I never would have imagined that I would become a full-time stock trader. Stocks or trading, in general, didn't play a significant role in my life for a long time. I was much more focused on rushing from one athletic challenge to the next.
So, it was only logical that after finishing high school, I started studying sports science at the German Sport University Cologne. That was what I knew and what I had done my entire life: sports - and a lot of it. That was in spring 2012.
During a lecture that same year, a fellow student told me about stock trading and its enormous possibilities. Of course, I knew that you could buy stocks. But for me, stocks were something only for the wealthy, which I definitely did not count myself among. But the idea that you could achieve wealth through short-term trading of stocks or other financial products was new to me.
During the lecture, I started thinking about which stocks I could buy with my newfound knowledge. I've described which stocks I bought, what that had to do with jogging pants, and how successful that first stock purchase was in another blog post. However, more importantly, this fire was ignited in me by this spontaneous encounter. Through trading, I could be financially independent. I could earn money from anywhere, whether I'm at the beach, in the mountains, or just at home. Additionally, I could support my family. I could continue to pursue the things that fulfill me without having to rely on a "real" job. And, most importantly, I would be my own boss. For me, after these realizations, it was immediately clear what my goal was from now on: I wanted to become a trader!
The path to becoming a trader
So, there I was. I knew what I wanted. All that was missing was a concrete plan on how to achieve my goal. And that's where the whole mess actually started. Because I quickly realized that high-quality information or complete training was only available in the United States. Equivalent material from Germany or in German? Almost completely absent! Germany was an absolute trading development country at that time and cannot be compared to today's offerings. And to make matters worse, the knowledge and trading education from the United States were also very chaotic: the knowledge was poorly structured, and the courses were not logically organized. You have to imagine it like the creators of the courses embedding a 90-minute video at the beginning of a course because something about the basics of trading is discussed at the times 17:12, 28:02, and 47:11. But the explicit locations were, of course, not included. But obviously, Americans have a different idea of a structured and didactically prepared course. Because all the courses I bought over time were pure chaos.
So, I had no choice but to get to work and try to put together a meaningful overall picture from these seemingly incredible many pieces of knowledge and information. And that's precisely what I did.
I remember that time when I invested a lot of time and effort into learning trading. In numerous sleepless nights, I crammed the basics of technical analysis, studied the great classic trading books, and worked my way through trading instructional videos from the United States that I bought with my hard-earned money. And I still had my studies, which demanded the same effort.
Due to the poor materials with which I learned, many of my questions remained unanswered. Fortunately, I found answers to my questions in other books or on the internet. But I didn't always have luck, and the unanswered question haunted me in my head. It drove me crazy not to have an easy way to ask someone. Especially because I was certain that an experienced trader could answer them in a few seconds and help me take a step forward. In summary, I was still at the beginning of my trading journey and had so many questions and uncertainties that I didn't know where to go next. I was like so many beginners who didn't know where and how to start.
My first winning trade - and the first setback
I'm not exaggerating when I say that it took me mental strength to stay on the ball. Sometimes I couldn't see the forest for the trees. There were so many different approaches, systems, and strategies. And at the same time, there were already so many different financial products from which one had to choose what to trade. In the past, and still partly today, the statement was widespread that you should trade forex if you have little capital. And this applied one to me. Unlike other students and many of my fellow students, I didn't have much money as a student at that time. I had a part-time job that allowed me to live my life and go on a few trips to the mountains for hiking and climbing, but that was it.
And so, I started trading forex. Since I had already invested countless hours in trading at this point, I quickly made my first profits. My first winning trade. I still remember how good that felt. I was sitting at my desk, earning money from home by "simply" sitting in front of my PC and pressing a few buttons. Furthermore, I wanted more and became greedy. I quickly got the receipt for it. In hindsight, I would describe this as classic beginner's luck. In this recklessness, I thought that success would now automatically come. But it wasn't (of course) like that. I lost trade after trade. My first real drawdown, and I didn't really know how to get out of it.
Consistently successful trading - but I still had to change something
My first drawdown lasted several days. I started almost completely from scratch, changed almost everything I had done up to that point. I wanted to get back on the road to success with all my might. Eventually, I closed a day again in the positive. Although this should have given me cause for joy, it made me realize that I wasn't as far along as I thought. Both in terms of knowledge and competence, and certainly not in terms of mentality. The consequence: I worked even harder on trading - of course!
At the time, I was part of a trading community. One of these members shared his trades there over and over again. Eventually, I just wrote to him to learn more about him and his trading. Over time, we wrote more and more, almost every day. Because answering my numerous questions apparently became too annoying for him, he asked me if he could answer the questions via video call. Over time, he gave me a lot of insight into his trading principles. It was only much later that I found out how successful he really was with trading.
My results improved noticeably afterward, and for the first time, I had something like a consistently successful trading phase. But the more I dealt with forex, the more the disadvantages annoyed me: on the one hand, you are heavily dependent on patterns that do not occur daily. And on the other hand, there is significantly less capital available on the forex market than, for example, on the stock market. This means that significantly less money is moved from A to B in forex. Additionally, depending on the setup, there are only a few good opportunities per week. But I wanted to have daily opportunities and not just a few times a week.
I started to wonder how my mentor from the United States deals with the limitations of the forex market. With a little distance, it became clear to me what my mentor from the United States does differently: he trades stocks - not forex. That was the decisive realization for me.
The switch to trading stocks
With my switch to trading stocks, I didn't start from scratch, but almost. There are significant differences between forex and stock trading in certain aspects. Although the basic trading principles do not differ so much, there are significant differences in detail. In the end, I went through the same highs and lows in stock trading and worked my way through countless sources, books, and videos. But now with the great advantage that the stock market offers countless opportunities daily and huge movements from which I can now profit.
For many, and until today, trading stocks has been a red flag due to many prejudices that persist. Many say that trading stocks is much too expensive (fees and commissions) or that you need an extreme amount of capital for it. In fact, that is the case, but only if you set up your "trading construct" incorrectly. In essence, the ongoing costs for trading depend on two things:
- The financial product. What do you trade? Stocks, futures, forex, cryptos, etc.?
- And with which broker do you trade the product? What are the conditions? What does the depot cost? What does a transaction cost? Does the broker provide leverage, and if so, how high is it?
In summary, the prejudices about stock trading are entirely true if you want to trade German stocks with a German broker. There, individual transactions sometimes cost several euros, which makes day trading absolutely unprofitable.
However, if you trade US stocks with a US broker, everything changes in one fell swoop! With a US broker, transactions only cost a few cents, and the US market is by far the largest market and thus the one with the highest liquidity. When I figured that out for myself, I knew I no longer had to search. US stocks offer the optimal overall package with which I can become successful in the long term. So, I could fully concentrate on stocks.
The start of WirmachenTrader
Even before I reached this important milestone over the next two to three years, I shared my experiences and learning progress with others in a blog and on YouTube. The purpose was initially basic: it was my personal reflection on the things I learned myself. This is supported by the scientific finding that one internalizes what one learns much better when teaching it to others. So, that's precisely what I did. I continued to learn new things diligently and shared them with others. Over time, I shared more and more of my experiences, and my blog and YouTube channel became more and more popular. I received more and more questions and feedback from my followers, and I realized that there was a great need for structured and high-quality trading education in Germany. So, I founded WirmachenTrader, a platform for high-quality trading education with a structured learning path, experienced mentors, and a supportive community. And that's where I am today.