Better System Trader

Earlier this week I was on a flight from LAX back to Melbourne. As we were sitting on the plane waiting for our departure I overheard a flight attendant say to a fellow passenger that one of the other planes had been struck by lightning causing delays to other flights. At the time I didn’t know if a lightning strike on a plane was a bad thing, it sure sounds like something you don’t want to experience, however it got me thinking about the risks of flying. Now admittedly, it’s probably not the best thing to be thinking about just before the plane takes off for a 16 hour flight across the Pacific ocean at night but luckily my thoughts quickly switched to trading and the risks we face as traders. One of the concepts which immediately came to my mind was ‘risk of ruin’, which we first discussed way back in episode 2. In that podcast interview, futures trader Brent Penfold says: "In my humble opinion, I think the risk of ruin is number one or the most important concept in trading." I want to share a little bit mor