Rick Bandazian Jr., a seasoned trader with over 15 years of experience in event-driven and merger-arbitrage strategies, reflects on transitioning from an analyst at JP Morgan and First New York Securities to establishing himself as an independent trader. Rick emphasizes his deep expertise in anticipating market moves based on nuanced corporate actions and his methodical approach to understanding catalysts. Despite the fast-paced nature of his work, Rick maintains consistency by staying disciplined, even during market lulls. Beyond trading, he’s a volunteer firefighter, driven by a strong sense of community.

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Laurens Bensdorp's trading journey began with years of losses as a discretionary trader. Frustrated by inconsistent results and mounting stress, he embarked on a mission to develop systematic trading approaches. His goal was simple but ambitious: create reliable systems that would deliver steady returns while minimizing losses.

This transformation wasn't overnight. Through years of careful development and testing, Bensdorp gained deep insights into the cyclical nature of his trading systems - understanding when they were likely to generate profits or face losses. His persistence paid off. By eventually creating and implementing over 55 different trading systems, he achieved what seemed impossible: better returns, smaller drawdowns, and remarkably, less time spent managing his trades.

About Laurens Bensdorp

Laurens Bensdorp launched his finance career at a Dutch venture capital firm in 2000, where he discovered his passion for trading. After years of studying successful investors' methods, he developed automated trading platforms that maximize profits while minimizing time investment.

Featured in Van Tharp's "Trading Beyond the Matrix," Bensdorp went on to author two international bestsellers: "The 30 Minute Stocktrader" (2017) and "Automated Stock Trading Systems" (2020). Both books have been translated into multiple languages.

As the pioneer of personality-based automated trading systems, Bensdorp now co-hosts seminars with renowned trader Tom Basso and mentors elite clients. Through his foundation, Fundación Albenco, he supports educational initiatives for underprivileged children in Colombia.

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Inspired by the impact of predictive analytics on sales at Sam Miesse's tech company, he became interested in applying quantitative analysis to the small cap market. Spending nearly 2 years collecting data and observing how money moved into and out of many small cap stocks convinced him that there were repeating patterns which could be statistically exploited. After many back tests Sam finally had a system which processed over 10,000 small caps and produced 20-40 actionable daily opportunities. Starting with an experimental $10,000, his rigorously back-tested system gave him the confidence to stick with the signals, despite suffering a $500,000 daily drawdown along the way to growing his account to $3.8 million in less than 3 years.

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Mark Ritchie II shares insights from his trading journey, shaped by disciplined risk management and a strong focus on price action and fundamentals. Growing up with a renowned trader father, Mark’s passion for trading developed later in life through hands-on experience. He prioritizes finding stocks in long-term uptrends, identifying low-risk entries, and refining his edge over time. Emphasizing the importance of controlling emotions, Mark advocates starting small, scaling up only when confident in a strategy’s effectiveness. His trading approach adapts to varying market conditions, using timeless principles to maintain capital efficiency and manage risk, helping him navigate both bull and bear markets successfully.

About Mark Ritchie II:

Mark Ritchie II is a swing and growth trader, investor, and manager. He leads RTM Capital Advisors as a Managing Partner and CIO, a company that manages investments in U.S. stocks. He became well-known for winning Mark Minervini’s Triple Digit stock challenge in 2010 by making over triple digit returns in under six months. Between 2010 and 2014, he grew his managed funds tenfold, consistently compounding his portfolio year after year. This impressive traction earned him a feature in Mark Minervini’s Momentum Masters roundtable interview.

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Alfonso Peccatiello’s (also known as MacroAlf on X) approach to the financial markets is rooted in macroeconomic insights, identifying market imbalances, and disciplined risk management. Having managed a $20 billion fixed-income portfolio, Alf has seen firsthand how understanding market dynamics and timing can unlock significant value. His strategies focus on spotting crowded trades, leveraging market dislocations, and carefully sizing positions to maximize returns while minimizing risk.

About Alfonso Peccatiello:

Alfonso is the founder and CEO of The Macro Compass, a firm dedicated to democratizing access to professional macro analysis, tools, and portfolio strategies. Leveraging his extensive experience managing large institutional investment portfolios, The Macro Compass provides unparalleled financial education, unique macroeconomic insights, and actionable investment strategies. Prior to launching The Macro Compass, Alfonso served as the head of investments for ING Germany, overseeing a $20 billion portfolio. He also launched a discretionary global macro hedge fund, Palinuro Capital, in 2024.

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We caught up with Steve B, a seasoned professional independent trader with 10+ years of experience in the financial markets we got to know closely through the Chat With Traders Community. Steve teamed up with our community cohost and mentor at the time, Patrick Petersson (featured on episode 260) to run the CWT Community Live Trading Room. They mainly traded futures on major indexes. Many community members were interested in their futures trading approach and streamlined looking charts with key levels derived from options market data, which helped build their trading roadmap. Alongside Patrick, Steve has been an influential mentor inside our community. He is known specifically for his "Confluence Trading" approach, which you'll learn about soon. 

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We're joined today by Robb Reinhold, the Head Trader at Maverick Trading. Robb shares insights from a captivating trading experiment that's sure to intrigue both novice and experienced traders alike. The Flat Earth Trading Society experiment was a year long experiment testing the power of consistent position management and following a systematic trading process. Using random stock selections, Robb and his team implemented a rigid position management strategy to prove that disciplined exits and managing losses are more crucial than well thought out entries. Tune in as Robb walks us through the strategy, execution, and key takeaways from this unique trading experiment.

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There’s Contrarian Trading and then there’s Consistent Contrarian Trading. Can you really make money by consistently going against the crowd? Does it take a certain type of personality to be able to trade this way? Jason Shapiro was featured in “Unknown Market Wizards” by Jack Schwager and he returns to Chat With Traders for an update after two years since we last spoke with him. 

We delve deeper into his countertrend trading philosophy, learning about how he identifies overcrowded trades, and how market positioning and sentiment, rather than price, guide his trades, and focusing on the underlying mechanics that drive market moves.

About Jason Shapiro:

Jason has over 30 years of trading experience, navigating various markets including the 90s rallies, the 2000s tech bubble, the 2008 crash, and recent volatility in the last few years. His contrarian approach has made him a successful hedge fund manager, and he was featured in one of Jack Schwager’s recent Market Wizards books. He has managed money ranging from a few million to several hundred million dollars, gaining extensive knowledge of futures markets. Jason currently runs a one-man hedge fund using the CMR process.

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Greg Magadini began his career as a proprietary trader for DRW Trading and Chopper Trading in Chicago and traded with SMB Capital as well. He later took a bold step, venturing out to trade his own book, bootstrapping crypto volatility with options and turning $50,000 into a staggering $1.3 million in consistent profits over nine years.

In addition to his trading success, Greg co-founded Genesis Volatility – a crypto options analytics company, which caught the attention of Amberdata and resulted in an acquisition. Today, Greg serves as the Director of Derivatives at Amberdata, continuing to leverage his expertise in the derivatives space.

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We often hear that having “Discipline” is the key to trading success. But many of us traders continue to struggle developing discipline and good habits for trading no matter how hard and how long we’ve tried. Could there be a deeper reason for this?

As fellow human traders, we are commonly faced with our own programming that we are often unaware of. In this special episode, Sam Daghash, a professional coach and cofounder (alongside cofounder David Capablanca, featured on Chat With Traders Episode 257) of the Conscious Trading Academy specializing in helping traders overcome mental barriers, dive into aspects of a trader’s mindset. 

If we cannot think greater than we feel, then this would compel us to be more aware of our mental states which can sabotage our trading.

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