Andrew Aziz

Andrew Aziz is a Canadian trader, investor and high-altitude mountaineer. He is known for his books on trading and investing, specially How to Day Trade for a Living. His books are considered classics in day trading and have been published in 20 languages worldwide and have been a best seller since 2016. He is the first Iranian man to climb Vinson Massif in Antarctica, and the first Iranian man to complete the Seven Summits challenge, climbing the highest peaks on seven continents.

In 2025, the University of British Columbia established the Andrew Aziz Graduate Award in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering to support international students who demonstrate initiative in expanding their skills beyond their primary field of research, reflecting the broader mindset Aziz believes UBC instilled in him.

Personal life and career Andrew was born and raised in Iran, but moved to Canada at age of 25 for PhD studies. He studied at Sharif University of Technology for masters, and graduated from the University of British Columbia with a PhD in chemical engineering. After completing his PhD, he worked as an engineer in Vancouver for AFCC, a Mercedes-Benz Group and Ford Motor Company research center until he lost his engineering position in 2014 and moved away from engineering to learn trading and investing.

In 2015, he published his first book, How to Day Trade for a Living, which received attention from traders and investors, garnering overall positive reviews. Since 2022, Investopedia and Business Insider recognized Aziz's book as one of the best trading books of the year.

He published How to Day Trade for a Living while he was climbing Everest first in 2015, where the Nepal 2015 earthquake happened. He had to spend 1 month extra in Khumbu valley near Everest basecamp, where he finished his first edition. All Everest expeditions were cancelled in 2015.

In 2020, he founded Peak Capital Trading, a propriety trading firm in Vancouver, Canada, with focus trading the US stock equity market. Peak Capital Trading is developing algorithms for opening range breakouts with research publications in the field.

Day trading research Since 2023, Andrew Aziz has co-authored several academic research papers with Carlo Zarattini and Andrea Barbon Professor of Finance at University of St Gallen, Switzerland, published on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), analyzing the profitability of systematic day trading strategies in U.S. equity markets. Their studies focus on classic technical setups such as the Opening Range Breakout (ORB) and Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) strategies, testing them against passive benchmarks like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ETFs.

One paper, Can Day Trading Really Be Profitable?, found that a disciplined ORB approach applied to leveraged ETFs such as TQQQ could generate annualized alpha exceeding 30% over multi-year periods, significantly outperforming passive buy-and-hold benchmarks. Another study, Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP): The Holy Grail for Day Trading Systems, reported returns of over 8,000% using VWAP strategies on leveraged products during 2018–2023, with comparatively low drawdowns.

Aziz also co-authored The Volatility Edge: A Dual Approach for VIX ETNs Trading with Carlo Zarattini and Antonio Mele, which examined volatility-based strategies using VIX exchange-traded notes between 2008 and 2025. The study tested constant and dynamic short-volatility approaches, showing that a rules-based strategy could deliver annualized returns of about 16 percent with a Sharpe ratio near 1 and low correlation to equity markets. The authors concluded that combining such volatility strategies with passive stock holdings could significantly enhance portfolio risk-adjusted performance, while cautioning that volatility products remain highly risky and require disciplined execution.

In addition to profitable strategies, Aziz and Zarattini examined deceptive practices in The Art of Financial Illusion: How to Use Martingale Betting Systems to Fool People, highlighting how such systems can mislead investors by producing seemingly consistent returns through statistical manipulation.

Together, these papers contribute to the academic debate over whether day trading can generate sustainable long-term profits, with their findings suggesting that disciplined, rules-based strategies executed on liquid instruments may achieve persistent excess returns. This wave represents a significant evolution from the previous Iranian climbers generations, with climbers extending their expeditions beyond the local and regional mountains of Iran, and even past the renowned Himalayas and Karakoram ranges in Nepal and Pakistan. The second wave, which includes after Iranian Revolution climbers like Azim Gheichisaz, was known for pioneering ascents in Nepal and Pakistan. In contrast, the third wave climbers, often holding dual nationality Iranians living outside of Iran face fewer travel and visa restrictions. They are also typically well-funded and sponsored, allowing them to embark on ambitious climbing expeditions across various continents including Europe, South America, Oceania, and Antarctica. A summary of some of Aziz's recent climbs are:

