It proved that anyone could learn to trade—and become billionaires.

But what they did next nearly destroyed the system forever.

Here’s the untold story of the Turtle Traders🧵:

“Can trading success be taught, or is it natural talent?”

Richard Dennis believed trading was a skill anyone could learn.

His partner, William Eckhardt, thought it required innate ability.

So, they ran the Turtle Trading experiment to settle the debate.Dennis recruited 23 people with no prior trading experience:

- A teacher

- An accountant

- Even a cook

They only got 2 weeks of training.

Dennis then gave them millions to trade.

Dennis taught a simple, rule-based system:

- Trade breakouts above 20-day or 55-day highs

- Risk no more than 2% per trade

- Use stop losses based on volatility

- Focus on highly liquid markets

Trading success is all about discipline.In just 5 years, the Turtles:

- Turned $500k–$2M accounts into $175M in profits

- Earned individual returns exceeding 100% per year

One Turtle, Jerry Parker, built a net worth of $1B+ by sticking to the rules

Dennis named the group after turtles he saw in Singapore.

He believed traders, like turtles, could be grown systematically.

Ironically, the system had a low win rate—40–50%.

But when trades won, they won big.

Many Turtles established their own successful trading firms.

The mentor couldn’t follow the system he’d created.

- Lost 50% of his managed funds in 1987

- His wealth fell from $200M to $10M

- He broke his own rules, over-leveraging risky trades

"Even the best systems fail when discipline is lost.“Unlike his Turtle Traders who had him as a mentor, Dennis had no one to provide emotional support during difficult periods

There was no one to tell Dennis "it's okay to lose money" when he needed reassurance.

The experiment revealed the true secret of trading:

Consistency and discipline > prediction and talent

Dennis famously said:

"You could publish my rules in the newspaper, and no one would follow them."

The strategy’s effectiveness has faded due to:

- High-frequency trading

- Shorter market trends

Their methods are now taught in business schools.

Some traders still thrive by adapting Turtle rules for modern markets.

If you like hit a like And Follow Pandatraders 💸