Risk, Emotions, and Profits: Vladislav’s Lessons with VEA

How does it feel when your account grows by dozens of percent in just a few days? Vladislav knows firsthand. In this interview, he shares his journey – from his first steps back in 2008 to today’s experiments with new strategies and automated trading.

He speaks openly about his experiences – the euphoria of quick profits, the weight of losses, and the most essential skill without which trading is impossible: risk management.

Vladislav opens up in his talk with the Trendline team

What’s your name, and how long have you been trading?

My name is Vladislav, and I’ve been trading since the financial crisis of 2008. Back then, all investment instruments were collapsing, and I decided to focus some time on Forex. At first, it was just out of curiosity, but over the years my interest in trading grew - especially after the global “Covid” event. Even before that, stock markets and other investment instruments had become overbought and risky, way beyond reason. That hasn’t stopped to this day - first it was the mania around the “Magnificent Seven,” now it’s all about artificial intelligence. Back in 2021, that motivated me to pay more and more attention to instruments traded in Forex.

How did you find out about Trendline and the Volatility Expert Advisor? 

I found out about Trendline through a social media ad, I think on Instagram. As for the Volatility Expert Advisor, I came across it through the Telegram channel.

What was your initial deposit, and what results have you achieved so far?

My very first deposit in 2008 was $5,000. For testing the robot now, I used €10,000, trading exclusively on gold. The results weren’t linear, so I’ll describe them by time periods:

September 5 – Balance growth of over 43%. (I actually started on the evening of the 4th, but only with setup, tests, and a few trades – mostly test trades against the trend, checking order frequency, etc. Planned losses of about €500.)

September 8 – More than 35% growth compared to the previous day.

September 9 – Over 32% growth compared to the day before, until a stop was hit after an $80 drop (price went $2 below my stop). At that time, I was at work. Loss: just over €12,500. Stopped trading for a few days due to the psychological strain.

September 17 – Took advantage of post-news volatility, around +21%. Withdrew profits down to the deposit size – about €4,200.

September 22–24 – Average of +20% per day. I deliberately didn’t use a stop to avoid the same scenario as on 09.09, but reduced volumes (risk). During the following sell-off down to 3719 on gold, I wasn’t at the computer to close the remaining orders in time – loss of about €4,000.

September 25–26 – Captured sideways moves with the robot, about +15% each day. Stopped the robot every time the trend ended (on small timeframes). Withdrew €3,000.

September 29 – About +29% compared to the previous day. No stop. Volumes and number of orders remained reduced compared to the first three days.

September 30 - At level 3869, the robot was stopped. The 100% Fibonacci levels were passed at impulses 3690/3790 and 3760/3820 (rounding the levels) during the Asian session. After the following sell-off (not calling it a correction, as there were no indications), I ran a test to compare the performance of VTS versus a manually opened position with identical volumes.

Entry price difference – within $1. Both closed at 3800.

Settings: Entry at 20 pips, exit at 110. (Smaller profit targets with this kind of volatility lead to slippage losses – verified on 05.09.)

Result: Around 10% in favor of manual trading. By that point, the account was about +9% compared to the previous day. Robot stopped.

In summary:

• Initial deposit: €10,000;
• Aggressive trading with VTS over 10 days;
• Withdrawn profit: €7,200;
• Losses: over €18,000 in equity;
• Current portfolio value: €15,000;
• VEA total trades: over 8000 long and 340 short positions;
• Manual trades: 1 short position;
• Total profit: €12,200 so far.

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How long did it take you to see your first positive results?

Back in 2008 - I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was about a month. Now, with the robot, it was almost immediate - maybe within the first five minutes. But I should note that this was on a test portfolio, very aggressive, hyper-aggressive even, because my goal was to explore the robot’s limits on a single position.

How did you feel when your account started growing so quickly?

The usual emotions anyone would feel - my greed was satisfied and inflated, dopamine kicked in. In short, I felt uplifted, almost euphoric - happiness.

What will you buy with your profits?

