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BOOK YOUR FREE STRATEGY SESSION NOW >>What happens when commitment and perseverance break through all the limits you thought you had?
Our student Michael shows us. He was named Trader of the Month for June (achieving a +136% return, nearly $13,000 in profits, and a drawdown of just -5%) and was leading the World Cup Trading Championships at the time of our interview.
No, Michael didn’t have an abundance of free time. And no, his job wasn’t easy to manage. In fact, when he started his journey with us, Michael was a plastic surgeon.
And, of course, he didn’t use any magic formula to achieve these results.
Everyone at the Unger Academy is cheering him on, not just because he’s our student, but because he applied our teachings with dedication and consistent effort.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all recipe for success, but if we had to identify key ingredients for quitting your job to trade full-time, like Michael, dedication and continuous learning would be at the top.
Want to learn more about the journey and winning method that helped Michael achieve his goals?
Enjoy the interview!
Introduction
Chelsi
Hey, everybody. Welcome to another trading chats. If you're new here, I'm Chelsi with Unger Academy, and today we have a very special guest, Michael, who is not only our Trader of the Month of June, but is also, as of this recording, currently in the number one position in the World Cup Trading Championships standings for futures trading. Last month, Michael made nearly $13,000 with 136% gain and a max drawdown of just 5.4%. What? Welcome, Michael. Let's get started so you can tell us all about it.
Michael
Hello, Chelsi. Hello, everyone.
Michael’s profession
Chelsi
All right. So yeah, tell us a bit about yourself. Let's start out easy. Tell us about what you do and how you came to meet with us.
Michael
Yeah. Normally, I'm a doctor. I'm a surgeon. I was working for 20 years now in the hospital. Normal, standard doctor, surgeon job, nothing special.
Chelsi
Okay. So, yeah, I imagine not a whole lot of time to dedicate to trading, usually, right?
Michael’s early challenges with trading and his motivation to give it another shot
Michael
Yes. I was interested in the stock markets for maybe about 10 or 15 years. But like everyone I started with big losses and killed some savings and I struggled and then I paused for maybe five or six years. Then I came back in 2020. I was interested, I think like many others in these years of the pandemic. Then I wanted to try it again to make some profits in the stock market.
Chelsi
So what made you stop before coming back in 2020?
Michael
Yes, because I only lost money. It didn't work. Like I tried to make profits. And so I said, okay, before I lose every single dollar that I have, I stop.
His reasons for entering the World Cup Trading Championships
Chelsi
Makes sense., makes sense. So, tell us about the World Cup Trading Championships. How's that going? What brought you there?
Michael
Yeah, I thought I have very good strategies. So, a friend of mine who participated in the Championship as well said, "Try, just try. You cannot lose too much because you don't invest that much money." It was the beginning of 2024, so I was a little bit late, and I opened the account and I had some problems at the beginning. I actually started in maybe February, and then it worked really fine. Here in the last month, it was perfect.
Chelsi
Wow.
Michael
Really perfect. And now I'm on the top. I hope I can stay a little bit there.
Key takeaways and insights
Chelsi
So any traders watching this video right now, they probably want to know exactly what you're doing to be at the top. But of course, we're not going to go into that detail. But is there anything in particular that you would like to share with, let's say, what's giving you that edge right now, how you're in the top position at the moment?
Michael
Yeah, I developed a lot of strategies, really hundreds. Then I decided only to pick the best. I trade like six, seven strategies in the Championship, and they are really only the best from hundreds. I look at the drawdown very carefully. I don't want big drawdowns. So, if I know there's only a little drawdown, I can put a very high risk. Here, I calculated everything with the Titan software from Unger Academy for position sizing. It's a small account and big risk, but it works.
The trading method Michael currently employs
Chelsi
Great, great! So are you using the Unger Method with your trading?
Michael
Yes, of course. I developed--
Chelsi
Alright!
Michael
Yeah I did and used the software.
Chelsi
Awesome, awesome! So, what made you choose going with our program over others and choosing the Unger Method?
