Flat Earth Trading Society: A Year-Long Trading Experiment of position management in trading
Introduction
Welcome! My name is Robb Reinhold, and I’m the Head Trader at Maverick Trading and Maverick Currencies. Here at Maverick, our mission is to guide traders on how to become professional traders. Today, I’m excited to share the results of a unique, year-long trading experiment of position management in trading that began on August 1st, 2023 to highlight the importance of position management in trading.
The Origin of the Experiment
When I first started trading back in 1997, I came across an intriguing story about two traders. They had a theory: it didn’t matter how you picked and entered stocks—what really mattered was position management, specifically, selling losers and holding winners. According to the story, these traders hung Wall Street Journal quote pages on a wall and threw darts at them. Wherever the dart landed, they would flip a coin—heads to go long, tails to go short. Allegedly, they did this every month for 18 months and never had a losing month.
After spending countless hours scouring the internet for this data, the closest I found was a vague reference to the legendary Turtle Traders. I wanted the hard data, so I decided to conduct this experiment myself. Thus, the Flat Earth Trading Society was born.
The Flat Earth Trading Society Experiment
I named it the Flat Earth Trading Society as a tongue-in-cheek nod to one of the biggest conspiracy theories in trading: the overemphasis on trade entry over position management. This experiment, sponsored by Maverick Trading, involved a live $100,000 trading account.
Over the course of the year, we made 100 trades using completely random methods to pick stocks. We used everything from Scrabble tiles to Ouija boards, random spin wheels, and even inspirations from my travels. The critical part of the experiment was our position management strategy—we implemented a simple trailing stop methodology designed to cut losses and let winners run.
You can follow every trade, adjustment, and exit in real-time on our Flat Earth Trading Society YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@FlatEarthTradingSociety
The Results
– Total Gain: $15,000.26
– Win/Loss Percentage: 40%
– Profit Factor: 1.38
We completed all 100 trades in late July 2024 and compiled a detailed summary video that highlights the results and key lessons learned. The results were outstanding and validated our theory that position management is at least as crucial—if not more so—than trade entry strategies. Despite experiencing an 11-trade losing streak, the experiment still delivered fantastic results. This journey through the ups and downs of trading underscores the importance of proper position sizing, management, and consistency.
Watch the detailed summary video here
Conclusion
At Maverick Trading, we pride ourselves on being the only US-based options prop firm that funds traders and allows them to execute a full range of options trading strategies, including overnight holdings. If you’ve ever wondered whether is prop trading worth it, I encourage you to learn more about us and watch our introductory video before submitting an application. https://mavericktrading.com/application-3-a/?utm_source=YouTubeBlog
P.S. Want to see more data? Check out our public journal on TraderSync https://shared.tradersync.com/flatearthtradingsociety
