AtradianResearch notes.
How we think about verifying signals, backtesting honestly, and building strategies that know which market they're in.
Sep 15, 2026
Position Sizing: Why It Matters More Than Your Entry Signal
Two traders with the same winning signal can get opposite results because of position sizing alone. Here's how the Kelly criterion works, why full Kelly is a bad idea in practice, and what fractional sizing actually buys you.
Sep 10, 2026
What Is a Market Regime? How Trending, Ranging, and Volatile Markets Are Classified
"Regime" gets thrown around a lot in trading commentary. Here's what it actually means, the concrete signals used to classify one, and why the label matters more than most indicators.
Sep 5, 2026
AI Trading Signals: How to Actually Verify They Work
Most "AI trading signal" products never show you whether their own calls were right. Here's the checklist for telling a genuinely calibrated signal from a coin flip with a good marketing page.
Aug 28, 2026
Support and Resistance: What the Levels Actually Represent
Support and resistance are the most-drawn lines on any chart and among the most misunderstood. Here's what a level actually represents, why round numbers matter, and why a broken level often flips its role.
Aug 20, 2026
How to Backtest a Trading Strategy Without Fooling Yourself
A profitable-looking backtest is easy to produce and usually wrong. Here's the practical checklist we use before trusting any backtest result — our own included.
Aug 12, 2026
Risk/Reward Ratio: Why a High Win Rate Can Still Lose Money
A strategy that wins 70% of the time can still be a loser, and one that wins 35% of the time can be highly profitable. Here's how risk/reward ratio and win rate actually interact, with the math worked out.
Aug 5, 2026
What Is Algorithmic Trading? A Plain-English Guide
Algorithmic trading isn't just for hedge funds with server racks next to the exchange. Here's what the term actually covers, the honest tradeoffs, and how to evaluate a system before trusting it.
Jul 28, 2026
Market Regime Detection: Why the Same Strategy Wins in One Market and Loses in the Next
A trend-following strategy and a mean-reversion strategy aren't rivals — they're each right in a different market regime. Here's why regime awareness matters more than strategy selection.
Jul 18, 2026
Day Trading vs Swing Trading: The Real Differences That Matter
The distinction isn't just holding period. Day trading and swing trading demand different time commitments, different edges, and different psychological pressures. Here's an honest comparison of both.
Jul 10, 2026
RSI Explained: What the Relative Strength Index Actually Measures
RSI is one of the most widely quoted trading indicators — and one of the most widely misused. Here's what it actually calculates, what "overbought" really means, and where it fails.
Jun 30, 2026
Moving Average Crossover Strategies: The Golden Cross, the Death Cross, and Their Real Limitations
Golden crosses and death crosses make headlines every time they trigger. Here's what a moving average crossover actually detects, why it lags by design, and where it quietly fails.
Jun 15, 2026
Sharpe Ratio Explained: How to Tell a Good Return From a Lucky One
A high return means nothing without knowing how much risk was taken to get it. The Sharpe ratio is the standard way to compare returns on equal footing — here's what it is and where it misleads.
May 20, 2026
Stop-Loss Orders Explained: Types, Placement, and the Mistakes That Undo Them
A stop loss is simple in concept and easy to get wrong in practice. Here's what the order types actually do, how dynamic stops differ from fixed ones, and the placement mistakes that quietly sabotage a strategy.
May 5, 2026
Paper Trading: What It Actually Proves and What It Doesn't
Paper trading feels like a risk-free dress rehearsal for live trading. It tests some things well and creates a false sense of readiness for others. Here's the honest breakdown.
Apr 25, 2026
Bull Market vs. Bear Market: How to Tell Which One You're In
"Bull" and "bear" get used loosely in headlines. Here's the actual definitions, why the transition is only ever obvious in hindsight, and what that implies for how you should trade the uncertainty.