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I Was A Pro Trader. Trading Will RUIN Your Life.

Jeff Wade

174,551 views

For half my career I was a US / Canadian pro trader and market maker, I learned a few things and come with warnings I've never shared on YouTube until today.

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I am not sponsored by Wealthsimple or Interactive Brokers and nothing I share is investment advice please use your own discretion in investment decisions. In this video I reflect on my lived and extensive experience as a professional licensed proprietary equity trader and market maker.

0:00 Why Most People Shouldn’t Trade
3:00 The Truth About the Trading Industry
6:12 Why I Won’t Go Back to Trading
11:00 Trading, Gambling & the YouTube Lottery
17:35 What Professional Traders Know That You Don’t

20 Comments

@otuzuul77 1 day ago Pinned

What is an edge in trading? Please someone explain 🙏

@FXprism_Official 5 days ago

My wife and I are both full-time traders — we trade our own capital and prop firm accounts, work from home, and raise two kids together. We were both corporate employees before this. Trading didn't ruin our lives — it gave us something no salary ever could: the freedom to be present for our kids' childhoods. Breakfast, school drop-offs, bedtime — without asking anyone for permission. That freedom is worth more than any paycheck.

@BooneADV 4 days ago

Self taught trader. 5 years of failing before I learned how. I gave up a lot of life saving learning. Now I have retired early with the skills I developed.

@replayrenegades 6 days ago

Its hard but thats the only way i make Money.
I am Not rich but Trading allows me to be Independent and i can Support my Lifestyle.
At 41 years old i Just bought my own House and i am debt Free.I dont necessary Like Trading but its all i can do.I could never Go Back and Work for somebody Else.

@Plan-C 6 days ago

Once it is in your blood, you can't unlearn it. Makes you watch the news differently. For sure.

@gohanson8846 6 days ago (edited)

I enjoy trading. I work full time and trade when i get a chance to. I wait for the right set up. Set my alerts. 3:1 hits, im done for the day and go about my life. I wanted to give up on trading when i first started. Until I learned more about Psychology, Risk Management and being patience. Then i learned about BOS, EMA, Supply and Demand, support and resistance. Trendline breaks. Everything became more clear to me. I see how the market moves. I don't trade everyday and Im okay with that now. I blew my account many times when i first started. But i was learning. Now I'm making profits. Im okay even if its $200 or $1000. Once I make a profit, Im done for the day. Even if i lose, i make sure its a small loss and trade another day

@silotreeproductions4245 7 days ago

It’s the hardest easy money you’ll ever make. Learn all you can, create your own model, only trade your model with your edge, learn every nuance of it, eliminate these 3 emotions, desire to have to enter a trade this day, fomo, and the frustration of it not going well.

@7r0u8l3 7 days ago (edited)

Im a self taught daytrader (futures and options scalper). Everything you said here is correct in fact its massively understated but there will always be stubborn folks like me who do it anyway... and somehow, Im still here, still standing, still profitable, still enjoying it. Crazy. The real secret is size. Trying to trade a small account well is almost impossibly hard. Trying to make $300 - $1000 / day with a large account is so laughably easy you can do it in your sleep (and I do). Getting the capital is the hardest part. Its not fair, but thats how it is.

@cverone 6 days ago

So hear me out here. Im 41 and day trade, so I get the solitude aspect at an older age, but, if you are a "pro trader", there is no reason you shouldnt be scalping at least $500/day within an hour of market open, especially using leverage on an account. That alone is $120k a year. Take the rest of the day to live your life. A pro trader does not have to sit in front of the terminal all day unless you are chasing 5 figure daily goals. C'mon now. It takes some balance.

@user-iq2op7yh9s 6 days ago

Im introvert i love being AWAY from people

@moneytalkscapital 6 days ago

Trading looks so easy until you realize the professionals have better tech, data, execution and risk management.

@TheGhost152 5 days ago

You don't have to be a day trader to be a trader. That realization is immensly helpful if you also have a job, family etc.

@ronniegurule3252 5 days ago

I absolutely LOVE being a trader as a profession!. It love getting up at 0430 and starting my day. Yes, that used to suck when Iwas in the army, but now I actually hate the weekend, because I trade futures and the market is closed. I LOVE TRADING. even the 4 years I was unprofitable! I loved the entire journey!

@401_Unauthorized_no 7 days ago

Great traders are anonymous.

@lamboman2 4 days ago

I’ve traded for 30 years. Lost plenty learning different approaches but so glad I kept at it and became consistently profitable.

@UncleRaj1 7 days ago

100% correct. The ones that make it are the ones who can hear this, understand it, and do it anyway.

@StereotypicalShea 5 days ago

At its core it’s all risk management. The difference between Trading and Blackjack is that when I bet on a hand in Blackjack all my capital becomes at risk whereas when I bet on a Trade my risk has a floor and my potential reward/gain can be relatively uncapped. So as long as my losses are standardized to a fixed amount and my return on a favorable excursion outweighs my flat risk then I thankfully can turn a pretty healthy profit even if I’m only right 30% of the time. The Best Loser Wins, that’s all it comes down to know. Knowing how to lose is the first step towards being profitable.

@screen-protector 6 days ago

I'm a trader, I was PRO with over $30 000 on account. I didn't quit because I could not trade, I was scammed. Now I trade as an investment on leverage, my goal is 10-20% per month which I have. I try to spent least amount of the time on the charts - not most. And, is doable. But, I totally agree about the discipline - you either have 100% of it, or ELSE.

You don't need more advantage apart from building up 100% of the discipline. You can use ANY strategy out there, but, if your MM - money management sucks, it doesn't matter. So, I'd say that the discipline + MM = success.