He made nearly $100 million, then stepped back to reclaim his time.
Wizard Wednesday #2: what Lance Breitstein teaches a systematic trader, plus the exhaustion gap I’m testing this week.
Chapter two of the new Market Wizards is Lance Breitstein. Prop trader at Trillium, back-to-back 8-figure years, nearly $100 million. And in 2022 he stepped back, not because his trading was failing, but because more millions wouldn’t change his life and time with family and health would.
That’s the whole reason I trade the way I do. Optimize for life, not P&L. When I finish uploading this, I’m going back out in the yard. If my phone buzzes with an alert, I take the trade from my phone. Ten minutes a week and I’m done. Investing takes a little time each month, swing a little each week, day trading a little each day. No wall of monitors.
The setup I’m stealing: the exhaustion gap. A stock that’s already beaten down gaps lower on a capitulation event, longs puke, shorts pile in, then it reverses. Adobe was a clean example. Six lower highs, then an earnings gap down into a hammer candle. Buy the close, stop the low, and even at a mediocre win rate the risk-reward can be five to one.
Read, distill, steal. Now I go backtest it.
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— Michael Nauss, CMT, CAIA, CDMS