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He Made $100 K In 3 Months Trading After Work

TLDR After-hours trading can be doable for folks with a day job when you keep risk tight and really understand market flow, as Lucas Marin shows by turning about $100k in three months (roughly $250k overall) with after-hours trades and ~5% risk per trade aiming for ~22–26% upside. The talk stresses disciplined sizing, learning from squeezes and halts, and pursuing profitability and consistency over the dream of being a full-time trader, all within a growing ecosystem of tools and platforms expanding into the US.

Key Insights

Set a Sustainable After-Hours Path While Keeping a Full-Time Job

Lucas Marin demonstrates that after hours trading can be viable even with a full time job. The approach focuses on the after hours and premarket windows when movers happen, allowing a disciplined trader to participate without abandoning day job responsibilities. To start, identify your most productive trading window and set a strict schedule to review charts and place selective trades only during those hours. Maintain a steady primary income while you build screen time and learn the specifics of after hours flow and volatility. Build a simple routine around your chosen sessions, and gradually scale as you gain comfort and consistency.

Prioritize Risk Management and Define Per Trade Losses

Risk management is essential, especially for beginners in US markets. Lucas emphasizes risking about 5 percent of the account on a trade to avoid devastating losses from squeezes or halts. A high win rate does not prevent big losses, as seen in experiences with squeezes such as DWAC. Define your maximum loss per trade, establish stop levels, and use disciplined exit rules before entering a trade. Practice until you can quantify your potential loss and expected value before sizing.

Learn the Right Side of the V and Backside Entries for Shorting

A central concept discussed is the right side of the V and exploiting the backside of strong moves for entries. Shorting on the front side is risky because you often do not know where your stop belongs; the right side entry aims to enter on the pullback or second bounce with a defined stop. Watch for turning points, lines of resistance, and a clear risk reward setup where the potential gain justifies the risk. Use this approach to scale into positions and to plan exits if the move fails to continue. Combine this with pre market or after hours flow patterns to improve probability.

Master Exit Discipline with Quick Exits and Daily Chart Guidance

Exiting quickly is crucial to maintain discipline and protect profits. Using a one button exit helps you avoid the mental energy of manually closing a position and reduces the temptation to chase a rebound. Rely on the daily chart to identify resistance levels and to guide decisions about building a position after a breakout. If a stock moves against you, predefined exit rules ensure you preserve capital for the next opportunity. This discipline often separates consistent performers from those who chase every move.

Smart Sizing and Scaling: Avoid Linear Growth and Add to Winners Safely

Sizing was a recurring challenge; keeping the same capital produced almost linear P and L growth and limited upside. A better approach is to adjust position sizes based on risk and timing, enabling you to add to winners when the setup is favorable while keeping risk in check. If a trade moves against you to the stop, you should only risk the money you already earned on the initial move. This mindset allows scaling into positions and achieving bigger gains without blowing up the account. Pair sizing with a disciplined stop and a plan to re enter if timing improves.

Adopt a Long-Term Growth Mindset and Balance Life with Trading

Many successful traders view trading as a marathon rather than a sprint, requiring discipline, health, and mindset. Having a steady income helps absorb losses and keeps you in the game long enough to learn. The goal is profitability and sustainability, not instant wealth, and some traders thrive as part time professionals who still fund travel or other ambitions. Invest in continuous learning, screen time, and building a routine; the journey often spans years before seven figure confidence emerges. This mindset supports consistent performance across market regimes.

Questions & Answers

How did Lucas Marin start trading and move into after-hours trading while holding a full-time job?

Lucas began about 17 years ago at a Brazilian brokerage affiliated with Credit Suisse. After a startup bankruptcy, he moved money offshore to Direct Brokers in 2021, which opened access to US stocks. He looked at highly volatile small-cap plays, used TradingView for screening, and took a quick win in after-hours (buying PETZ for ~$1,000 before the close and seeing ~200% after-hours move). This momentum led him to Tim Sykes and his mentor program, which started his path into after-hours trading while keeping a day job, resulting in roughly $100k in three months.

What is Lucas’s risk management approach for trades, especially after-hours?

He emphasizes disciplined risk management, targeting about 5% risk per trade with defined stops. The idea is to limit potential losses while maintaining the ability to grow, particularly in after-hours where volatility can be extreme. He stresses living in the market, accumulating screen time, and having a side income to avoid chasing big gains.

What is the “right side of the V” concept and why is it important?

The right side of the V refers to entering on the backside of a strong move with a defined stop, rather than guessing the top. This approach helps quantify exact risk, determine where to stop if the move reverses, and allows scaling up when the timing aligns with the move, improving risk-reward dynamics.

What role did KFO/KFO play in his strategy and performance?

KFO (referred to as KEFO in some parts) helped him identify the main profitable trading hours and maintain a high win rate. He used it for about three to four years, competing on a leaderboard when there were fewer traders, which contributed to his development and profitability.

