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Chat With Traders

Chat With Traders

By: Ian Cox and Tessa Dao
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Chat With Traders is your key to the minds of trading's elite performers. Start listening to learn how a diverse mix of traders went from zero to hero, how they successfully trade markets today, and get their best tips 'n pointers for profitable performance, plus much more. Note: You are responsible for your own trading decisions—this is not financial advice.https://chatwithtraders.com/ Economics Personal Finance
Episodes
  • 318 · Dave Mabe - The Shift to Systematic Trading — Building Backtested Confidence

    318 · Dave Mabe - The Shift to Systematic Trading — Building Backtested Confidence
    Feb 27 2026
    When Dave Mabe backtested his strategy, it outperformed his own discretionary trading — and changed how he approached everything. In this episode, we discuss gapping breakouts, expectancy, systematic trading, drawdowns, and the reality gap between backtests and live execution. A practical conversation for traders serious about building durable edge. In this episode, we explore: · How Dave got introduced to markets: From early exposure to investing through his family to actively seeking more control over his capital and moving from swing trading into day trading. · Why rules matter: The transition from discretionary decisions to systematic frameworks — and why trading without a process is a fast path to inconsistency. · Backtesting as a “superpower”: What backtesting really does for strategy development and confidence in your edge. · Reconciling backtests with real life: Practical realities of execution, slippage, and market structure — and how to build a feedback loop so your live results get closer to your simulations. · Drawdowns and mindset: How to handle periods where a strategy doesn’t behave as expected, and why many traders quit in drawdowns rather than at all-time highs. · Scaling a trading business: The difference between scaling size versus scaling breadth — and why uncorrelated strategies matter. · Practical first step for systematic traders: How to start adding structure to your trading with backtesting, even if you’re not a programmer. About the guest: Dave has been a professional trader and technologist for over two decades. As a former CTO of Trade-Ideas, he has unique experience at the intersection of algorithm design, real-time market data, and automated execution. Outside trading, he writes a popular daily newsletter on backtesting and systematic strategy development, and hosts the Line Your Own Pockets podcast focused on systematic approaches to markets. Links + Resources: · Link to Better Backtesting —Dave’s free multi-day email course on building strategies and improving them over time. · Trade-Ideas, Amibroker, RealTest — examples of backtesting and strategy development platforms discussed in context. Sponsor of Chat With Traders Podcast: Trade The Pool: http://www.tradethepool.com Time Stamps: Please note: Exact times will vary depending on current ads. 00:00 Intro and Background 08:29 Stock Selection and Systematic Trading Rules 11:32 Position Sizing, Expectancy and Risk Management 16:50 Discovering Backtesting and First Backtests 18:40 Backtesting Principles, Sample Size and Common Pitfalls 20:34 Gradual Automation and Live Trading Implementation 22:17 Trading Journal and Reconciling Backtest vs Live 27:27 Scaling through Automation: More Trades, Better Results 29:26 Drawdowns, Psychology and Handling Setbacks 34:14 Tools, AI and Software for Backtesting and Coding 39:56 Common Trading Myths Debunked (Partials, Stops) 48:01 Getting Started: Practical Steps, Resources and Closing Trading Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a risk of loss. Podcast episodes and other content produced by Chat With Traders are for informational or educational purposes only and do not constitute trading or investment recommendations or advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    56 mins
  • 317 · John Assaraf - The One That Shows Up — The Identity You Practice

