19 for 19

Nineteen for nineteen.

That's where this trade sits right now at TheoTrade. Nineteen trades, nineteen winners, and we can show you every single one of them.

Now here's what I actually think about that number.

Be the skeptic. I like the skeptic, in fact. When somebody tells me their strategy is running perfect, my first move is to squint at it. I've been doing this 25 years and I have never once come across a strategy that's 100%.

So let me save you the trouble of wondering about mine.

This trade will have a loss. Eventually every trade takes one and this one is no different, and when it comes I'll mitigate what I can, but I'm not going to stand here and pretend it isn't coming.

What I'd rather tell you is what a loss actually costs on a trade like this. Because it isn't what you're picturing.

You get 19 of these under your belt and a hit doesn't kill you or set you back to zero. It stings for a minute and you get right back on.

The streak was never the point.

Most retail traders look at a trade autonomously. On, off, on, off, and every single one becomes a referendum on whether you're any good at this. 

That's not how it works from the other side of the table. It's about number of occurrences. You might put on 20, 30, 50 of these before you take a hit, and none of the math means anything if you're counting them one at a time.

19 for 19 is just what happens when you keep sitting in the right seat.

Jordan Schneir, our editorial director, sat me down and pushed on all of it. The record, why I want you doubting it, and the risk mitigation piece that's built into the structure itself. 

He didn't let me off easy.

You can watch it here. 

To your success,
Don Kaufman