Michael Marcus: patience for the big trend and the courage to stay with it
Michael Marcus turned a small account into a fortune and became known through Jack Schwager's Market Wizards. His lessons are about patience, about the courage to be big in the right trends, and about the discipline to survive large losses.
Who Michael Marcus is
Michael Marcus is a legendary commodity trader who multiplied a small starting stake enormously over the years. He was mentored, among others, by Ed Seykota. Through Schwager's Market Wizards, his story became one of the best-known examples of consistent trend-following trading.
Waiting for the big moves
Marcus' edge lay in recognising the few truly large trends and being big enough in them. Most of the time little happens; the profit comes from a handful of moves. Having the patience to wait until a real opportunity is there, instead of being constantly active, was at the core of his success.
Position sizing decides
On the right trades, the size of the position makes the difference. At the same time, Marcus stresses sizing only large enough that you can still sleep soundly at night. The art lies in the balance: large enough to profit from the trend, small enough to keep your nerve.
Learning from large losses
Marcus also suffered painful losses along the way, and he drew his risk discipline from them. The lesson: losses are part of the game, but they must not knock you out of it. Surviving to catch the next big trend is more important than any single trade.
What traders learn from him
Marcus' principles fit FlowTrader's focus: patience for the genuinely good opportunities, discipline in sizing, and an honest reckoning with losses. The Discipline Score rewards patiently waiting for clean setups rather than honouring frantic activity.
Common questions about Michael Marcus
Michael Marcus is a legendary commodity trader who multiplied a small account enormously and was mentored by Ed Seykota. Through Jack Schwager's Market Wizards he became one of the best-known examples of patient trend-following trading with consistent risk discipline.
To wait for the few big moves and then be large enough in them, without over-leveraging. Most of the time little happens; the profit comes from a handful of trends. Patience and balanced position sizing matter more than constant activity.
Because the genuinely profitable opportunities are rare. Wanting to trade all the time leads to too many mediocre trades and may cause you to miss the few big ones. Marcus' example shows that waiting for the right setups often pays off more than uninterrupted activity.