In this episode of the Market Mamas podcast, futures day trader and host Becky Gaskell welcomes Scott Allen, a seasoned algo and swing trader with a background in capital markets. Scott shares his journey from crypto bots and prop firm struggles to finding a resilient edge through emotional intelligence, a stoic approach, and a focus on the fundamental "first principles" that actually drive market movement.

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Key Topics:

• Mindset & Stoicism: Build resilience using emotional intelligence and Stoic principles (probabilistic thinking).

• "It's Only Money": If you can't say this after a loss, your position sizing is too heavy (trading too emotionally).

• Systemic Alpha: Stop chasing complexity; focus on fundamental market truths (e.g., prices trend) for a lasting edge.

• Momentum Pays: Momentum (aggression, absorption, acceptance) is the only thing that generates profit, not structure or volume.

• Algo Hard Road: Prop firm failures and overfitting forced a shift to simpler, robust, naked-chart strategies.

Episode Highlights and Timestamps:

[00:00:00] - Intro

[00:04:13] - Scott's initial trading journey using crypto grid bots to "stack SATs" (accumulate Bitcoin) by capitalizing on volatility like a market maker.

[00:08:40] - Scott's motivation for learning to beat the market after watching his mother lose her retirement savings twice, highlighting the S&P 500's 13-year "lost decade".

[00:11:46] - The challenge of algo trading: failing prop firm challenges, learning about overfitting, and the market shakeup from the MetaTrader and prop firm shutdowns.

[00:16:25] - The necessity of a healthy money mindset, the life-altering lesson that "it's only money", and the need to adjust position sizing if you cannot weather the losses.

[00:18:34] - Applying stoic philosophy and the baseball analogy: world-class hitters miss 70% of the time, normalizing "swing and a miss" as part of the game of probabilities.

[00:28:07] - The turning point of unlearning esoteric strategies and focusing on "first principles" and "finding truth" from reliable sources and academic papers.

[00:39:40] - A paradoxical explanation of why Scott prefers algorithmic trading.

[00:52:34] - The trading truth that fixed profit targets (fixed TPI) have the lowest expectancy.

🔗 Follow Guest Scott Allen:

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottallen/

👉 X: https://x.com/scottallen

👉 Discord: https://discordapp.com/users/650584994929967135

👉 Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/u/The-Goat-Trader

🔗 More from Market Mamas:

 👉 Website: www.market-mamas.com

👉 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/becky-gaskell-market-mamas/

👉 Instagram: @mm_marketmamas

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👉 Email: [email protected]

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