Michael Nauss is Our Kind of Geek

Off The Charts

When Michael Nauss first sat down at a trading desk, his computer had a keyboard and a screen. But no mouse. And his screen displayed an order book. But no charts. Thus began his career as a scalper working the order book, who paid no attention at all to trends or technical analysis. He was simply trying to find spots to buy ahead of large buyers and flip the position out for a quick couple of ticks. Do this a couple hundred times per trading session and perhaps he’d have a successful day. This was all part of Michael’s journey of learning to walk before he could run. And it is a mantra that sticks with him to this day as he himself continues to learn and helps many others learn the craft of trading. Michael says: “Learning is often about “UN” learning.“ People are frequently drawn to trading by a social media personality or a brokerage advertisement, and they are like moths to the flame of fast riches and early retirement. Then they lose. It is at this point most realize they have to unlearn everything they’ve learned up to now and get back to basics. But this time, they choose to take it slow. Taking it slow is exactly what Michael did during the Pandemic when he built a full online education series, teaching his wife — who knew less than zero about the market and trading — how to trade. Calling it “Back to Basics,” Michael started with the simplest of concepts, and slowly, methodically brought her to trading proficiency. And the whole thing, over a series of many episodes is available for anyone else to learn from. These days, Michael is passionate about systems trading and building uncorrelated return streams that help smooth out his equity returns. Some of his trading is run unemotionally by algorithms he’s designed, backtested, and employed. But he still often trades his systems discretionarily — measuring his human performance against what the system would’ve earned without his override. If he’s outperforming, he steps on the gas. If not — he lets the computer trade for him. Join us in a wide-ranging conversation that covers all this, as well as some cultural differences he’s experienced between American, Canadian, and Chinese traders.