Indentured (adj.)
“Bound by contract, especially one that requires a person to work for another over a fixed period of time, often under restrictive or demanding conditions.”
— Oxford English Dictionary
Like much of the world today, the trading space is full of fake gurus — an ocean of phonies, liars, bounders, cads, and anyone else willing to sell you a dream that rapidly becomes a nightmare. You could wander the trading wilderness for years, wasting time, energy, and your finite financial resources — only to throw in the towel in despair, disillusioned, and swearing never again to jeopardize your mental well being at the mercy of the trading game. You resign yourself to believing that trading is reserved for the “Rich & Shameless,” and you're condemned to serve out your miserable days in some limited miserable job with limited miserable prospects.
If you are happy with your weekly paycheck however, and going to the bar of an evening and sinking some cold ones with your mates, power to you, this newsletter is not for you.
All else though who dream of something more, you've been thinking about something else, have you not?— Freedom.
Time to do what you want, when you want and the finances that make it all possible, after all, what's the point of having all the time, if you don't have the finances to enjoy that time? Maybe it was a passing thought while lying in bed. Maybe it came up in a conversation with friends over a drink. Or maybe it was that viral article about a twenty-year-old who turned ten bucks on the sidewalk and traded it into fifty million by the next morning.
And now, you have just become the next victim in a very long line of them to fall for the dream, the fantasy of rags to riches, of sunsets in some tropical Shangri-La. The reality? No money left, no hair left, and a new wardrobe addition you never imagined: a straitjacket. Maybe if you’re lucky, it’s a designer label straitjacket at least.
Who Am I?
Well, if you've seen the title of this newsletter, you already know something about me.
I’m The Indentured Trader — not because I’ve made it, but because I’m still in the trenches. I’ve been a soldier at a high level, a pilot, a flight instructor (which I still am). But the truth is, I turn sixty this year, and some harsh realities of being that age have crept in.
I won’t go into them all here, but I know I won’t be keeping my flight medical much longer. I don’t want to be tethered to unreliable clients or grind through a routine that’s no longer mine. I want the same thing you do: freedom. and that has led me to the same place you have arrived at — trading.
I’m writing this newsletter mostly for myself. To document my journey. To become the trader I want to be. But, if in the process, if I can help someone else on that same path — maybe you — then it’s worth it.
Unless you’re a prodigy or secretly gifted in ways you never imagined, you’re going to fight the same battles everyone else has. All the books and YouTube videos will bury you before you even begin. You’ll hear this same terrifying statistic over and over again: “90 to 95% of all traders lose money.”
It’s true. Brutally so. And yes — I was one of them.
But here’s the difference: I’m still here. And now, I’m finally starting to make headway toward consistent profitability.
I’ve been in and out of trading for the last ten years. Options, equities — blindly swinging at things I barely understood. What did I expect? To succeed?
That was a fool’s dream, and you know what they say about fools and their money!
I didn’t get serious until last April or May. That’s when I really began. Before that? Just flailing around, drowning in a sea of information, analysis paralysis, and yes — still bald.
And so, this newsletter is precisely about that space. The time in between you have that brilliant notion, and prior to that first memorable trade. The chaos. The doubt. The moment you realize you’re not just choosing a career — you’re choosing to be fundamentally changed, and to change your life for the good, forever.
What You’ll Get.
Every two weeks, I’ll break down a topic — not just for beginners, but for anyone who’s still stuck in that pre-trading purgatory. We’ll tackle everything that should come before your first trade: the emotional preparation, the traps, the misconceptions, and the decisions no one ever talks about. There is so much to cover before you even consider clicking that mouse button to execute your first trade.
Next Issue.
I’ll include the full subject roadmap, plus the first subject and one book I believe every aspiring trader must read before spending another cent. Trust me — the book alone will save you many tears and will get you grounded and well on your way to being in the right mindset.
And allow me to leave you with this final gem of a quote.
“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
Welcome to The Indentured Trader — Not the place you start trading.
The place you start becoming a profitable trader.