Dear Fellow Traders and Community Members,

As I sit here reflecting on the whirlwind of markets at the start of this year, I feel compelled to share a message that captures the spirit we have built together inside the Institut de Recherche Financière Alpha Community. Many of you know me as a trader who has spent decades in the trenches, navigating everything from the dot-com bubble to the financial crisis of 2008, and now this latest turbulence stirred up by President Trump’s trade war rhetoric. The headlines shout tariffs, markets swing like autumn leaves in a storm, and uncertainty weighs heavy. But let me remind you: it is in times like this that true traders are forged.

Trading is not just about charts and algorithms. It is a journey of mindset and discipline. As I often say, markets bottom in fear and they top in euphoria. Our job is not to get carried away by either. When the VIX spikes and blue-chip names like Caterpillar and Intel take hits from tariff jitters, we do not panic. Volatility is not our enemy; it is our classroom. Every tick up and down is a lesson in patience, resilience, and perspective.

Now, let me put on the professor’s hat for a moment. The trade war has injected plenty of uncertainty, especially into sectors like manufacturing and tech. We have seen the Dow swing 600 points down in one session, only to claw back half the next day. That is the classic whipsaw designed to punish the emotional and reward the prepared. How do we respond? By sticking to fundamentals: diversified portfolios, stop-loss discipline, and a sharp eye for bullish divergences. Right now, consumer staples and healthcare are showing relative strength, with oversold signals pointing to potential rebounds. We let data, not headlines, drive our trades.

Allow me to share a quick story from my early days. Back in the late 1990s, I went all-in on a tech stock during a panic, certain my analysis was flawless. The market quickly reminded me otherwise. My screen turned red, my ego took a beating, and I muttered, “So this is what tuition at the School of Hard Knocks feels like.” That painful lesson taught me risk management is sacred. Position sizing, trailing stops, and never marrying a trade became my commandments. To this day, when newer traders sweat over a 2 percent dip, I smile and tell them: embrace the sting, it is the tuition that buys wisdom.

To our new members: you cannot become a great trader by just reading books or watching financial news. You grow by putting real capital on the line and learning how it feels when the market tests you. Start small, stay disciplined, and treat every loss as a teacher saying, “Here is how you improve.” Remember, in this community we have an unwritten pact. If you follow our strategies with discipline and still take a loss, the risk is on us. That is our commitment. But in return, it requires your absolute commitment to the process. No shortcuts, no chasing random tips from social media. Stick to the plan, and consistency will come.

To our seasoned traders: you are the backbone of this community. Share your war stories, guide the rookies through their first drawdowns, and never let success make you arrogant. Complacency is the wolf that hunts the strongest herd. We survived the tech crash of 2000, the flash crash of 2010, and we did more than survive. We learned, we adapted, and we came back sharper. This trade war is just another chapter, and together we will write it with the same resilience.

So as the markets churn and the headlines scream, let us stay grounded. Review your risk parameters, lean on our collective wisdom, and see every challenge as a chance to grow stronger. We are not just traders. We are a family forged by discipline and ambition. Let us make this season one for the history books.

Keep your eyes on the charts and your discipline sharp,
[Bernard Lefèvre]
Professional Trader and Institut de Recherche Financière Alpha Community Leader