Michael
Yeah. In 2020, I was searching for a mentor and I saw that Andrea Unger won four times the Championship, and I thought, Okay, it's really trustworthy to go to his program and study. I studied really carefully. I think it's a very good program. I started from scratch. I didn't program myself before. So I'm a doctor. I don't know how to program or something. And really studied for a few months and getting better every day.
How the Unger Academy’s training program was particularly beneficial to him
Chelsi
That's amazing. That's really amazing. So was there anything in particular about a program that helped you?
Michael
Yeah, I had some information before about the markets, like candlestick patterns or something, but this didn't help me. In the program, it helped me a lot that I learned programming, I learned how to backtest, how to develop automated strategies and everything. You get really everything. How you open an account at the broker, you rent a VPS or something, everything. If you don't know anything yet, you can start the program and you can trade life.
Chelsi
Wow. Yeah. It's really great to see a success story of someone who's starting from scratch and also has a very busy work life as well. You don't have a lot of time. So that's very promising. And also great to know that the Unger Method definitely still holds up after all these years. That's really great. It's great to see your success. Where do you think you'd be right now if you hadn't taken action to join our program?
Where Michael might be today without discovering the Unger Academy and automated trading
Michael
I'd be working as a doctor in the hospital. It's like normal life, but now I can live the life I want to.
Chelsi
That's really great.
Michael
I'm not working as a doctor at the moment.
Chelsi
Are you not?
Michael
No.
Chelsi
You're exclusively trading?
Michael
Yes, because there were some problems in the hospital, and they quit the... I'm a plastic surgeon, and I quit the plastic surgery. And so I thought, okay, I'm going to trade, and maybe it works, but yeah, it works.
Tips and advice for aspiring and current traders
Chelsi
It definitely looks like it's working, Michael. That's great. That's really great. Any tips for anyone watching this video for, you know, maybe on mindset or anything in particular?
Michael
Yes. If you start from scratch, you have to study really carefully every step and go to the coaching calls and ask questions. It takes some time. It took me a few months. I only studied in the afternoon after my work, but it works. Be patient. Go your way and develop some strategies. Try and if you go live... One big mistake I made at the beginning, I didn't use the out-of-sample periods. But this is really important. Use out-of-sample periods so you really know if your strategy is working. If you know it is working, be careful if you want to switch that light. Don't scale it up too much, too fast. Be patient, slowly scale up the risk, and then you could be successful.
Chelsi
Awesome, awesome. So, Michael, if there's anybody watching that's on the fence about joining the Unger Academy or our program, what would you say to them?
Michael
If you compare other programs, I think Unger Academy is a really trustworthy academy because they really care about the customers. I know other programs, and they only want the money and nothing else. You don't know if they are profitable. But you know Andrea Unger is profitable. So you study his program and the money you invest, you can get it back very fast.
Chelsi
Thank you, Michael. We wish you to remain in the number one position in the Robbins Cup standings, and we're cheering you on. We wanted to let you know the whole academy is cheering you on. Also, hopefully, whoever is watching this, students and anyone interested in trading, everybody, let's cheer on Michael for winning the Robbins Cup this year! Well, thank you so much for your time, Michael! It's really been great.
Michael
Thank you very much.
Chelsi
Great. Bye-bye.
We'll help you map out a plan to fix the problems in your trading and get you to the next level. Answer a few questions on our application and then choose a time that works for you.
BOOK YOUR FREE STRATEGY SESSION NOW >>Andrea Unger here and I help retail traders to improve their trading, scientifically. I went from being a cog in the machine in a multinational company to the only 4-Time World Trading Champion in a little more than 10 years.
I've been a professional trader since 2001 and in 2008 I became World Champion using just 4 automated trading systems.
In 2015 I founded Unger Academy, where I teach my method of developing effecting trading strategies: a scientific, replicable and universal method, based on numbers and statistics, not hunches, which led me and my students to become Champions again and again.
Now I'm here to help you learn how to develop your own strategies, autonomously. This channel will help you improve your trading, know the markets better, and apply the scientific method to financial markets.
Becoming a trader is harder than you think, but if you have passion, will, and sufficient capital, you'll learn how to code and develop effective strategies, manage risk, and diversify a portfolio of trading systems to greatly improve your chances of becoming successful.
