Lost 11 Consecutive Months. Then Made $117M.
The Story & Setups of Lance Breitstein | Edition 77
Today I’m going to write down the best lessons from the man who made $46 million in net profits as a trader at Trillium.
After Trillium, he traded his own account, which was even more profitable: he made $71 million in five years.
His name is Lance Breitstein, and these are my notes after reading the newest Market Wizards book by Jack Schwager.
Personally, I instantly resonated with Lance when he said:
“My upbringing gave me a certain level of grit and determination to succeed.”
Lance Breitstein
I believe I have a huge advantage because of the things I’ve lived through. They shaped me and prepared me for the trader I am today and the trader I will become tomorrow. Not everyone is built to sustain this kind of life.
I do believe this plays a big role in your trading success.
That’s why I always recommend that, when you build your trading strategy, you build it around yourself. You’ll gain a massive edge if you truly know yourself.
Your life philosophy and your attention span will guide you toward your right trading style.
You’ll make the most money when you trade like yourself, not like Lance or any other successful trader.
For example, Lance’s philosophy was:
“My general philosophy is that the highest probability trades will occur in the shortest time frames. But that advantage comes at a tradeoff to scalability.”
Lance Breitstein
Breitstein argues that shorter‑term trading can offer the biggest edge, and his results support that view.
This philosophy led him to trade on a 2‑minute timeframe.
If you don’t truly believe this, if you don’t genuinely internalize it, you will never find success with his strategy, because you can’t be Lance, you can only be you.
Like all the other great traders, Lance didn’t become profitable overnight , not after a few weeks or even a few months.
He actually had 11 consecutive months of losses.
When asked what contributed to his success as a profitable trader, Lance says:
“I knew I needed to experience more repetitions of real-world situations. So, I recorded my screens, and then, on nearly every Sunday for 10 years, I would go into the office to rewatch trading sessions.”
Lance Breitstein
Just like every professional athlete reviews their games, he watched his trades, observed how he performed, took notes on key moments, and tried to correct his mistakes the following week.
How many of you are willing to go through that kind of work? Many of you don’t even have a trading journal.
Remember: you can’t improve what you don’t measure.
Another thing that caught my attention was how Lance measured his progress in the first year, when he wasn’t yet profitable:
It’s not just about the P&L, which is a lagging indicator. Is your thought process improving? Are you making fewer mistakes? Are you doing a couple of things better? Are you getting less bad?
Lance Breitstein
In other words: follow the process, not the outcome.
If the process is correct, the outcome will come. The outcome is a byproduct of your habits.
Every day, my sole goal was to improve and learn so that I could be a little bit better the next day. That’s all I cared about.
Lance Breitstein
For the vast majority of people, to be honest, you shouldn’t even be thinking about the money for the next three years.
That doesn’t mean you should ignore it.
You should practice proper risk management at all times.
Lance’s favorite setups
After 18 months, Lance finally becomes a break‑even trader.
And then, one day, all those reps, all that knowledge, and all that consistency come together…and he becomes profitable. What happens next is history.
Lance goes on to make $46 million in net profits at Trillium.
And many of his trades are triggered by news.
“The skillset for these types of trades entails having the experience to recognize which headlines are material to the price of a stock and the ability to process and act upon the headline very quickly.”
So experience + speed = his positive EV (expected value)
“For intraday trades, I use a two-minute bar intraday chart. I also use three-month and three-year daily charts for a broader perspective. intraday charts drive 70% of my trading decisions”
From what I’ve read, one of Lance’s favorite setups is the exhaustion gap.
An exhaustion gap is essentially a euphoric move that comes with extremely heavy volume on that day.
ou’ll also see it referred to as “trend exhaustion.”
“It is a euphoric move on high volume that culminates with a price gap on the final day. On Day A, the market moves up on high volume. On Day B, the market has another big upmove on high volume. On Day C, the market has a third consecutive large upmove on high volume. Finally, on Day D, there is a wide upside gap at the open on even higher volume. That is the day of pure euphoria when everyone who is short or looking to buy capitulates and buys indiscriminate of the price, the trend exhausts itself, and prices begin to retrace. That is the day I am looking for a major price reversal.”
I intentionally chose to show you a different ticker than the one Lance mentions in the Market Wizards book, because I want you to read the book and I don’t want to spoil it for you.
However, this example I found is just as valid as the others.
And the same thing applies to shorting a trend exhaustion, you can use this setup for longs as well.
In the case of longs, it’s even better, because theoretically the upside is unlimited.
Lance also gives a small hint about how you can increase your expected value.
“I generally want to be trading in the same direction as the price swing triggered by the news. News often increases the probability of a trade working.”
He doesn’t want to fight the trend.
Meaning, if a stock has a significant catalyst that day, he won’t be looking for an exhaustion trade, because that just adds more fuel to the fire.
The smartest move then is either to take advantage and trade with the trend, or to stay away from the moving train.
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Another one of Lance’s favorite setups is capitulation trades.
It’s similar to an exhaustion gap, but in this type of trade you don’t necessarily need to see a gap.
Capitulation trading is about identifying a moment when market participants finally give up and exit their positions aggressively, usually after an extended move.
In a sell‑off, it means holders panic‑sell at almost any price because the pain of holding has become unbearable.
That creates a final burst of heavy supply; once those weak holders have sold, price can stabilize or reverse.
Capitulation can often occurs near a short‑term low (or high), but it is not a guaranteed bottom. (or top)
In my opinion, CAR is an excellent example:
Notice that none of these opportunities are the kind that happen every day.
These are A+type setups, and until these setups that will significantly compound your account show up, you need small base hits/ and, even more important, patience.
You cannot force this type of trades.
Just as Lance himself says:
You can never impose your will on the market. The market doesn’t care if you have a mortgage payment due. It doesn’t care if you want a new car. It doesn’t care if you want to set a new firm record. The market demands you size your trades objectively based upon expected value.
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And finally, I want to leave you with one last quote, where Lance is asked why he succeeded while so many others fail in trading.
“You need a level of intellect to understand the concepts. You need a passion for the job. You need a powerful why. I think for many successful people, their why comes from trauma, whether from their upbringing or something else. Having a powerful why was a huge factor for me.”
Lance Breitstein
The lessons from Lance Breitstein are not about copying his strategy. They are about developing your own edge through repetition, discipline, and deliberate practice.
That is exactly what I try to help traders do inside PRO.
You’ll get access to my swing trading strategy, real-time trade alerts, market scans, and a private Discord community where we focus on finding high-quality setups, managing risk, and staying patient when the market offers nothing worth trading.
If you’re serious about improving your process and want a structured environment to help you stay consistent PRO is the next step.
The yearly plan is currently 49% off, so you can get the full experience while paying less than the monthly rate.
See you inside :)
PS: I highly recommend reading Jack Schwager’s new book.
It’s packed with even more insights and lessons than Lance’s, and on top of that, it includes charts you can reference when the trader explains a concept.
They have personally helped me a lot in my trading career.
Trade Setups of The Week
High Probability Trades for 10-14 August 2026
This week’s PRO report breaks down my full momentum stock watchlist, including the setups I’m watching.
You’ll see my portfolio, my open positions, and the exact stocks I’m targeting.. all based on the same swing trading system.
If you want to trade smarter ,not longer , and get my weekly watchlist with setups, and portfolio breakdowns, this one’s for you.
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“One trade closer to freedom.”
Vladislav