The Reasons I Closed Down Trading Room Service

As some of you might have noticed that I decided to close down the Trading Room service last month and stopped accepting new members (image below).

While I enjoyed sharing my trades and watchlists with the members, it became apparent that running such a service could really hinder my ability to focus on trading.

I am going to elaborate on why I decided to close it down.

Table of Contents

Reason 1: It Made Me Stop Taking Risks

After I started the Trading Room service, it became apparent that I was constantly looking for “safer” and “more profitable” trades that I could share with the members.

It prevents me from taking risks and the thought of “what if the members lost their money because of the trades I shared with them” just kept popping up in my mind.

Taking less risk is not necessarily a bad thing but there is no such thing as a “100% risk-free and money-making” trade. The fact that I became obsessed with it was draining my energy.

It also gave me a taste of what it would feel like to be responsible for other people’s money. Not fun.

Reason 2: It Limits The Ways I Could Trade

Even though the Wheel Strategy is the primary way I trade, I do occasionally experiment with different strategies or trade simple credit or debit spreads to hedge the account.

Since I advertised it as a “Wheel Strategy” service, it made me feel I would need to explain and justify every trades that are not related to the Wheel Strategy. This again drains my energy.

Reason 3: The ROI Is Lower Than Trading

I know some people think selling a service like this could make them rich.

Well, when you have a truly profitable trading strategy, it’s so much easier and profitable to just focus on trading.

The amount of work needed to create the videos, prepare the materials, and do customer service is just way too much. As the service grows, I would likely need to hire and train people to help run the service.

One of the reasons I started trading options is to eliminate the need of working full time, so why am I creating a full-time job for myself?

Reason 4: The Feeling Of Not Sharing Enough Information

I have done some research on people who sell their trading-related services and the ones that I have come across all only just scratch the surface.

Possibly there are comprehensive courses out there that I have not come across but “trading” is just so much deeper than most people think.

There is just so much to learn beyond technical analysis and fundamental analysis. Learning about micro, macro, world economics, relationships between different asset classes, market sentiment, etc.

Obviously, it is not possible to cover everything, but the thought of sharing even some of this information in depth feels overwhelming. The amount of time needed to create all the videos……

Reason 5: Imposer Syndrome

This is probably the largest reason why I stopped the service. It took me a long time to get to where I am. I mean a really, really long time.

I have failed so many times and I still have fear of failing even though it has been more than a year since I started mainly trading the Wheel Strategy and being profitable consistently with a high winning ratio.

I might feel better once I encounter a significant market pullback without a substantial drawdown.

Until I prove that I can survive a significant market pullback, I don’t feel that I am qualified to run such a service.

Final Thoughts

The reason I started Alphapursuits.com is to share what I have learned and get feedback and validation from people who are also interested in trading stocks and options.

Trading is a very lonely business. A lot of people around me don’t understand what I do and don’t speak the same language, including my family and friends.

I guess the reason I continue to write this blog is that I am just looking for people who are interested in the same thing as me and hope to ease their loneliness in case they have that feeling.

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Tony

I have been trading options since 2010 and have been testing and experimenting with various trading styles. Fundamental Analysis based, Technical Analysis based, Trend Following, Day Trading, Swing Trading, etc.

My primary option trading strategies incorporate volatility and I am constantly experimenting with various trading strategies to improve my PNL.

I hold two Master’s degrees (MSc and MBA) with career experience as a cancer research scientist and a digital marketer.