Like in the African bush, the trading game is about situational awareness. As Boyd Varty puts it in “The Lion Tracker’s Guide to Life,” the skilled tracker doesn’t just follow a predetermined path. They read the signs, interpret the subtle cues, and adapt their course accordingly.
This wisdom resonates deeply in markets. It’s not about trying to predict the exact future price of an asset or the precise timing of a market turn—those are fool’s games… Rather, it’s about understanding the terrain we’re navigating— the tell of the tape, the economic landscape, the sentiment shifts, and the policy changes that shape our financial ecosystem.
Just as a lion tracker must be attuned to the rustle of grass, the pattern of tracks, or the distant call of birds, we traders must be sensitive to the whispers of market sentiment, the footprints of institutional money flows, and the echoes of geopolitical events. This trained situational awareness allows us to make informed decisions with a positively skewed expected value, even when the path ahead isn’t crystal clear. And that last part is important because the path ahead is rarely perfectly clear.
In this spirit of situational awareness and team-based tracking, I’m excited to introduce you to a returning member of our Macro Ops pack. Chris, known to many as ChrisDMacro, brings a unique set of skills to our team that will enhance our Collective ability to read the market terrain and track profitable opportunities.
Without further ado, let’s hear from Chris himself:
For many of you, this is the first time we’re meeting. Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Chris, known online as ChrisDMacro.
A few years ago, I was part of Macro Ops, where some of you might remember me as ChrisD. Shortly after the tumultuous 2020 Covid crash, around the time my son was born, I ventured out on my own and founded Pollinate Trading.
Running Pollinate solo was an enlightening experience. It reinforced a crucial lesson: being part of a team is a superpower. Since Alex and I first discussed collaboration in 2018, I’ve recognized Macro Ops as something special. Now, I’m excited to announce my return.
Like Alex, I served in the Marine Corps in my younger years. This experience ingrained in me the power of being a part of a team. Whether in combat or day-to-day operations, the Marine Corps’ success stems from its cohesive team structure. From the combat engineers preparing vital defensive lines to the helicopter pilots executing precise drops, from the administrative staff ensuring timely pay to scout snipers like Alex providing crucial cover – each role is vital.
My expertise lies in systematic trading. I employ frameworks, quantitative analysis, and algorithmic approaches with a structured risk management strategy. Combined with Brandon’s focus on deep value and long-term thinking, and Alex’s macro framework, our diverse skill set allows us to cover more ground and deliver enhanced value collectively. Using the full suite of tools and methods available gives us an analytical edge over those who naively approach the game from a narrow scope.
My trading journey began in 1999 at a proprietary trading firm, immediately following my Marine Corps service. However, my path hasn’t been linear. I’m a self-taught coder and have founded (and sold) technology startups. My career even led me to work for the U.S. State Department in Iraq and Haiti, protecting diplomats and evading rockets while my algorithms operated safely from servers in Chicago and New Jersey.
Today, I reside in Scottsdale, Arizona, with my wife and son – my home team. Over 90% of my trading is automated, with the remaining 10% discretionary. I manage our family investments and collaborate with family offices, managers, and high-net-worth individuals to:
- Automate trading operations
- Expand into diverse strategies
- Enhance risk management
- Implement AI in their business processes
- Apply systematic approaches to discretionary trading
I’m eager to connect with everyone and contribute to the team. You can reach me on Slack as @ChrisDMacro or simply reply to this email. Looking forward to our collaboration!
Your Systematic Operator,
Chris
~~~~~~~~~~
Alex again.
Our long-term goal at MO is to build a small team of 4-6 traders who are some of the best in their respective niches. This is kind of the old-school macro fund model where a team that includes a classical chartist, a fundamental value investor, a currency specialist, a systems/algo trader, and so on…
There are a number of benefits to this approach from a portfolio management standpoint. One is that you get strategy diversification. Various strategies excel in different market regimes and you can tilt-weight your portfolio and focus on the strategies that best align with the current regime.
Another benefit, and this is more specific to MO as a group, is that everybody is different, and we all need to adopt trading strategies that fit our personalities. This is key because what works for me likely won’t work exactly for you. That’s why the whole idea of your typical market newsletter, which just gives you buy and sell signals, is bunk.
Ultimately, everybody’s long-term success in markets comes down to their ability to consistently execute a trading strategy with a definable edge. And if one doesn’t fully understand their system, their edge, or if their approach isn’t aligned with their personality, then there’s zero chance of them executing consistently and they will inevitably fail.
This is why we spend just as much time discussing mental models and theory as we do covering markets and trade setups. We want to give everybody the tools with which you can mix and match and shape to make your own, in a system and framework that works for you.
We plan to do much, much more of this. Bringing Chris on the team will significantly increase our bandwidth and allow for more sharing of ideas and collective growth.
Ultimately, we’re focused on rapid personal evolution, not just in trading but in every area of our lives (health, fitness, meaningful relationships, and helping others), since success and growth in one area tend to overflow and permeate the next.
We’ll be looking to grow our team further over the next 12 months. A number of you have reached out in the past, looking to work with us. The timing wasn’t right then, but if you’re interested, please shoot us an email and connect. We’re looking for right-fit, experienced traders who are maniacally devoted to Learning, Sharing, and Evolving.
I hope all of our US readers enjoyed their Thanksgiving and are spending quality time with family and loved ones.
Thank you for being a part of the MO community.