If I’m being ironic about my own greed - I’d say a Mercedes… though I’ll need some time, since it’s quite a big company. Normally, though, the money I earn from trading I put into building a foundation of real assets, with or without passive income. I used to invest in real estate in Sofia, but recently I’ve shifted to land. The stronger and more stable your portfolio of assets, the stronger your psychological foundation will be for trading.

Was it easy to set up the robot?

Overall - yes. Usability is something that can always be improved (after all, I can’t betray my profession). My main challenge is that I’m used to years of a different trading style, so shifting my mindset takes time - it’s harder from a psychological perspective.

Do you use it independently, or along with our analysis?

I’ve been following Raycho’s analysis for over a year, and I can only say I admire the work - so far I’ve never “caught him off guard.” His style is for a more conservative type of trading. At this stage, I’m using the robot aggressively, even though that’s not its intended purpose. I use the analysis more as a reference and confirmation for my decisions on other Forex instruments.

Does it require a lot of your time or attention?

Since I use it for aggressive trading - yes. But the profits are different, too. Whenever I don’t devote enough time because of other commitments, I pay for it with hit stop-losses, closed positions in the red - the usual side effects.

Do you have experience with other robots, and how does VEA compare?

I’m generally skeptical about robots. If I truly had a robot that could make decisions for me and consistently work, I’d never let anyone else have access to it - that would be the Holy Grail. But to buy a robot for €200 and believe it can beat the markets, the banks, the hedge funds with all their resources, information, know-how, brokers, and at least a million highly skilled traders - that’s, frankly, naïve.

Robots of that kind are sold because eventually they stop working. What I like about the Volatility Expert Advisor is that I make the decisions - I’m the one steering the ship. It reduces stress and the tedious work of entering trades, which makes me more efficient and effective. Most importantly, its core logic is based on risk management. For me, that’s the most important aspect of trading.

In my professional work, one of the key things is to manage risk and avoid being blindsided by extraordinary circumstances - avoiding “black swans” (as Nassim Taleb calls them). Overall, I’m genuinely impressed with the effect this robot has had on me. And given that my profession has, over the years, numbed my ability to be impressed, that says a lot.

Would you recommend it to someone who’s considering trying it out?

It depends on the person - their mindset and their knowledge. Without basic trading knowledge, there’s a high chance they’ll blow up their account.

What would you say to someone unsure if they can handle it alone?

First, get educated - to reduce risk and learn how to manage it. If they want, they can find a mentor, but definitely they should try. It’s like sex - theory is nice, but until you actually start, you can’t learn. For beginners, it’s even better - they don’t have the problem of already-formed habits and perceptions.

As Julius Caesar once said: “A fortress always looks impregnable from a distance; that’s why you need to study it up close.” (Quoting from memory.)

Conclusion:

From my limited experience with VTS, I can say that running an aggressive account on gold at these levels means you need to monitor the market constantly. This creates a heavy psychological burden and partly defeats the purpose of using the robot - unless the deposit size is several times larger. In that case, it can be combined with manual trading, which helps ease the strain of handling large volumes.

Going forward, I’d use it as intended - for a conservative account. Gold could still be suitable, provided it enters a prolonged range or makes a significant correction on the daily chart. At the current levels, the risk is simply too high.

I’m convinced that under weaker impulses than those seen in this test, and with the right (aggressive) settings, the robot could outperform manual trading - especially if the profit target is reduced below 100 (this applies only to gold).

With enough time and by avoiding losses early on, the accumulated capital might have led to a result in the range of +500% over this period. Raycho mentioned a case where a deposit grew from €3,000 to €30,000 in a single month. I believe this scenario is possible - but only if the trader has significant experience and is at the terminal non-stop (or benefits from beginner’s luck), combined with one full month of a strong, clear trend without major corrections. Otherwise, no matter how skilled you are, chasing trends on smaller timeframes all month long - while managing pivots, volumes, frequency, and profit targets—will inevitably lead to exhaustion, and that fatigue will show up in the balance.