Sponsored by Pepperstone

Early 2000s. I flew from the UK to Las Vegas to sit in on a new trader intake at a prop firm. Three strategies, all working, all making the firm serious money.

I went home and couldn't trade a single one of them.

Not because they were bad. Because they were never going to fit me… I didn't have the capital, the stomach for size, or the appetite for spreadsheets. Took me a long time to work out the difference between "this doesn't work" and "this doesn't work for me."

In this episode, I break down all three strategies (NYSE opening print fair value, ECN liquidity rebates, and pairs trading), why each one failed in my hands, and the filter I now run every new strategy through before I waste any time on it.

Relevant timing, given we're currently tearing down 12 popular strategies in the Pepperstone webinar series. Some will be for you. Most won't. That's the whole point.