3/… It started as a modest $63k account that promptly hit the turbulence, dipping 12%. At the time @odelys__ offered assurances that this was absolutely not the norm. And the man sounded passionate about client satisfaction. 
@odelys__ 4/… Little did I know that the norm is more like 30-40% daily swings in account NAV.
5/… At the outset @odelys__ promised automated daytrading-only scalping system, with hard stops. Instead he maxed out on the leverage with bond futures that went all over the place. I was exercising extreme patience, and boy was it tested.
6/… His secret sauce? Let the losses run, don’t look, just pretend they are not real. I also found out that in lieu of the hard stops his system relied on margin calls and forced liquidations. @odelys__
@odelys__ 7/… Somehow he managed to stumble to a small net profit. However at that point I wanted to limit my exposure and pulled $30k out - good move in retrospect, though not good enough. All red flags be damned, I was determined to find out what is it all about this guy. Luck of skill?
8/… And then this happened. And it happened fast. I can tell you: it’s hard to pull the plug in the middle of a sharp drawdown because he did that Houdini trick before and snapped back up, right? Right? @odelys__
9/… Clearly I underestimated his ability to go and stand in front of the train after being ran over by a truck. @odelys__ The Mayhem trader!
10/… After that debacle he muttered some apologetic excuse and no substantive plan. But the account was pretty much a dumpster fire by then anyway, so I let it play out and see what happens. All the while he keeps tweeting his daily profits, so cute! And the man felt lonely.
11/… Well, you would think he’d become more careful, and he was for a little while, or maybe just lucky. The next time he got caught on the wrong side of the market though, he again didn’t bother to cut losses and just let the account bleed out dry. @odelys__
12/… But if you really want to know the true essence of his innovative futures trading strategy, here it is, shared with you for free: “pretend to be an idiot”. Oh dear, perhaps @odelys__ took it too close to heart.
13/… And guess who is the winner? The house of course: commissions amounted to 25% of total loss. @odelys__ couldn’t even man up and own his work. I guess he ran out of passion for the client satisfaction.
@odelys__ 14/… Risk management is what separates trading from gambling, and even seasoned gamblers know a thing or two about risk management. This is a foreign concept to @odelys__. In fact, his entire motivation is clearly fraudulent, here’s a good explanation:
kitces.com/blog/performan…
kitces.com/blog/performan…
15/… Losing $30k is not fun, folks. Was it worth it? Hell yeah, exposing fraud feels better than leaving it in Vegas. It was a tester size account for me anyway, so I’ll be fine. Always remember: only risk whatever you can afford to lose. And use leverage responsibly.
16/... Thanks for reading. Hope you found this true story educational and entertaining, please don’t forget to like, retweet and follow for more sordid details. In the next installment we’ll try to find out who is @odelys__
To the press: you may print this story if you wish, with attribution - the link to my twitter will do.
@odelys__ @threadreaderapp unroll
