Max Profit-Sharing Trader Interview: Just One Step Away from Profit Sharing—Why Did He Cut His Position in Half Instead?

Exclusive Interview with a Max Profit-Sharing Trader: Just One Step from Profit Share—Why Did He Cut His Position in Half Instead?

More than a month after launch, EagleTrader Max mode welcomed its first batch of profit-sharing traders! Facing strict risk controls that once felt 'somewhat difficult,' the first successful traders proved with results: Max rules were never meant to set limits, but to help traders kick those bad habits of acting on impulse.

How hard are these bad habits to break? Zhao Hanxuan, the first guest in the EagleTrader Max profit-sharing trader interview series, may be the most qualified to speak.

Unlike the 'glamorous successful trader' many people imagine, he admits that his entire trading career to date is still in a loss.

However, it was precisely in the process of participating in Max mode that he did something he had never managed to do in the past three years

So how did a trader still 'on the road to recovery' manage to obtain $1789 in profit share smoothly under the tempering of Max mode's rules?

The Beginning of Trading

Zhao Hanxuan's first exposure to trading began with ETFs.

After switching to domestic futures in 2023, chasing rallies and selling off declines, frequent trading—these typical beginner problems in hindsight—he had experienced almost all of them.

He later shifted to overseas futures trading, and his losses further expanded.

In the interview, he did not avoid his past.

He said that even now, if his entire trading career is calculated as a whole, the cumulative result is still a loss, with losses of about $70,000.

The period that left the deepest impression on him occurred in last year's gold market.

From January to around Qingming, he kept trying to pick the top and short against the trend.

But looking back now, gold was actually gathering strength for a subsequent rally during that period, yet at the time he had already become fixated on the 'top.'

As the market continued to surge, he kept adding to his short positions.

In just a few months, he accumulated losses of about $50,000, accounting for a large part of the losses across his entire trading career.

The Price of Growth Is a Blown-Up Account

He still remembers one trade before Qingming very clearly.

At the time, he still judged that the market would move down, but because his position was too heavy, his account was blown out just before dawn.

As it happened, the point where his account was blown out was almost exactly near the day's market high.

Right after he was forcibly liquidated and left the market, gold began to move down as expected, and subsequently formed a one-sided move of more than $100.

The most painful part is precisely this: the market finally did move according to his judgment, but the trade still ended in failure.

The problem was no longer just direction, but position size and risk control, which left him no chance to wait until his judgment was realized.

He later summarized this experience into a simple principle: learn to wait.

In the past, when he first started trading, he wanted to exit with a profit of 1–3 points, and rarely truly held a move of more than 10 points.

Now, although he still mainly trades intraday, he pays more attention to the risk-reward ratio, usually handling trades with an idea of about 1:2.

Position management also became a red line he was especially wary of afterward.

He mentioned in the interview that the blow-up made him fully realize that even if the direction is ultimately judged correctly, if risk is exposed to a level beyond what he can bear, the result is still the loss of all principal.

So afterward, he often reminded himself: do not do things beyond your capabilities.

Starting to Make Plans Again

Zhao Hanxuan had actually previously participated in another EagleTrader mode, but failed to pass.

Looking back at the review, he attributed the failure to: adding to positions with floating losses and not trading according to plan.

Therefore, before entering Max this time, he first set a new process for himself:

Before the market opens every day, first write an analysis of the previous day's market and the day's market outlook;

Plan in advance the long and short levels and trading strategies he might focus on that day;

After the close, write another review report, recording clearly why he entered and exited each trade.

He said that this time he basically followed this discipline, and ultimately received the profit share.

Of course, there were also times when he lost control during the process.

After two consecutive profitable days, one day he 'got lazy' and did not make a serious plan, and his account subsequently suffered a clear drawdown, with the maximum drawdown once exceeding 2%.

But this time, he did not stay in the market and tough it out as he had in the past.

After decisively closing the position with a stop-loss, he chose to leave the screen for four or five hours, calm himself down, and review and analyze the market before deciding on his next move.

