★★★★★
"Kurt's ability to code trading strategies is remarkable. Stress-free trading. My account is growing — which is amazing given the economic environment."
20+ years trading · computer engineer · system builder
Hi, I'm Kurt.
I'm obsessed
with the edge.
The systematic, computer-tested approach behind RelaxedTrader’s rules-based swing-trading strategies.
I build computer-tested, rules-based trading strategies — with the same discipline professional quant funds rely on — and share them with traders who are serious about making their money work harder without working harder themselves.
20+
Years trading & coding
1,000+
Ideas back-tested
10+yr
Live track record
1,873
Back-tested trades
"If you can't test it, you shouldn't trade it."
— Kurt's trading philosophy
The origin story
From signal processing
to systematic trading.
In 2006, I graduated from grad school in Boston and went to work as a computer engineer with the U.S. Navy. The work was genuinely stimulating — I spent my days working with signal processing and adaptive algorithms applied to real-world data problems. But I realized quickly that sitting behind that desk for 30 years wasn't the life I wanted. I needed my money to work harder, not just my hours.
Like a lot of traders in that era, the Great Recession of 2008 hit me hard. I lost a significant portion of my portfolio relying on gut feelings, cycle theories, and trusting the financial pundits on television. It was humbling — and expensive.
Then came the moment that changed everything. It was the middle of the night in the winter of 2008. I was staring at a market chart when it suddenly clicked: the stock market is a time-varying discrete data series — exactly like the satellite signals I processed every day at work. The same mathematical tools I used to find patterns in noise could find real, repeatable edges in market data.
I grabbed my engineering textbooks, fired up my computer, and research became an after-work obsession. Within a few years I was managing accounts for my parents and close friends — all while keeping my day job. That constraint turned out to be a feature: it forced me to build strategies that only required checking closing prices after the market close. No intraday watching. No screen-staring.
The journey
2006
Grad school → Navy computer engineering
Signal processing and adaptive algorithms. Learned how to find repeatable patterns in complex, noisy data — skills that would later transform my trading.
2008
The Great Recession — and the breakthrough
Lost real money relying on subjective methods. Then realized at 2am that market price data is mathematically identical to the signal data I processed at work. Everything changed.
2010–2016
Building, testing, and managing accounts
Spent nights and weekends coding and back-testing over 1,000 trading ideas. Most failed. The ones that survived became real strategies — including the first version of Slugger.
2016 → Present
RelaxedTrader — teaching the systematic edge
Built RelaxedTrader to share what 20+ years of trading and engineering taught me: systematic, computer-tested strategies consistently outperform discretionary trading.
The insight — markets as signal data
Satellite signal
↕ same mathematical structure
SPY daily price
↕ same mathematical structure
Filtered signal
The realization — 2am, winter 2008
"The same adaptive algorithms I used to extract signals from noise at work could find repeatable, exploitable edges in market data. I just needed to apply the right tools to the right problem."
The engineering approach
Markets are data.
Data has patterns.
Most traders approach the market as if it's a living creature that must be interpreted subjectively. My engineering background gave me a different lens: the market is a time series — and time series analysis has a century of rigorous mathematical tooling behind it.
The same signal processing techniques used in aerospace, communications, and defense can be applied to extract repeatable, statistically significant patterns from market data. The key is knowing the difference between real signal and noise — and having the discipline to only trade what you can prove.
After 20+ years of testing over 1,000 trading ideas, I can tell you this: most popular trading methods have never been tested and don't hold up under statistical scrutiny. But the ones that do? They're extraordinarily powerful — and they can compound quietly while you live your life.
That's the Relaxed Trader philosophy. Not trading less. Trading smarter, with proof.
And one thing I want to be clear about, because it matters: I'm not a registered financial advisor, and RelaxedTrader isn't an advisory service. I build, test, and publish rules-based systems — the same information for every subscriber, never tailored to your account. What you do with them is always your decision, ideally made with your own licensed advisors.
Trading philosophy
The principles I trade by —
and teach.
These aren't opinions. They're conclusions from 20+ years of building, testing, and trading systematic strategies through bull markets, bear markets, crashes, and recoveries. Every one is grounded in back-tested data.
