Your Trading Roadmap: Cutting Through the Noise

Published on: November 18, 2024

A while ago—years really—I decided we’d put enough information out there on how to trade. Our Group Therapy sessions tailed off as I felt we’d said all we could or should say. On the one hand, it’s great for people to be immersed in trading and be fed information constantly. The flip side though, is that it gives people the impression there’s always more to learn, that there’s always one more thing that will push them over the edge into success.

There isn’t.

To an extent, aspiring traders are a rebellious bunch. They are independent thinkers, they want to break free from the constraints of month-to-month salaried living. They are willing to commit their precious time to the skill – yet they are trading blindfolded. It’s not a physical blindfold like a barrier, it’s more like a million distracting shiny diamonds distracting you from the right path. 

Some of those reading this already have the knowledge to trade, but they aren’t successful. Why? Because trading isn’t a knowledge game—it’s a game of skill development and applied practice. And you know what reinforces the belief that it’s all about knowledge? Constantly being bombarded with more information.

But why teach anything? Why not just sell the platform and leave it at that?

Jigsaw started because I couldn’t make sense of how traders used Time & Sales and the DOM side by side. Well – I could make sense of it – I just couldn’t read it. Professional traders used these tools without charts, I knew how theoretically – but I just couldn’t read them. In the end, I had a programmer jerry-rig a set of tools for me. When I shared the tools with friends, they said, “You should sell this.” and that’s how Jigsaw started – as a hobby.

When I shared the tools, I had to explain how to use them. I wasn’t being generous—it was just that people’s eyes glazed over without guidance. Like selling a car with no driving lessons. This stuff was not widely used back then. That ‘teaching’ became a habit.

I saw flaws in how trading platforms evolve too. They appeared to be adding stuff for no reason other than that it’s “shiny”.  I’ve always believed that a trading platform company must truly understand professional trading and only include features that truly help traders. Not because I’m special – but because that’s how software development is supposed to work. You focus on a process, you write software to make that process faster, sleeker, more reliable, and easier to learn. But if you don’t understand the process you are trying to support – you are going to just cram in everything you can because you can’t discern between what’s legit and what’s not.  

Trading success comes from understanding how markets react to big, obvious events – things that many can observe and react to —things that by their very nature – can’t be a secret. Whether it’s news, a technical setup, or an order flow signal, if it impacts the market, it’s because enough traders are observing and reacting to it. Big, obvious setups work. 

If trading were like learning an instrument, professional traders would be like someone joining a firm, getting structured guidance, and improving steadily until they can “play” after 12 months. In contrast, many retail traders do the equivalent of jumping switching instruments every month —spending just as much time and effort but never mastering anything.

To help you avoid the common pitfalls and save months (if not years) of your trading career trying things that we know do not work, we created The Trading Manifesto. 

If you’re new to trading, the Manifesto keeps things simple, cutting through the noise and showing you exactly where to focus first. For seasoned traders, it sharpens your edge by bringing focus back to the fundamentals that move markets.

Jigsaw’s platform reflects this philosophy. It’s designed to help you focus on what works—avoiding distractions and unnecessary features. Tools to support a specific process of Trader Improvement – and no distracting gimmicks.

The manifesto and the Jigsaw tools work hand in hand: while the manifesto provides the roadmap for skill-building, our platform gives you the tools to apply those insights in real-time AND after the trading day is done – for example, Journalytix lets you track your progress and refine your approach, ensuring every trade aligns with what truly moves markets. Helping you understand which activities work and which don’t so you can do more of one and less of the other. 

The Trading Manifesto is our first step back into creating educational resources that resonate, but with a key difference: it doesn’t foster the misconception that more knowledge is better. Instead, it focuses on helping you identify the big, obvious market signals and build the skills to respond effectively.

For example, focusing solely on just how the “Non Farm Payrolls” (a US monthly macro-economic release) impact the market each month would make you more money than trying to learn every candle pattern or trading every day guessing what “THEY” are doing in the market and trying to trade it.

The manifesto is your roadmap—keeping you focused on the skills and decisions that drive results while avoiding unnecessary detours. Think of it like a trading GPS: you decide where to stop and what to explore, but it keeps you on track and prevents you from heading into a raging river that drowns you and your account.

It’s a lofty goal, but I believe we’re well on our way. And this is just the beginning—the manifesto will evolve based on your feedback. It’s free, but it has a job to do. I think it’s already doing it well, and I can’t wait to hear what you think so we can make it even better.

Download the Trading Manifesto today and start building a trading journey that stays on track. Let’s see where it takes you.