Approaching the target, he reduced his position instead

When the trade reached a profit of about 5.5%, Zhao Hanxuan said his psychological pressure began to increase noticeably.

At that time, he was already very close to the first 6% profit-share target. In the past, this would definitely have been the dangerous moment most likely to make him get carried away and want to 'push for one more run.'

But he made a completely opposite choice.

He had originally been trading 0.2 lots, and with the target almost in sight, he voluntarily cut his position directly in half to 0.1 lots.

After that, he kept cautiously maintaining a smaller position until he smoothly crossed the 6% threshold.

The moment the target was reached, he immediately stopped trading and did not place another order.

This almost 'conservative' choice precisely reflects his transformation after suffering a major loss: the closer profits got to the finish line, the less he thought about 'how much more can I earn' and the more he thought about how to steadily protect the gains already in hand.

The hardest thing to control is oneself

When talking about what is hardest to control in trading, he almost said 'the market' at first, then immediately corrected himself: 'It's definitely oneself.'

Because the market itself has no right or wrong; the only thing a trader can do is adjust their own behavior according to market changes.

The moments when he is most likely to lose discipline are often after his first two trades have been stopped out.

Especially when he has just been stopped out and the market immediately surges in the original direction, that unwillingness of 'I clearly read it right just now—why did it hit me first?' rushes up and tempts him to immediately jump in and trade revengefully.

Zhao Hanxuan calls this state FOMO (fear of missing out), and it is an emotion he still deliberately works to control to this day.

To this end, he set an iron rule for himself: if there are more than three stop-losses in a day, he resolutely stops opening positions.

No matter how wildly the market later surges or plunges, it has nothing to do with him.

What if he really cannot control it? His answer is even more direct: 'Turn off the computer.' Cut off the possibility of continuing to trade in a physical way.

'People always talk about overcoming human nature, but human nature itself is actually very hard to truly overcome.

In the end, trading is not only about facing the market, but also one's own personality and weaknesses.'

Discipline above results

After a year of refinement, Zhao Hanxuan has developed a relatively fixed trading system; the main changes are in how he handles take-profit, while his stop-loss principles remain unshakable.

Compared with three years ago, he has another very interesting change: he talks less.

In the past, before the market had played out, he liked to share his judgments with friends in advance; if he was right, he would also enjoy others' praise.

But over time, he found that this kind of excessive expression made him blindly optimistic and further affected his execution.

Now, he prefers to let the market play out first and then look at the result.

When we asked him, 'What do you value most now when judging whether a trade was done well?', his answer was just one word: discipline.

'Even if it ultimately ends in a loss, as long as the entire process was within the plan, it is a good trade.'

First Max profit share

When talking about why he chose EagleTrader Max, Zhao Hanxuan said the reason was simple: profit sharing was faster, and the overall cost-performance was also high.

But after actually receiving the profit share, what he valued was not the return itself, but the affirmation this result gave to his trading system, and a 'reward' for his strict adherence to discipline during this period.

After receiving the profit share, what he most wanted to continue improving was still discipline.

Because he is very clear that it is impossible for him to never make mistakes; all he can do is reduce the mistakes he knows should not happen.

At the end of the interview, we asked him to leave a piece of advice for novice traders.

He said, 'Before preparing to open a trade, don't first think about how much money you can make; instead, first assume that your judgment is wrong.

If this trade ultimately hits a stop-loss, can you accept this loss? If you can accept it, then open the trade; if you can't accept it, give it up immediately.'

Receiving the first profit share from EagleTrader Max was just a transitional comma for Zhao Hanxuan.

Watching him go from blindly chasing highs and trading frequently in the past to now respecting risk and executing according to plan, we see not only one trader's breakthrough, but also a microcosm of countless ordinary people who have struggled in the market and ultimately chosen to make peace with themselves.

The road of trading is still long, but this time, Zhao Hanxuan has an extra pass in his hand called 'discipline.'

And this is only the beginning!