From Programmer to Day Trader: My Journey to Financial Independence
Trading is hard...
I won't stop until
I'm profitable.
Hi, I'm David! A programmer who left a tech career to pursue day trading. Follow my trading journey reset, where I publicly backtest strategies using a helpful tool I'm building.
Follow the journey →
Hi, I'm David! A programmer who left a tech career to pursue day trading. Follow my trading journey reset, where I publicly backtest strategies using a helpful tool I'm building.
Follow the journey →I thought I'd figure it out.
I was wrong.
When I started trading, I did what most people do. I grinded away, watched hours of YouTube, learned many strategies, mentor hopped, bought courses and joined a few discords.When I started trading, I grinded away, watched, learned, mentor hopped, and joined a few discords. I thought this would help me get profitable faster.
But it didn't! Only repeated cycles of up and down periods.
The hard part wasn't entering into trades. It was making impulsive decisions based on emotions in the moment.Instead, I struggled with making impulsive decisions in the moment.
At some point I realized that I didn't have a real edge. I had inconsistent results because I skipped key steps and was trading too much based on luck, hope and feelings.
How I became
a Builder
Before I started trading, I spent years learning how to program. This was a skill I knew I had to learn.
I built many projects, took part in hackathons and a startup. This thenwhich eventually led to my career as a professional developer.
Now inIn the age of AI, this skill is quickly becoming redundant. But it still gives me an edge when I'm building my own tools. As I know how to build quality software with good design.
“I'm not chasing fast money.
I'm building a system that works.”
Most people quit trading after a few big losses and failing to make any money. Me? I've thought about it, I've taken breaks, but I always return.Most people quit after a few big losses. Me? I've taken breaks, but I always return.
The market is a complex system that seems impossible to crack, but is always right. There is no documentation. No Stack Overflow. It's just you and the charts. Price, time, and your own psychology.From the outside the market seems impossible to crack. No documentation. No Stack Overflow. Just you, the charts, and your own psychology.
Personally, I can't walk away from this challenge. I can only level up by building a tool that will help me find my edge.Yet I can't walk away from this challenge. I need to find my edge.
BacktestingLab
I got tired of losing and being inconsistent. Hesitating on trades because I didn't develop my own trading strategy that I knew inside and out. I lacked the data. I lacked a real edge.I got tired of losing and being inconsistent. I needed a smarter way to develop my own trading strategy.
I couldn't quite find the right tool for me, so I decided to build my own.
It's not finished. Still in development. I'm just sharing what I'm building publicly and what I'll use to build my own trading strategy. It'll be available for anyone else who wants a better way to backtest and trade with evidence instead of intuition.Still in development. Just sharing what I'm building. It'll be available for anyone to build their own trading strategy, backtest, and trade with data.
Visit BacktestingLab →Which one
sounds like you?
I want to learn trading, but don't know where to start.
I'm not going to sell you a course or a discord. I'm going to guide you to free content that will help you learn the fundamentals. Gain the base knowledge needed before moving on to the next stage.
I've been trading for a while and can't figure it out.
You're not alone. I'm right there with you. The missing piece is usually not having a well tested, systematic edge that you can fully trust. This can only come from backtesting.
Backtesting publicly.
Until I'm profitable.
I'll be documenting my journey to find a profitable trading strategy. Testing all concepts to see which ones fail, which ones show promise… all while using the software I'm building.