When to take profit & loss

Over the last 2-years I’ve tried to figure out the best way to grow a $2,000 balance.

Let’s call it a real-world case study and I’m the Guinea pig.

Those interested in learning from my experiences — read on.

Earnings disclaimer: I want to point out that I cannot speak for my members’ performance, as results may not be typical and trading is HARD. And I cannot guarantee you will make money. But what I can guarantee is that I will work my BUTT OFF to teach you WHY I trade WHAT I trade.

The very first balance in January 2023 went from $2,000 to $8,377 up 319% winning the first 9 trades through the middle of February before a big loss on trade 10.

Balance 2 peaked at $5,994, up 200%, before a big loss, and then balance 3 never quite got off the ground.

By the fourth balance in April 2023 I’d figured quite a bit out and that $2,000 peaked at $31,856 up 1,493% before it hit a wall, headed lower, so I took profits. This is my second best performance — so not typical.

The art of building a $2,000 balance through trading isn’t easy. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying — that I know for a fact.

The best I’ve done since then was the $2,000 balance that recently peaked at $60,621 up 2,931%. Definitely not typical. In this particular challenge I had a 69 trade win streak across a few months which was awesome. The strategy taught in Journey lends itself to swing trading and high win rates — so there will be win streaks as seen in my journal.

Here’s what I’ve learned about taking profit & loss.

The high win rate often allows me to grow the small balance pretty big and fast. The issue with selling options is when you catch a loser, it often wipes out 3-4 winners, sometimes a few more depending on what % I get on the wins.

I try to get 30-50% on the winners and stop at 100%.

But let’s say I risk $3,500 to make $1,500 and take 30-50% on the $1,500. Those wins will be around $450-$700.

If I go max loss on the $3,500, which is possible with options, often due to staying with the trade too long — that $3,500 wipes out a lot of $450-$700 winners. Therefore the drawdowns can be faster than the stairstep up.

By keeping the loss at 100% of the $1,500 or $1,500, I save $2,500 on my risk and only wipe out a few trades. Since the win rate for me, on the balance that hit over $60,000 is 87%, the math backs out.

But failure to stay consistent with this can lead to sharp drawdowns in the balance.

When I first started the $2,000 Small Account Journey I didn’t spend time thinking about when I’d ‘rebalance’ the challenge, assuming it went well.

2-years into this now I have new direction I’d like to go which I call “Growth Chambers” — and I’ll be teaching about this any day now so keep watching your email.

But since I have you now, a based on all the data, well over 500 trades across 2-years, I think the best place for me to take the $2,000 Small Account Journey is to:

So in summary, based on my data and the strategy I teach and use in Journey to grow a $2,000 balance, trying for $2,000 - $10,000 as quickly as possible and booking the gains guards against big drawdowns when a cold streak comes around.

I want to say this again, earnings disclaimer, I want to point out that I cannot speak for my members’ performance, as results may not be typical and trading is HARD. And I cannot guarantee you will make money. But what I can guarantee is that I will work my BUTT OFF to teach you WHY I trade WHAT I trade.

I’ll start a new $2,000 balance February 1. My blueprint is provided when you subscribe here and my actual trades are sent to your phone as I make them.

If you join soon you’ll get a nice discount so $499 yearly or $699 unlimited (for the life of the service) … CLICK HERE to learn more.

The art of trading is worth working on. For most, trading is just gambling. In Journey, I’m trying to perfect this blueprint for $2,000 balances. It’s pretty solid — but I’m sure I’ll find ways to improve it.

Hope to see you in the service by tomorrow. Again, click here for a big discount and be ready for February 1.

Sincerely,

Jay