Line Your Own Pockets

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we reflect on 100 episodes of the podcast. (!!) We compare the most popular episodes by downloads with those we think are most valuable. Michael and I independently came to the episode with a list of 3 episodes we thought were the best. I was shocked when we compared the lists! Whether you're new to the podcast or a veteran of LYOP, this is a good e...

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we continue the recent series on the mindset of creating new strategies. This time, we focus on branching out from your first profitable strategy, after you've started creating variations of that first one. Topics covered: Why do even successful traders struggle to create a second strategy? Develop new strategies before you need them Daily review is...

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, Dave shares the exact steps he took to go from 300 trades a year to 3500 by backtesting and automating his trading system. We discuss: Moving down timeframes to add more trades How I added more trades but spent less time trading How backtesting changed everything for me Most strategies have more depth than traders realize And much more... --- Before...

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we take on a listener question from Emmett on how to go from one profitable strategy to two. We discuss: How most traders never get to this point and why Different approaches for strategy two - a variation of strategy one or completely different? It's easier to create a variation of strategy one - start going a mile deep rather than a mile wide Why...

On this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we reflect on the recent interview with Garrett Drinon from last week. We discuss: Principles of elite performance span across different domains Process matters more than outcomes Copying others might work temporarily, being truly unique matters in the long run Adapting to changing markets is a skill you can develop And much more... --- Before you g...

In this episode of Line Your Own Pockets, Dave shares two new tools to download and manage market data for backtesting and creating profitable trading strategies. Both of these tools are available for free in the Free Tools section of my website. (More free tools coming soon.) Michael and I discuss the motivation for creating these. Topics covered: Traditional IQFeed/AmiBroker backfill workflows c...

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we discuss the touchy subject of delisted stocks. In this "spirited" discussion, Michael and I agree on the concept of survivorship bias, but disagree on how important it is. Topics covered: What is survivorship bias, and how does it affect trading strategies What types of strategies are more vulnerable When it makes sense to include delisted symbol...

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we discuss adding redundancy to your trading. Outages aren't a matter of if but when . Topics include: Failures will happen eventually - plan for them ahead of time Broker-side, server-held exit orders (like at IBKR) make this simple Test your setup before you get forced to Revisit your setup regularly as your trading income grows over time And much...

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we sit down with Brandon Kaisler of Cesta Capital, a brokerage catering to active short sellers. In a wide-ranging interview, we discuss topics from a broker's perspective, including: How most brokers make money from hidden fees, not commissions Why brokers prefer systematic traders (hint, hint) How the market for short locate fees works How 24/7 tr...

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we discuss market data for backtesting. Topics covered: Data for backtesting is far different (and easier) than for real-time trading Like "free" commissions, you typically get what you pay for when it comes to market data Choices come down to whether you need intraday data Avoid overengineering - no premature optimization! And much more... --- Befo...

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we interview Trent Smalley with DTN and IQFeed. We discuss: Why it makes sense for traders to pay for market data when brokers offer it for free Where bad ticks you see in your charts actually come from What happens to market data before it hits your feed When you know you're ready to upgrade to a high quality feed And much more... --- Before you go...

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we continue the discussion of using AI agents for strategy creation gruntwork. Topics discussed: Delegation skills are important - the more specific, the better How Dave's approach differs from Michael's regarding Claude use How to implement "unit tests" for your trading strategy Developers always want to build - here's why you shouldn't Starting po...

We continue last week's discussion on using Claude and OpenClaw to automate strategy creation. We touch on: How to get AI to do the grunt work so you can be the CEO of your trading Why Michael switched from OpenClaw to Claude Code Teaching Claude to automate Amibroker (hint: point it here ) How giving Claude Prop Firm constraints helped focus its work Auditing its work is critically important - th...

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we discuss Michael's project for having OpenClaw create and run backtests from his list of research ideas for trading strategies. His agents have created over 200 backtests How they've primed the backtests to be used in the Strategy Cruncher SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) have paved the way for this workflow AI as a research assistant/intern f...

We cover: Making mistakes early when they're relatively cheap Focus on scaling wide versus scaling up Learn R-multiples - it normalizes your performance as your account grows Become the best in the world at a very specific strategy (it's not as hard as you think!) And much more... --- Before you go! The next time you find yourself in a drawdown, I want you to stop what you're doing and head on ove...

In this week's episode of Line Your Own Pockets, we discuss trading with a small account. Topics discussed: Don't wait until you have "enough" money to start learning How trading with a small account is an advantage Funding options: an overview of the prop trading landscape No matter how big your account is, your trading strategy is paramount - focus on that Lessons learned at this stage will be v...

If you've ever wondered if you're curve fitting with your trading strategy, this episode is for you. We discuss: Curve fitting is a continuum, not a binary yes/no condition Every strategy has a little bit of curve fitting Let's say you wanted to maximize curve fitting. What would you do? Easy ways to avoid curve fitting And much more... --- Before you go! The next time you find yourself in a drawd...

Michael and I discuss how to think about improving your column library over time. We discuss: How your column library is like a shared software library: build once, reuse everywhere Continuous variables are better than binary variables (e.g. Above/below a moving average) The MACDV case study - MACD normalized by ATR How intra-trade columns allow testing multiple concepts with a single backtest And...

Topics discussed: Profitable traders don't follow the crowd - or any particular trading guru Healthy attitude towards trading and risk Making great trades is the goal - ironically, the money is almost secondary Day trading is key (don't believe me? Just do the math) Automation is a massive trading edge Much more... --- Before you go! The next time you find yourself in a drawdown, I want you to sto...

We discuss: Python is a great general-purpose language, but that's what makes it a bad choice for backtesting Iterating on your strategies is the critical piece - anything that makes that more complex will make things more difficult In a world of LLMs, the argument for using Python for everything makes less sense Choose your tools based on profit potential, not because "I like Python and am good a...

Topics include: Batteries Data Not Included - the best way to get data into Amibroker The code that adds custom columns in Amibroker is resource-intensive Quirks with databases in Amibroker Your computer hardware matters with Amibroker (get more RAM) Dave's hardware specs for his backtesting computer. --- Before you go! The next time you find yourself in a drawdown, I want you to stop what you're...

We go over: How "visual" backtesting is not real backtesting Discretionary traders try to replace what they're doing with automation - but that's wrong How to create a completely new strategy from the ground up to be automated How to build your "idea noticing" muscle Much more. Here's the book mentioned in the show: The Art of Noticing --- Before you go! The next time you find yourself in a drawdo...