“This has led me to study your work and the philosophy behind Trend Following…”

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Dear Michael,

My name is [name], and I am an independent trader from Italy. I have been studying trading for approximately nine years, including quantitative finance, systematic strategies and backtesting in Python.

Over the years, I have tested several approaches based on price action, moving averages, Heikin Ashi candles and Donchian breakouts. Despite extensive testing, I have struggled to find a strategy that remains consistently profitable after transaction costs and across different market conditions.

During these nine long years I have made an immense effort and I have been driven by a great passion, but now I feel tired and I would not want to lose hope.

This has led me to study your work and the philosophy behind Trend Following. I particularly appreciate the emphasis on the success of the most profitable traders in all over the world.

I would be very grateful for your perspective on three questions:

1. Do you believe an independent retail trader, using publicly available price data and a relatively small account, can still develop a sustainable edge through systematic trend following?

2. What do you consider the most important source of that edge today? Is it the entry methodology, the way losing trades are managed and winning trades are allowed to run, portfolio diversification, or the combination of these elements?

3. If you were starting today as an independent trader without institutional infrastructure, what principles or publicly available resources would you recommend studying first? I am particularly interested in practical methods that can be tested objectively, rather than discretionary interpretations or trading psychology.

I am very happy to have found you because I had come to the same conclusion as you: to study the teachings of the great traders and follow them with discipline.

Thank you for your time and for sharing your experience with the trading community.

Kind regards,
[name]

Great questions. Answers sent! Main answer: trend following is for everyone.

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