549: Why I Trade 25 Strategies After 17 Years of Trading (Dave Mabe)

549: Why I Trade 25 Strategies After 17 Years of Trading (Dave Mabe)

Author: Etienne Crete March 2, 2026 Duration: 25:58

In episode 549 of the Desire To Trade Podcast, you will be listening to an interview with Dave Mabe, who's been trading for more than 20 years, sharing how nearly quitting during a massive drawdown pushed him to rethink everything about how he trades. What started as one working idea turned into 25 fully automated strategies running every day. He also dives into the hardest lesson of his career—trading through a brutal drawdown—and how it forced him to build a system for creating new strategies.

The video is also available for you to watch on YouTube.

>> Watch the video recording!

Topics Covered In This Episode

  • 00:00 Introduction
  • 00:37 Who is Dave Mabe?
  • 01:06 Fully automated trading vs manual execution
  • 01:40 How Dave started trading
  • 04:04 The problem with learning from intuition-based traders
  • 05:50 Can you really make money with discretionary trading?
  • 06:45 First automated strategy: success or failure?
  • 09:28 Do algo traders struggle with emotions too?
  • 11:09 Is coding required for automated trading in 2026?
  • 12:13 Why backtests look great but live trading fails
  • 15:48 How much variance between backtest and live is acceptable?
  • 16:45 What separates traders who quit from those who last 20 years
  • 19:51 Generating new trading strategies consistently
  • 23:30 Is there a limit to how many strategies you can run?
  • 24:46 Where to find Dave Mabe and his free backtesting course (link below)

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Hosted by Etienne Crete, the Desire To Trade Podcast | Forex Trading & Interviews with Highly Successful Traders is a deep and practical resource for anyone serious about the foreign exchange market. This isn't about hype or quick tips; it's a focused exploration of the mindset, strategies, and daily habits that separate consistently profitable traders from the rest. Each episode features candid conversations with proven traders from diverse backgrounds, dissecting their real-world experiences, toughest losses, and most valuable breakthroughs. You'll hear detailed discussions on analysis techniques, risk management psychology, and building a sustainable trading business. Etienne guides these interviews with a clear purpose: to extract actionable lessons you can apply directly to your own charts and decision-making process. The podcast operates from a core belief that trading mastery is a skill built through education and disciplined practice, leading to greater independence. Whether you're refining your system or just starting out, these conversations provide the nuanced insights and hard-won wisdom rarely found in textbooks or online forums. Tune in for a straightforward, no-fluff dialogue about what it truly takes to navigate the markets with more confidence and control.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

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