Elite Trading Tactics: How Trillium's Multi-Award Winning Trader Turned Volatility Into $1M

Have you ever wondered what it must be like to make over $1,000,000 within the course of a few hours?

What about trading so proficiently that it feels like you’re dictating the market’s direction? This is the reality of Lance Breitstein, the award-winning ex-Trillium trader turned consultant for top-tier prop shops like SMB Capital.

Lance is nothing short of incredible. It’s easy to objectively rank him among the best traders in the world. From top-tier performance to sector innovation, he’s the kind of example all traders should study.

Earlier this year, Lance set Twitter ablaze by posting his executions on GME and AMC after Keith Gill (Roaring Kitty) returned to the platform, reigniting interest in these infamous trading instruments. Later, he shared a review of his trading day during a charity event. For those with the stamina, the three-hour-long YouTube video provides deep insights into making high-flying PnL trades and his methodical process for generating these results with ease.

Having studied this video for the team at Athena, here are our top takeaways:

Quality Opportunities and How to Find Them

The intraday trading space is crowded with educators and “furu” traders who emphasise “quality over quantity” when it comes to trades. While correct in principle, many traders on our desk often ask: what does this actually mean in practice? Generic advice like “the secret to profits is risk management” is abundant but rarely actionable.

Lance breaks this down:

Quality setups typically occur at the extremes of price movement and volume—not in the middle of the day’s range or during consolidation periods with declining volume and range-bound price action. By avoiding sideways movements where expected value is low and focusing on these extremes, traders can achieve higher returns with increased win rates.

To get granular, Lance uses Bollinger Bands and volume as proxies for identifying these areas:

• High volume indicates strong trader participation, ensuring there’s enough size to move the market.

• Price relative to Bollinger Bands determines when price is likely to either continue or revert.

This tactical approach to entering and exiting positions allows Lance to capitalise on extreme risk-reward scenarios with high probability.

A Deeper Dive into No-Man’s Land

Beyond identifying high-probability setups, Lance excels at avoiding areas with low potential for returns—what he calls “no-man’s land.”

No-man’s land refers to contracting price volatility caused by low volume and market equilibrium. Why does this matter? Most intraday futures strategies rely on momentum or a high rate of change in price.

Understanding basic market microstructure is key:

For price to move from Point A to Point B, all active buyers must deplete liquidity at every price level between those points. For instance, once all available stock at $1 is purchased, price moves to $2, where additional stock is sold.

When volume declines and market equilibrium emerges, price movement becomes unclear. By identifying these conditions early, traders can avoid entering positions during low-probability periods, reducing losses and enhancing overall PnL.

Dynamic Position Sizing: Put Your Money Where the Opportunity Is

With the principles above in mind, it’s clear that profitable trading thrives in environments with high volume and volatility. These conditions offer skewed expected value (EV). Conversely, low-volume environments with declining volatility often lead to negative EV.

The takeaway? Adjust capital allocation dynamically:

• Increase position sizes in setups with high volume and significant rate of change, where EV is skewed in your favour.

• Decrease exposure in low-volume environments with unclear price movement to minimise potential losses.

Lance leverages indicators like Bollinger Bands and anchored VWAP (AVWAP) to assess price volatility and volume, helping validate the quality of opportunities. By strategically allocating capital, he optimises returns while maintaining a disciplined approach.

Conclusion

Lance Breitstein’s trading philosophy offers invaluable lessons for traders at any level. By prioritising high-quality setups, avoiding no-man’s land, and dynamically sizing positions, he consistently achieves exceptional results.

At Athena, we’ve embraced these principles to refine our own strategies and drive success in the ever-changing markets.

Don’t miss out - join us for free!

Get exclusive access to top-tier trading insights and strategies from the institutional front lines. Each week, we deliver actionable market trends, cutting-edge risk management techniques, and lessons learned from both the retail and institutional worlds.

Subscribe now to Peak Performance for your backstage pass to the elite market mindset!