What happened in 2024 and what lessons did he learn from it?

2024 was tough with big losses and a sideways to negative trajectory. He faced fear of the next day, squeezes, and a lack of proper risk management (including not having defined stops). A key incident with LPA (Costa Rican IPO) and other overnight moves highlighted the dangers. The experience led him to reorganize his life around trading, improve risk controls, and focus on timing and session quality rather than chasing quick wins.

What are Black Arrow and the Loka platform?

Black Arrow is the overarching trading approach/brand, and Loka is its US trading platform—the technology provider for Latin America. Loka handles liquidity and ECN fees and is integrated with Brazilian retail flows. It’s positioned to support US equities and futures trading, with plans to go live on S Trader and expand features for traders.

What is the “death candle” pattern and how is it used?

The “death candle” concept, taught by Alexis, describes a rapid two-minute move where buyers lose confidence and a sharp selloff follows. A short with tight risk can be favorable in that context. The trader may enter after touching a trend line and plan to cover on a crack, using a defined risk to guide the trade.

Can trading be done successfully part-time, and what is the overall philosophy on full-time vs. part-time trading?

Yes, it can be successful part-time. The focus is on profitability and discipline, not necessarily quitting a day job. The speaker emphasizes a growth mindset and learning, with trading providing money and freedom while allowing a part-time lifestyle. The long-term view is that trading is a marathon, and it’s acceptable to pursue it part-time while building income stability.

What market-microstructure insights, like the power hour, were mentioned?

The power hour (3–4 p.m.) is highlighted as a critical window when buybacks occur and when clearing firms monitor short-seller exposure, which can lead to squeezes. Being in the market during this period provides deeper insight into flow and microstructure beyond what’s seen online, informing timing and risk management.

Summary of Timestamps

Main idea after hours trading can fit around a full time job as Lucas Marin shows with about one hundred thousand dollars earned in three months and roughly two hundred fifty thousand dollars total. He trades after hours, shares real life chart examples including a meme stock short on BYND, and emphasizes disciplined risk management around five percent per trade with upside in the twenty two to twenty six percent range. This frames after hours trading as a viable path for focused part time traders.

An institutional trading view is presented focusing on market flow and executing large orders rather than just making money. If a trader wants to buy a large chunk such as twenty percent of a stock daily volume they pursue block trades and rely on algorithms that hide the order size. A Brazil example with Yellow shows how a one million share block and a goal of twenty percent of volume pushed the stock up and halted trading, illustrating that extreme cases exist but are rare. The main point is that market flow matters more than pure sizing.

The narrator spent twelve years trading in the Brazilian market with little profits before moving money offshore to Direct Brokers in twenty twenty one. They noticed US small cap moves of one hundred to two hundred percent and chased high risk high reward plays using volatile small caps and biotech style opportunities on TradingView. A PETZ after hours move turned about one thousand dollars into two thousand dollars, spurring deeper study and a mentor program with Tim Sykes that shifted focus to long OTC stocks. From twenty twenty one onward the OTC market began to die, marking a significant shift.

Going full time to pay the bills allowed travel to twenty seven countries in two years funded by trading profits. The trader faced huge squeezes that nearly blew up the account and this prompted a stronger emphasis on risk management and finding the best trading session using KEFO, moving toward a more disciplined professional approach rather than chasing easy wins.

Twenty twenty four was tough with big losses and a sideways to negative trajectory, especially toward the end of the year. The period became a time of self reflection spent in Portugal studying philosophy, recognizing fear that the next day could bring a blow up due to bad risk management such as risking one hundred dollars to lose five thousand. An incident with LPA shorting a Costa Rican IPO when the price rose to six hundred left the speaker ashamed but determined to learn from the mistake.

A core idea is the right side of the V for short entries; entering on the backside of a spike and defining a stop to quantify the possible loss and potential gain. Applying this concept helped scale up and led to earning about one hundred thousand dollars in three months. The emphasis on having a reliable side income shows how psychology matters in trading and supports sustainable performance.

The discussion covers Black Arrow technology and Loka, the main platform for Latin America, with plans to enter the US market. The system handles liquidity and ECN fees and will soon integrate with US equities and futures trading. The lessons include a tool to show pre market risers and after hours movers with AI features and a Kala after hours example of volatility driven by non news activity.

Alex Semis taught that a rapid two minute move can form a death candle signaling fear among buyers and that a tight risk short can work. The speaker built a short after touching a trend line as the price cracked about seventeen to eighteen percent, nearly triggering a stop loss. The lesson is disciplined risk management and using the trend line to locate strong short opportunities.

Exit discipline is essential; a one button exit avoids the mental drain of manual exits and prevents discipline erosion. If a stock can rebound you can still capture future gains instead of fighting the screen every time. The daily chart is used to identify resistance for building a position after a breakout, and the overall message is that trading is a marathon and a mental game, about learning and consistency more than chasing money, with growth extending to life itself.

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