When the market opens, a trader sits at a desk, watching a futures chart climb. It looks like the start of something big, so he buys. When the price drops, somehow there is a conviction that it will come back.
By the end of the back-and-forth, a trade meant to be quick has taken up a better part of the day, along with emotions.
Anyone who has tried to trade futures by hand will recognize the scene. It is rarely a story about intelligence. It is a story about emotion, fatigue, and a plan that existed only in the trader’s head.
To understand why this keeps happening, start with the market itself.
A market that carries real risk
Futures trading is not a casual pastime, and regulators say so plainly. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) describes trading commodity futures and options as a volatile, complex, and risky venture that is rarely suitable for individual investors.
The agency also notes that most participants are hedgers, who use futures to reduce the risk of financial losses from price changes. In other words, much of the market is made up of businesses managing risk, not individuals chasing profit.
That is the environment many everyday traders enter, often after seeing the market’s features: high liquidity, the ability to control larger positions with less capital through leverage, and trading hours that stretch beyond a normal workday. Leverage works both ways, which is why it surprises most beginners.
With those risks in mind, it becomes easier to see why trading by instinct so often goes wrong
Why trading by emotions tends to fail
Manual trading asks people to make fast, high-stakes choices while managing fear and impatience. Over a long session, decision fatigue builds, and a few rushed trades can erase weeks of careful work.
Monty Sandhu knows this pattern from experience. He holds an MBA in Finance and spent more than 20 years in the corporate world, yet he says he never understood trading as a skill. “I initially approached it with gut feeling rather than strategy,” he says. The result was losses of more than $20,000.
A few years ago, he met Harman Dhillon, a trader with more than 25 years of experience across futures, forex, and equities, who has also built and scaled several businesses. As Sandhu recalls, Dhillon believed “trading is a learnable, structured skill, not a gamble.”
That shift in thinking led Sandhu to work differently.
What automation does and what it doesn’t
Under Dhillon’s mentorship, Sandhu began studying market logic, risk management, and automated trading. Automation tools, as they’re usually described, let a trader set rules in advance and have software follow them in real time.
Some potential benefits include:
- Fewer decisions made in the heat of the moment
- More consistent execution of a defined plan
- Less time spent watching screens
- Faster execution than clicking by hand
None of this removes risk.
Software can only follow the rules it is given, so a poorly designed plan will simply fail more disciplinedly. Sandhu says the point is to understand the logic behind each trade, not to switch a tool on and walk away. He now trades himself consistently and works as a trading trainer.
Still, a tool alone is only part of the story, and that is where education comes in.
Why education matters as much as the tool
Harman Dhillon, Daman Dhillon, and Sandhu later built a company around this idea. Sniper Auto Trader launched in August 2023 and sells desktop software that works with the NinjaTrader platform, which is available in more than 140 countries. It is not a mobile app.
They argue that tools alone leave a gap. “While automation exists, there was no real platform that combined automation with real-time education,” the company says.
In their view, beginners were left to climb a steep learning curve without guidance. The company says over 3,500 customers have used its software since launch, and most are between 35 and 55, including working professionals and beginners seeking a more structured approach.
That focus on learning also reflects Sniper Auto Trader’s broader goal. In a press release distributed through MarketersMEDIA, it said it aims to build a global community of disciplined traders by pairing automation with hands-on education, including live Zoom training, one-on-one mentorship, and detailed guides for all experience levels. “We hope to foster a movement that helps traders at every stage,” the company said in the release.
The company notes that results vary and that trading can result in losses. That caution is a good place for any trader to start, no matter which tool they consider.
Questions to ask before you start
Whether a trader uses automation or not, the CFTC’s advice for anyone considering futures is straightforward. It recommends thoroughly reviewing the risk disclosure documents a broker must provide, asking questions, and gathering information before opening a trading account.
It also notes that companies and individuals who handle customer funds or give trading advice must register with the National Futures Association.
A few practical questions are worth asking of any trading tool or program:
- Does it explain how it works, or only what it promises?
- Is the training clear about risk, including the chance of losing money?
- Is the company open about what it can and cannot do?
- Can you test a strategy without risking money you cannot afford to lose?
Beyond these questions, the larger lesson comes back to mindset.
For Sandhu, the lesson of his own losses is simple. “There are thousands of people just like me,” he says. He argues that those who last in the market treat trading as a skill to be learned, not a hunch to follow.
Futures trading involves substantial risk and is not suitable for every investor. You could lose some or all of your initial investment, and past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. This article is for information only and is not financial advice.