If you can't test it, don't trade it
Every strategy must be back-tested on historical data before a dollar is risked. Opinions, patterns, and gut feelings are not edges. Statistical proof is.
The market is smarter than any one person
Collectively, the market incorporates more information than any individual. Computer-tested systems consistently outperform even the sharpest discretionary traders over time.
Simplicity outperforms complexity
The most robust trading systems use a small number of rules with large tolerances. Complex parameter stacks that fit historical data perfectly are a warning sign, not a feature.
Risk management is non-negotiable
Position sizing, drawdown limits, and defined exit rules are the foundation. A strategy without risk management isn't a strategy — it's speculation.
Treat trading like a business
Hobbies don't compound. Businesses do. Every trading decision should have a documented rationale, a measurable edge, and a process for evaluation.
Freedom is the goal — not screen time
A strategy that requires constant monitoring is a second job. The entire point of systematic trading is to reclaim your time.
A note on no leverage, no options, no margin
"Slugger and Switch-Hitter — the membership systems — are built without options, margin, or leverage of any kind. The math of compounding works powerfully enough on its own. Adding leverage multiplies both gains and losses, and in my experience it's the fastest way for disciplined traders to become undisciplined ones. (A few Strategy Store systems trade futures, where margin is inherent to the instrument — every product page says so plainly.)"
— This isn't timidity. It's how you stay in the game long enough for compounding to do its work.
Areas of expertise
What I actually know.
Signal Processing & Adaptive Algorithms
Using techniques from signal processing to identify real, repeatable patterns in market data while filtering out statistical noise.
Navy / engineering background
Statistical Analysis & Probability Theory
Every system is evaluated through a rigorous statistical lens — win rates, profit factors, R², Sharpe ratios, and out-of-sample testing. No cherry-picked results.
20+ years of application
EasyLanguage System Design
Deep expertise in TradeStation's EasyLanguage — from simple entry/exit rules to complex adaptive algorithms with dynamic position sizing.
1,000+ strategies coded
Back-Testing Methodology
Proper back-testing requires large datasets, realistic commission and slippage assumptions, out-of-sample validation, and curve-fitting resistance.
39-year datasets
Risk Management & Position Sizing
Volatility-adaptive position sizing, defined maximum drawdown parameters, and systematic exit rules — built into every strategy from the first line of code.
Core to every system
Trading Psychology & Mindset
Systematic trading solves many behavioral problems, but not all. Understanding how to follow a system through a drawdown — without overriding it — is a skill.
The often-overlooked edge
Is this for you?
I built RelaxedTrader for a specific trader.
Not everyone. The traders I've helped most consistently share a few traits — and a few things they've had to leave behind.
✓ You're in the right place if…
- You're ready to treat trading as a business — with documented processes and measurable results
- You're skeptical of TV pundits and anyone who can't show you a back-test
- You're after long-term compounding — not excitement or action
- You're curious and scientifically minded — you want to understand why a strategy works
- You're willing to take responsibility for past results and commit to a better process
- You want a system that runs on schedule while you travel, work, or spend time with family
→ You're ready to make the shift if…
- You've been trading discretionarily and know deep down it isn't working consistently
- You've tried following stock tips or chat room alerts — and found they don't compound
- You've experienced the emotional exhaustion of watching positions all day
- You've bought trading courses that promised an edge but couldn't show you a back-test
- You want more free time and less anxiety without sacrificing financial growth
- You're within reach of the trading results you want — you just need the right framework
What traders say
From the people who made the switch.
★★★★★
"Looking back, I can't believe I used to trade without a strategy. I lost so much money thinking that I was smarter than the market. Kurt showed me the true value of testing my ideas before using them in the real world."
★★★★★
"Kurt's research and computerized testing has given me consistent high-probability trades. You've shown me what really makes money in the stock market and I couldn't be more grateful."
Ready to start?
Let's build your systematic edge.
Whether you want done-for-you signals or the EasyLanguage source code to run your own strategies in TradeStation or MultiCharts, RelaxedTrader has a path for you.
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The 3-Line SPY system — full rules, the EasyLanguage code, and a fully disclaimed multi-decade back-test. Plus strategy write-ups and a monthly note on how Slugger and Switch-Hitter are performing.