    317 · John Assaraf - The One That Shows Up — The Identity You Practice
    Feb 11 2026
    In this episode, Ian sits down with John Assaraf, entrepreneur, behavioral neuroscience educator, and founder of NeuroGym, for a conversation about the invisible forces that shape performance — long after planning, analysis, and good intentions are in place. John shares his personal journey from a turbulent upbringing to building multiple multimillion-dollar businesses, and the pivotal moment at age 19 that reframed how he thought about success, identity, and commitment. From there, the discussion moves into the neuroscience behind habits, automatic behavior, fear, and why people often snap back to familiar results — even when they know what to do. This is not a trading tactics episode. It’s a conversation about execution, follow-through, and the human side of performance — in trading, business, health, and life. About the guest: John Assaraf is a serial entrepreneur who has built multiple multimillion-dollar companies, including helping scale a real estate organization to over $4 billion in annual sales and co-founding a technology company that later went public on the NASDAQ. He is the founder and CEO of NeuroGym, where he focuses on applying neuroscience to performance, habits, and behavior change. John is also the author of several New York Times bestselling books, translated into dozens of languages, and has been featured in films such as The Secret, where many people were first introduced to his work. Links + Resources: Free eBook: The Power of Visualization Sponsor of Chat With Traders Podcast: Trade The Pool: http://www.tradethepool.com Time Stamps: Please note: Exact times will vary depending on current ads. 00:00 Intro and Background 11:16 Mindset Shift: Interested vs. Committed 11:46 Behavioral Neuroscience and Goal Achievement 16:17 Conscious vs. Subconscious Mind 17:12 Creating Permanent Behavioral Changes 21:22 Emotional Regulation and Decision Making 25:30 Overcoming Self-Sabotage 35:20 AddressingFear in Decision Making 42:37 Inner Size: Exercising the Mind 44:27 Self-Sabotage and Financial Set Points 48:21 The Science of Goal Setting 50:17 Visualizing and Embodying Goals 54:40 How to reach John Trading Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a risk of loss. Podcast episodes and other content produced by Chat With Traders are for informational or educational purposes only and do not constitute trading or investment recommendations or advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • 316 · The Turning Points That Shaped Great Traders

    316 · The Turning Points That Shaped Great Traders
    Jan 29 2026
    Over the years, we’ve recorded hundreds of conversations with traders across different markets, strategies, and generations. And while no two trading paths look the same, certain moments tend to repeat — not moments of big wins or dramatic calls, but quieter turning points. The moments where something shifts internally. Where progress depends less on the market… and more on how the trader evolves. In this special episode of Chat With Traders, we revisit excerpts from past conversations with traders who reached those inflection points — moments that reshaped how they thought about risk, discipline, accountability, and longevity. It’s a collection of turning points — the decisions, realizations, and hard lessons that changed the trajectory of a trading career. Links + Resources: Episode039 Tom Dante Episode236 Lance BreitsteinEpisode249 Jack KelloggEpisode036 Peter BrandtEpisode255 Vincent BruzzeseEpisode212 Kristjan KullamägiEpisode286 Jason ShapiroEpisode260 Patrick PeterssonEpisode259 Lukas Frölich (The Short Bear)Episode163 John “Rambo” MoultonEpisode250 Sunny Harris Time Stamps: Please note: Exact times will vary depending on current ads. 00:00 – Intro and Background 01:10 — Tom Dante - A moment of accountability that forced change — and lit a competitive fire.02:35 — Lance Breitstein - Why the best traders bet exponentially when the odds are truly skewed.04:00 — Jack Kellogg - The cost of obsession, burnout, and relearning how to live after the grind.05:25 — Peter Brandt - Market tuition, mistakes, and committing fully to a process (Featured in Jack Schwager’s Market Wizards)06:55 — Vincent Bruzzese - How wealth mindset — not strategy — shapes risk and decision-making08:25 — Kristjan Kullamägi - Scaling up, earning the right to push risk, and long-term conviction 09:55 — Jason Shapiro - Contrarian trading, positioning over prediction, and embracing discomfort (Featured in Unknown Market Wizards)11:25 — Patrick Petersson - The lesson learned at absolute rock bottom — and the cost of not cutting losses.12:55 — Lukas Frölich (The Short Bear) - Running trading like a business — and how progress compounds quietly.14:25 — John “Rambo” Moulton - Detaching from money to trade with clarity and consistency15:55 — Sunny Harris - Taking control after realizing professionals can lose, too.17:30 — Closing reflections20:20 — Outro / End Sponsor of Chat With Traders Podcast: Trade The Pool: http://www.tradethepool.com Trading Disclaimer: Trading in the financial markets involves a risk of loss. Podcast episodes and other content produced by Chat With Traders are for informational or educational purposes only and do not constitute trading or investment recommendations or advice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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    24 mins
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I absolutely LOVE this podcast. I’ve learned a lot from all the interviews with these great traders. Thank you so much for this!

The greatest trading podcast out there! Love it!!!

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