Awkward, Noisy Edges are an Indie Trader's Dream
Competition, not complexity, is what makes trading hard
A few times a year, I run a course for part-time traders who want to get serious about systematic trading. Not “quit your job” serious - more like “approach this with a realistic plan that might actually work” serious.
It’s called Trade Like a Quant, and here’s what it’s about.
The Core Problem
Trading is hard. Not because markets are mystical or because you need a PhD. It’s hard because it’s insanely competitive.
When we trade, we’re up against people who are just better at it than us. Faster technology, more capital, more experience. If we try to compete directly with them, we’ll lose. That’s just reality.
So here’s what I do instead: I look for places where the competition is relatively low. Places where I can do something useful that people value and are prepared to pay for.
This isn’t about outsmarting anyone. It’s about providing a service - usually in markets that are too noisy, too small, or too operationally awkward for bigger players to bother with.
How the Course Works
I’ve split it into two parts, roughly.
Part 1: Trade Like a Quant
This is about developing market intuition - what I call “trader smarts.” You’ll learn:
How markets actually work (structure, participants, their constraints)
What edge looks like and where it comes from
How to identify when you can trade at attractive prices
Tons of explicit examples of stuff that makes money, or made money in the past
I’m basically brainwashing you with examples until you start seeing patterns. You’ll look at a market situation and think: “Oh, someone has to trade here. They’re price-insensitive because of X. That’s an opportunity.”
Part 2: Quant Like a Trader
This is the practical toolkit. Simple data analysis for simple research:
Data munging, distributions, scatter plots
Dealing with bias and non-stationarity
Factor analysis, event studies
Simulation techniques
Plus portfolio construction:
Diversification and sizing
Rebalancing mechanics
Risk management
Nothing complicated. Nothing academic. Simple approaches work fine.
What You’ll Actually Do
The course material is available on demand. We’ll chat on Discord and on Zoom until you get it. I’ll explain things ten different ways if needed.
It’s not a quant finance course. No fancy math. Just simple explanations, poorly drawn pictures, a smattering of Dad jokes, and the basics you need to make money sensibly.
The Philosophy Behind It
Here’s my thing: You want to concentrate on opportunities where it’s clear and obvious why you’re getting paid.
Not marginal games. Not trying to predict better than everyone else. That won’t work.
Instead, find uncompetitive places where you can do something useful. Things like:
Providing liquidity when someone needs to trade quickly
Taking the other side of forced rebalancing flows
Trading in markets too small for institutional capital
Helping remove risk for producers who need to hedge
This article presents a typical example.
These aren’t sexy. They’re often noisy or capital-constrained or operationally awkward. But that’s precisely why they’re available to us.
Look, I know I’m biased, but people who’ve been through this course tell me there’s nothing else like it. That it changed their entire perspective on trading.
Common Questions
“Why teach this instead of just trading it and making gazillions?”
Two reasons: I like teaching, and none of this stuff will make you gazillions. I’m showing you where to find edge and giving you tons of examples. But these are part-time trader opportunities, not quit-your-job opportunities. Once you know the fundamentals, we can talk about how you might build something more ambitious.
“Isn’t active trading always adversarial and zero-sum?”
No, not at all. You’re usually getting paid because you’re doing something helpful to the market.
Think about it: Someone needs to quickly remove risk. I’m willing to help them do that, at the right price for me. They’re happy - they achieved what they needed. I’m happy - I traded at a good price.
This applies to:
Producers or businesses hedging their exposures
Funds with large flows that need to rebalance
Long-term investors prepared to “pay up” to get their trades done
It’s not all adversarial. The key is finding places where the competition to “do something useful and get paid” is relatively small. And that’s usually because doing it is unattractive in some way: risky, uses too much capital, can’t scale, whatever.
“How do you tell if an edge is competitive?”
Practically: Can you observe pricing inefficiencies persisting for a long time? Which is just a fancy way of asking: “Could you make money trading it even if you weren’t the fastest player?”
If yes, there’s probably room for you.
Who This Is For
You’re probably a good fit if:
You’re analytically minded (technical background helps, but isn’t required)
You suspect that drawing lines on charts isn’t a realistic approach to trading
You can commit a couple of hours a week (or a few hours on the upcoming intensive version)
You want to understand why things work, not just what works
You’re willing to trade simple, unsexy strategies
This probably isn’t for you if:
You want get-rich-quick systems (systematic trading is a game of slowly grinding out noisy edges over time)
You’re looking for the holy grail strategy (doesn’t exist, and if it does, I don’t have it)
This Month: Live Intensive Format
Normally, Trade Like a Quant is self-study - you work through the material at your own pace. But this November, I’m running it as a 10-day live intensive starting November 3rd.
Same curriculum, but we work through it together. You get real-time answers to your questions, see how I evaluate opportunities, and learn alongside other traders wrestling with the same concepts.
When you enrol, you get immediate lifetime access to all the course materials and the Discord community. So you can familiarise yourself with the content before we start, or just show up fresh on November 3rd. Either works.
The intensive is $447. I’ve kept the price there for years, but I’m raising it to $547 after this cohort - so if you’ve been thinking about it, now’s the time.
Want more details on the full curriculum? Here’s the complete course breakdown.
The Real Goal
I want you to stop feeling lost. To look at markets and have a framework for evaluating opportunities. To build a simple, robust trading operation that fits around your life.
And most importantly: to develop the confidence that you can find new edges independently. That’s the skill that actually matters.
So, if this sounds like your kind of thing, here’s where you can enrol in the intensive.
Questions? Just reply to this email or leave a comment.
Until next time,
Kris