Trading is risky, and most day traders lose money. Ross's results are not typical. All information provided is for educational purposes and is not investment advice or buy/sell recommendations. Read our full disclaimer.

Warrior Trading Blog

The Secret to Long-Term Trading Success

Hey everyone, Ross Cameron here! Today, I want to chat with you about something I know can change your trading life. I’m going to share a secret that has been key to my long-term success as a day trader. You’ve probably heard the brutal truth: most beginner traders lose money. It’s not exactly a secret, and if you’ve been at this for a while, you probably know how tough it can be. I’ve been reading your comments and posts for years, and it’s clear that many traders struggle, whether they’re just starting out or have been at it for a while. So, here’s the thing: trading success isn’t about working harder or taking more trades—it’s about focusing on the right ones. Less really is more.

Breaking Down the Trader Experience

There’s a spectrum when it comes to day traders and their experience. Some of you are totally new. You don’t have a strategy yet, and you’re a little lost trying to figure out how the market works. We’ve all been there.

Then, there are the intermediate traders. You know the ropes—you’ve figured out some level of technical analysis, you can read level two data, and maybe you’ve even had some green days. But you’re still not where you want to be because, more often than not, you’re losing more than you’re making. Most of the times, that’s due to a lack of discipline and, yes, over-trading. And finally, there are those who just trade way too much. You might know exactly what you’re doing…but you just can’t stop yourself from clicking that buy button over and over.

The Secret Most Traders Miss: Less is More

The big secret I want to reveal today is simple: Less is more. Most beginners, and even seasoned traders, get caught up in thinking that trading more will somehow make them more money. But guess what? It’s the opposite. Trading fewer, higher-quality setups can actually lead to greater profits. Here’s why: when you trade less, you’re actually giving yourself time to find better opportunities, manage your risk, and increase your profit-to-loss ratio. This means more time in your day and higher overall profits. Sounds like a win, right?

But don’t expect miracles overnight. This is something that takes practice, and I hope this post gives you some tools you can use to make improvements starting now.

Why Do We Overtrade?

You might be asking yourself why we, as traders, fall into this trap. The answer lies in how we learn. Most of us—myself included—were taught early on that the way to get better at trading is by taking as many trades as possible. For me, that meant jumping into every opportunity just to get experience. And, to be fair, there’s some value in doing that as a beginner. You have to learn the rhythms of the market, observe patterns, and gain experience.

Take it like this: if you only take one trade a day, across a year’s worth of trading days, that’s 250 individual trades. Now compare that to someone taking 50 trades a day. They’re getting far more experience. They’re also trading for the sake of trading, which isn’t always good. The key to success here, the thing I didn’t understand in the beginning, is recognizing high-probability patterns.

Pattern Recognition: The Key to Predicting Movements

The more trades you take, the better you’ll become at recognizing patterns. That’s important because success in day trading boils down to identifying and predicting short-term moves. No one’s asking you to predict where a stock will be in six months. You don’t have to play stock market guru here. For day traders, it’s all about predicting what a stock will do in the next few minutes. If you can accurately guess what the next five minutes will look like, that’s where the money’s at.

Let’s go over a typical pattern so you know what I’m talking about. Say, at 8 AM, a biotech stock suddenly gets FDA approval. That’s massive news for that stock. You can bet that a surge of buying will follow. The first green candlestick forms, the stock spikes, and here’s where experience kicks in—most experienced traders know that the first pullback after breaking news usually gets bought up, leading to another leg up.

Value of Focused Experience

As a beginner, sure, take as many trades as possible. When you join my crew at Warrior Trading, I always tell beginner members that if they have access to simulators, they should just go ham. The more you trade, the faster you learn. Spend your days trading everything that moves— you’ll start to see small, repeatable patterns. And that’s valuable.

But at some point, you need to dial it back. You need to shift from trading like an excited beginner grabbing at every stock, to a more calculated trader, waiting only for the best setups. I’ve been there—you’ll likely reach the point where you make progress, but you’re digging yourself into unnecessary holes with B or C-grade setups when all you needed was patience.

Roadmap to Profitability: Quality Over Quantity

When I look at my best trading periods, they weren’t the times when I was taking 100 trades a day. Far from it. The times when my accuracy was highest were the times I was waiting for A+ quality setups. The big question you’ve got to ask yourself: “Am I trading to gain experience, or am I trading to make money?”

If you want to make money consistently, focus on accuracy first. High accuracy leads to better profit-to-loss ratios and, over time, consistent green days. When you string together green days, you build confidence. So yeah, confidence matters. But don’t confuse confidence with recklessness. True confidence comes from field-testing your strategy and knowing when NOT to pull the trigger.

Avoiding the Day Trading Spiral

The biggest enemy of traders is what I call the “spiral.” The spiral happens when you have a few losses in a row and try to get it all back by doubling down with more trades and larger size. This is something I’ve encountered way too many times—both personally and with other traders I’ve mentored. Here’s the brutal truth: once you’re down a certain amount, your emotions start to mess with your judgment. You’re not thinking about quality setups anymore. You’re only thinking, “I need to get that money back.”

When that spiral begins, stop. Immediately. You need a rule like the one I implemented for myself: Three strikes, you’re out. After three consecutive losing trades, you stop trading for the day. This prevents you from digging a deeper hole and chasing after trades that aren’t there.

Trade Less, But With Purpose

The most profitable periods in my trading history have always come when I was really focused on fewer trades, higher accuracy, and larger share size. Once I put together a week of high-quality trades and my self-confidence grows, that’s when I start increasing trade size—but only after I’ve proven that I can hit that 1,000-dollar profit mark. Once you’re green, that’s when you size up.

The critical thing here is that you can train yourself to recognize market opportunities before you start trading. Identifying days that are going to be red and quitting early is something I wish I had learned earlier in my career. By doing that, you save energy, stress, and most importantly, your account balance.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, trading is not about who takes the most trades or who grinds the hardest. It’s about making calculated moves, recognizing patterns, and sticking to strategies that give you the best return. Don’t confuse busy with effective. Less really is more when it comes to day trading. Take fewer, better trades, and watch your results soar.

If you’re struggling with overtrading or lack of discipline, I recommend pulling up your metrics and studying where you’re going wrong. Use a simulator if you’re not sure and test what happens when you narrow your focus. Let the results speak for themselves. Whatever you do, always remember—taking fewer but smarter trades is the key to long-term profitability.

Want to learn more? Check out the two-week trial at Warrior Trading, where you can watch me trade and get a better understanding of these strategies.

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Warrior Trading was founded by Ross Cameron in 2012. Today Warrior Trading is a thriving community of thousands of day traders learning to trade under the curriculum designed by Ross

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Disclaimer: The results shared are based on my personal trading experiences and are not typical. Trading involves significant risk, and past performance is not indicative of future results. Always practice in a simulator before trading with real money.