I Wasted Years on Complex Indicators—Turns Out, My 2-Line Trading System Worked Better (and Finally Made Me Profitable)

 

Let me guess.

You’re overwhelmed by:

• RSI crossovers

• MACD divergences

• Bollinger bands squeezing into Fibonacci retracements

• And that YouTube guy with 6 monitors and 13 indicators telling you when not to trade

I was that guy.

I thought complexity = edge.
I thought the more tools I used, the more control I had.
But all I got was analysis paralysis, decision fatigue, and more losing trades than I care to admit.

Then I did something radical:
I deleted everything.
And I asked myself: How simple can a trading system actually be and still work?

What I discovered changed my trading life.

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❌ The Complexity Trap: Why Most Traders Fail

Here's the dirty little secret nobody tells you:

Most people aren’t losing because their system is bad. They’re losing because their system is too complicated to follow.

Think about it:

• You miss a confirmation candle

• You second-guess your signal

• You act too late or too early

• You override the plan because the chart “feels weird today”

Sound familiar?

The problem isn’t your edge.
It’s your overthinking.

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🧠 My “Dumb” 2-Line Trading System That Finally Worked

After years of losing and tweaking and “optimizing,” I tried this:

• Chart: 1-hour candles

• Indicator 1: 20-period EMA (fast)

• Indicator 2: 50-period EMA (slow)

Rules:

• When 20 EMA crosses above 50 EMA → Buy

• When 20 EMA crosses below 50 EMA → Exit

• Stop loss: Below last swing low

• Position size: Risk no more than 1% of account

That’s it.

No divergence. No confirmation candle. No 17-step checklist.

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📊 Results After 90 Days of Trading It (Real Money, Small Size):

• Win rate: 57%

• Avg reward/risk: 1.8:1

• Net gain: +18.6%

• Time spent per day: ~15 minutes

• Stress level: Practically zero

Did it catch every move? No.
Did it avoid emotional trades and keep me consistent? Absolutely.

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🎯 Why Simple Works (Even If Your Brain Doesn’t Like It)

Your brain craves complexity because it feels safer.
But the market punishes indecision, not simplicity.

Here’s why my simple system finally clicked:

1. Clear, objective rules

2. No second-guessing entries

3. Fast feedback loop = confidence builds

4. Less screen time = fewer impulse trades

The more rules I removed, the more profitable I became.

It felt like cheating.

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🚀 Want to Try It? Here's How to Build Your Own Simple System:

You don’t need to copy mine. You need one that you can trust.

Try this 3-step challenge:

1. Pick 1 chart timeframe (like 1H or 4H)

2. Use only 1–2 indicators (trend or price action)

3. Write down 2 entry rules, 1 exit rule, and 1 stop rule

Then trade it—paper or small size—for 30 days without changing anything.
Track every trade. Emotion. Mistake. Missed signal. All of it.

You’ll either learn that it works—or how you work under pressure.

Both are wins.

How do I get started with the Pine script: Starting Guide for Pine Script 

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⚠️ Final Truth: Complicated Doesn’t Make You Smart—Consistency Does

I’ve met traders with PhDs in finance who still blow up accounts.
And I’ve met teenagers with $1K accounts and 1 strategy making 5% a month.

You don’t need more indicators. You need fewer excuses.

Simple is not easy.
But simple is repeatable.
And repeatable is how you win.