Advice From a Professional Trader With 10 Years Experience – ”Give Bookmap at Least 3 Months”: An Interview With Peter Karaverdian of Viper Futures

This article is based on an interview with Peter Karaverdian of Viper Futures, conducted by Owain Higham.

How long have you been trading?

I have been trading for a total of 10 years, being full-time for the last 7.

I began in Futures and Commodities, primarily as a spread trader, and became an algorithmic trader during the COVID pandemic, but went discretionary due to algos not being efficient if you do not have enough of them 

How did you discover Bookmap?

Through a trading friend. I had to give it a try three times, meaning several months before I really really saw the value in it.  

How do you use Bookmap in your trading?

I use technicals, mostly on a macro day time frame, and when price gets to these larger time slices, I look at the order flow past and present on Bookmap to make a confident decision.  

It’s been life changing for sure, and has taken away a ton of the anxiety when trading with aggregated candlesticks, basically not knowing what’s truly going on under the hood.

Boomap provides an under-the-hood look.

What was your lightbulb moment that led to you seeing the value in Bookmap?

Bookmap is real-time order flow; no nonsense, no BS, down-to-the-nanosecond of what is happening now and what occurred in the past. 

It is very hard for most of us to remember each level that had large players coming in to defend a key inflection zone.  Having the order book visualized on-screen comes off as a bit intimidating at first, but that eventually turns into that “Aha!” moment. 

I tell my traders to give it not one month, but more than 90 days. You can not get the whole picture and understand the art of flow without giving it time.

Why are algos not efficient if you do not have enough of them running?

The reason is most algos are based on “if this, then that” statements. As humans our minds are 100 percent much sharper.  We tend to lean on algos because of a lack of confidence somewhere else, and we use algos to fight the lack of confidence and fulfill it with the art of trading.  

Algos tend to work for large banks and institutions because they have the capital to put on algos in 17-plus different liquid commodities at once, netting a large gain vs. losers at the end of the day. This is a game that can be hard to keep up with for most traders.  

I know, as I have an algo on the Ninja marketplace. It’s not an out-of-the-box system, which again is what people are seeking, because they are lacking the focus of putting their mind to doing a better job at trading. It’s not easy to get it, I understand myself.  

Are you looking for both reversals and continuations based on the order flow reaction to these larger time slices? 

Yes I am. I use other time frame sets, like 4 hour swing charts to eliminate most of the noise and take a look at the order book and footprint charts when I can manage my entries. When they all come together like that, it is when the true art can be seen.  

What is the best piece of advice you can offer to newer traders just starting out with Bookmap?

Give things time!  Bookmap is a tool that—like anything else—takes time to understand and find an edge in your own developed flow. It is very similar to ‘the way’ in martial arts. There will be a lot of “Aha!” moments. There will be a lot of disappointing moments as well, where you want to quit and move to something else. Don’t do it. Give it a minimum of three months. Stare at it at the same time you are looking at your levels for the session. Put it into combination with something you already use. See how it speaks to you with what you already and have been doing in your process and with discipline. Too many traders hop from one strategy or tool to another, and don’t give time to a system and/or platform to see its true potential. 

You may discover that in the process, your personality fits a particular type of time slice or indicator tool that Bookmap offers. Bookmaps indicators are data driven, live-to-the-nanosecond technology of what is truly happening and unfolding in the markets by all of the participants, big, small, and machines. 

You will see how it speaks to you in time if you give it patience.