This past week we hit over 20,000% in our cumulative time-weighted return since our official trade account opened in October of 2024.

How did we do it?

In our first blog post, we broadly discussed what StoryTrading is and our 4-pillar approach to trading, but at the root of it all is our core philosophy that markets are efficient. This statement is extremely controversial in the world of finance. Many traders believe in market efficiency, but most do not. Fundamental investors in particular absolutely do not, and are often stupefied by our stance. Others wonder how opportunity can possibly exist in markets if they are efficient, adamant that all opportunities are created by inefficiency.

To the contrary!

All the best opportunities are precisely due to efficient markets. Efficient markets are what make everything about StoryTrading possible. They create the reality that there is a story behind every trade, a story behind every chart, a story behind every significant move in a stock.

And why is that important? Because if, at the current market price, a stock is factoring in all available information, then it’s actually easier to predict what comes next. There is only one variable – a delta of information. That is, a change in information. We call that a catalyst; the first pillar in our 4-pillar trading methodology. And if markets are efficient, then when you have a delta in information, you get a delta in price. RAPIDLY.

The magic of our process is predicting which direction that rapid response will go (usually in hours, sometimes days) and by what magnitude. This is made possible because we strive to understand the story behind the trade, driven by our unwavering belief in efficient markets. If you respect all market participants and humble yourself to the reality that the market is always right, then you will uncover why a stock is trading where it is, why a stock is “undervalued,” and why a stock is “overvalued.” You will understand historical price movements because every major move has an understandable and discoverable reason behind it.

By removing your ego, humbling yourself, and submitting to the truth of efficient markets, you begin to understand why a stock is trading where it is, and that is the most lucrative superpower in the stock market.

Market Efficiency Defined
Before we proceed, let’s define efficient markets. Some will tell you that a market is only efficient if a stock is trading at its “fair value.” But this is an impossible thesis to ever test—a folly dreamed up by the most egotistical of market participants. Why? Because depending on who’s looking and what assumptions they make, it is impossible to determine a single fair value. Any stock can have an infinite number of fair values based on perspective. As a result, no one can ever truly prove whether the market is efficient or inefficient. The argument is flawed from the start.

So what’s a better definition of efficiency? Well the most obvious one. Every participant has the access and the ability to do what they want based on the information available to them. We are blessed to live in a technologically-advanced generation where everyone has an app in their hand with unfettered access and the ability to act on their wishes with no barriers. The only exception to this? Short squeezes, margin-call selling, and extended hours trading. Why? Because during these times, market participants do not have access or the ability to do what they want. Brokers force them to sell stock, or buy to cover a short, or they may not have trading access in extended hours based on the limitations of their broker. Outside of these scenarios, we believe markets are efficient.

And this is amazing. It means opportunity. Big opportunity. It means that every single day, when there is a delta of information, you will see a delta in price rapidly – often within hours, sometimes within days. These are the rapid re-ratings that StoryTrading targets using our 4-pillar process.

An Example
Let’s circle back to the idea that the last market price is the correct price. Think about fundamental investors who categorize stocks as “undervalued” or “overvalued.” What do they do? They might sit in an “undervalued” stock for years. They might avoid or short an “overvalued” stock for years. In the end, they might be right—or they might be wrong.

How does a StoryTrader approach it instead?

They study the chart, they study the history of the upswings and the downswings. They study the opinons of all market partcipants. What’s the fundamental investor say? What’s the sentiment-trader say? What’s the headline trader say?

Instead of assuming the market is wrong, we seek to understand why the market is pricing the stock the way it is. If a stock is trading at a “discount,” there is a reason. We find that reason. Others may disagree with that reasoning, but we are not here to be right. We are here to make money.

And to make money in this game, you need to understand what other people think. Why? Because you don’t sell your stock to a theoretical entity—you sell it to another human being. And that human values the asset based on a wide range of factors, including sentiment. The “right price” is simply the price someone else is willing to pay.

When you humble yourself and respect the market, you begin to understand the collective mindset. Maybe a stock is “undervalued” because the market doesn’t trust the CEO. The aggregate opinion is that the CEO cannot execute. So the stock trades below fundamental value. That is not inefficiency—that is efficiency at its finest. The market is pricing in collective belief.

Now here’s where it gets powerful.

When news hits that the CEO is being replaced, the stock can explode within hours. StoryTraders are ready for that move because we understood why the stock was trading where it was. When the catalyst hits, we know how to interpret its impact on fundamentals and sentiment, and then we triangulate with the chart to derive the price target for the day.

So what sounds better? Waiting months or years for the market to “realize” you were right? Or understanding the market, respecting it, and positioning yourself to predict what happens next within hours or days?

That is what we do every single day in our community. We conduct deep research in our Discord to understand the story behind the trade. We understand why stocks are trading where they are. Then we build our watchlist and wait for a catalyst—a delta in information that addresses a key concern. And when it hits, we act.

Many of our top daily picks generate 10–30% returns in a single day. That’s the result of our belief in efficient markets and our respect for all market participants. That’s how we achieved 667% returns in 2025, 83% so far in 2026, and over 20,000% in the past 18 months since launching our official Discord trade account.

Still not convinced? We have multiple ways to prove that markets are efficient—and we’ll cover that in future posts.

For now, you have a choice. Continue believing that only you are right and the market is wrong—or humble yourself to the wisdom of the market and supercharge your returns.

We love StoryTrading. We believe in efficient markets. And most of all, we love making big money as a result of that philosophy.

If you want to elevate your game and experience this process firsthand, you can join us here.