15 ans de trading : ce qui rend VRAIMENT rentable | Romain Bailleul

Summary

Romain Bailleul, a trader with 15 years of experience, discusses why he aims to trade consistently rather than spectacularly. He says a trader may become profitable within a year, but developing consistency takes longer. He estimates it took him about four years to understand his own behavior, adapt to market conditions, and avoid mistakes that could damage an account.

He distinguishes profitability—earning positive returns—from regularity, where results are not merely the product of a lucky streak.

Bailleul argues that trading capital is not the only constraint on earning a living from trading. Traders also need sufficient personal savings or other income to cover living expenses, so they are not pressured to withdraw money from trading every month. As an example, he describes a trader with €10,000 risking $500 per trade—enough for 20 stop-outs—who might make several thousand euros in a week during a favorable period. He presents this as a possibility, not a dependable income expectation.

Trading approach and risk management

• Bailleul trades mainly US indices and limits himself to two positions per session. If he reaches a take-profit, he stops for the day; otherwise, he allows himself up to two stop-losses.
• He favors trading around the US market open, roughly 15:30–17:00/17:35 European time, and after the Wall Street lunch period, roughly 19:00–22:00.
• He emphasizes risk/reward over percentage returns alone. For example, making 10% while risking 20% is poor, while making 1% while risking 0.01% would be excellent.
• His stated benchmark is about 2–3% per month on real capital. He also targets 4R per month, which he equates to about 2%. These are personal benchmarks, not guarantees.
• To reduce emotional pressure from visible profit-and-loss figures, he suggests closing or minimizing the trading platform after entering a position and focusing on the charts instead.
• He cautions beginners against starting on the Nasdaq and suggests first gaining experience on comparatively easier indices. He cites the CAC 40 as his own starting point.
• He uses market news to understand context and adjust exposure, stop distances, or position size during volatile periods, rather than necessarily trading directly off headlines. He notes that geopolitical and political news can cause sharp moves, giving a possible 300-point move in the Dow Jones as an example.
• He considers macroeconomic analysis more relevant to swing or longer-term trading than to very short-term scalping.

Tools and preparation

• Bailleul uses volume profile, reviewing the previous week’s and previous day’s profiles to identify price levels where buyers and sellers contested, one side took control, or the market appeared balanced.
• He describes volume profile as a supplement to his approach. Its accuracy is asset- and platform-specific: futures volume does not capture all index activity, including options, so TradingView’s profile should be treated as an estimate. He considers it adequate for an initial analysis.
• He prefers footprint charts when mastered but says volume profile is easier for beginners. In the comparison discussed, he also favors VWAP over moving averages.
• His morning preparation includes reviewing news and the prior session, assessing trades taken or missed, and planning the coming session.
• He says technical analysis can be sufficient for intraday trading, while macroeconomic context is more important for medium- and long-term investing.

Prop firms and platforms

Bailleul says it is possible to earn a living through proprietary trading firms, but describes it as requiring careful management of firm rules, funded accounts, and payouts. He discusses using several firms and account-copying software, while noting that traders may lose accounts and need to replace them.

• The host’s promotional segment describes Kraken Prop as having no consistency or news-trading rules, a drawdown rule, accounts up to $200,000, a first account costing $20, and payouts within 48 hours. These are promotional claims made in the segment.
• Bailleul expresses a historical preference for Topstep, says it pays well, and favors it over Lucid on ethical grounds. He recounts a student’s $13,000 in winnings and alleges that Lucid’s terms mean a trader may forfeit winnings upon moving to a live account.
• He favors Alpha Futures, which he says paid him quickly and with which he has a partnership. He notes that firm rules and offerings can change over time.
• He mentions using Sincere Trade to copy trades across multiple prop firms, at a stated cost of $100 per month for more than two firms. Firms named include Apex, Topstep, Tradify/TradiFire, My Funded Futures, Lucid, and Alpha Futures.

Assets and instruments mentioned

• Indices: Nasdaq, S&P 500, Dow Jones, DAX, CAC 40
• Stocks: US and French stocks, including stocks eligible for a French PEA
• Other markets: Forex and US index futures
• Tools and indicators: Volume profile, footprint, VWAP, moving averages, RSI, MACD, order book, cumulative delta, and ICT-related methods
• Other references: Ichimoku and harmonic patterns, mentioned as past trading fads

Disclosures and cautions

• The host includes a Kraken Prop promotional segment with a discount link or code.
• Bailleul says he is partnered with Alpha Futures and reports having recently received a payout from it. He also operates a trading school, Live Stream Trader.
• Bailleul says trading publicly affected his decisions and results: he sometimes took more aggressive trades or hesitated because he felt watched. He says his results improved after returning to private trading.
• No explicit “not financial advice” disclaimer appears in the subtitles.

Presenters and sources

• Presenters: Louis (host) and Romain Bailleul (whose surname is also rendered as “Bayol” in the subtitles).
• Other people and sources mentioned: Gérard Sanier, a former Crédit Agricole chief analyst and Bailleul’s technical-analysis mentor; José Collado, whom Bailleul credits with personal guidance and entrusting him with capital; BreakoutTV; and the prop firms and platforms listed above.