifts.

You stop feeling like a monkey following instructions. And start thinking like a trader who actually knows what they're doing.

3. Test the system

Now you might be wondering…

"But Rayner, if it's already published in a book, why bother testing it?"

Great question. Here's why.

The author could've made an honest mistake. There could be a typo in the rules. The edge might've worked brilliantly in 2005 and quietly died since, like my hair after turning 35.

You never know until you test it yourself. And remember: it's your money on the line.

4. Tweak it to your needs

Now that you know it works, make it yours.

Perhaps the drawdown is too large? Then reduce your position size.

Perhaps you want to ride a longer-term trend? Then widen your trailing stop loss.

Perhaps you want to trade it on your local stock market? Then adjust accordingly.

This is the step most traders skip because it feels like extra homework.

But it's also where the magic happens because a strategy you genuinely understand is one you'll actually follow when the going gets rough.

And that's the whole game.

An edge isn't a secret indicator behind a paywall. It's a repeatable idea you found, backed by data, and made your own.

So stop speed-dating strategies and go find one you can actually marry.

Cheers,

Rayner "standing-on-the-shoulders-of-giants" Teo

P.S. If you’re looking for a book with complete trading rules and backtested results, then Trading Systems That Work is for you.