One amazing rule to become a profitable trader.

[Arya Stark]

The rule: find a strategy that makes more than it loses: PF>1 + yearly RF>1.5.
With a smaller RF you will be better off simply investing long-term in large-cap stocks.

Someone might say: "What kind of advice is this? Everyone knows a profitable strategy is the key to success". And they are right.
But what if I told you that the important word is not "strategy", it is "find"?

Yes -- find.
You can only do this by trying and discovering what really works.

Sounds too trivial, but most people don't do this. They trust some gurus, YouTubers, or course sellers -- people whose goal is different from yours.
Your goal is a profitable strategy, and the only way do that is to try and see what works.

And what is the fastest way to do it?

 

[fargana]

PF>1 with yearly RF>1.5 is a great north star. Fastest path I’ve found is brutal iteration: write clear rules, backtest 5–10y, forward-test on demo, kill losers quickly

 

[Zerologic]

Risk factors are important to consider, but there's no other way to discover them except through experimentation and learning. Strategy is also crucial to the profit factor, while risk factors serve as a reminder to strictly apply risk management.

 

[fargana]

PF/RF targets are a good compass, but only if the sample is big and the drawdown is survivable. In my trading, the fastest ‘find’ loop is exactly: clear rules then long backtest then small forward test. If it degrades kill it fast

 

[danishkhan]

1 trade a day

 

[fargana]

PF>1 with yearly RF>1.5 is a clean north star. I’d also recommend to make the sample big enough that the drawdown is survivable, then kill anything that degrades on forward test