+ Asia Summit Elevation (ft) Elevation (m) Country Parent Mountain Range Note Everest 29,029 ft 8,848 m Nepal Himalayas 2023 Cho Oyu 26,864 ft 8,188 m China Himalayas 2024 Manaslu 26,781 ft 8,163 m Nepal Himalayas 2025 Ama Dablam 22,349 ft 6,812 m Nepal Himalayas 2026 Lobuche 16,109 ft 6,119 m Nepal Himalayas 2026 Damavand 18,406 ft 5,510 m Iran Alborz 2015 Winter ascent Mount Ararat 16,854 ft 5,137 m Turkey Armenian Highlands 2023 + Europe Summit Elevation (ft) Elevation (m) Country Parent Mountain Range Note Mount Blanc 15,781 ft 4,810 m Italy/France Alps 2019 Dufourspitze 15,203 ft 4,634 m Switzerland Alps 2019 Weisshorn 14,783 ft 4,506 m Switzerland Alps 2019 Matterhorn 14,692 ft 4,478 m Switzerland Alps 2019 Dent Blanche 14,295 ft 4,357 m Switzerland Alps 2019 + North America Summit Elevation (ft) Elevation (m) Country Parent Mountain Range Note Denali 20,310 ft 6,190 m US Alaska Range 2023 Pico de Orizaba 18,491 ft 5,636 m Mexico Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt 2018 Iztaccihuatl 17,160 ft 5,230 m Mexico Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt 2018 + South America Summit Elevation (ft) Elevation (m) Country Parent Mountain Range Note Aconcagua 22,838 ft 6,961 m Argentina Andes – Principal Cordillera 2022 Ojos del Salado 22,615 ft 6,893 m Chile Andes 2025 Chimborazo 20,548 ft 6,263 m Ecuador Andes – Cordillera Occidental (Ecuador) 2020 Cotopaxi 19,347 ft 5,897 m Ecuador Andes – Cordillera Occidental (Ecuador) 2020 Cayambe 18,996 ft 5,790 m Ecuador Andes – Cordillera Occidental (Ecuador) 2020 Antisana 18,714 ft 5,704 m Ecuador Andes – Cordillera Occidental (Ecuador) 2022 Illiniza 17,218 ft 5,248 m Ecuador Andes – Cordillera Occidental (Ecuador) 2021 Sajama 21,463 ft 6,542 m Bolivia Andes – Cordillera Occidental (Bolivia) 2023 Illimani 21,122 ft 6,438 m Bolivia Andes – Cordillera Occidental (Bolivia) 2023 Huandoy 20,866 ft 6,360 m Peru Cordillera Blanca 2021 Chopicalqui 20,846 ft 6,354 m Peru Cordillera Blanca 2021 Chinchey 20,699 ft 6,309 m Peru Cordillera Blanca 2021 + Africa Summit Elevation (ft) Elevation (m) Country Parent Mountain Range Note Kilimanjaro 19,340 ft 5,895 m Tanzania Eastern Rift mountains 2021 + Oceania Summit Elevation (ft) Elevation (m) Country Parent Mountain Range Note Mount Giluwe 14,327 ft 4,367 m Papua New Guinea Southern Highlands Province 2019 Mount Wilhlem 14,793 ft 4,509 m Papua New Guinea Southern Highlands Province 2024 + Antarctica Summit Elevation (ft) Elevation (m) Country Parent Mountain Range Note Mount Vinson 16,050 ft 4,892 m Antarctica Sentinel Range, Ellsworth Mountains 2024

Books and publications Al-Mansoori, Aiman, Aziz, Andrew (2 April 2026) Complete Guide to Multiple Time Frame Analysis and Reading Price Action. Aziz, Andrew, Sheehy-Kelly, Crede (10 August 2025). TradeBook: How to Build a Complete Day Trading System. Aziz, Andrew, Baer, Micheal (11 May 2021). Introduction to Trading Psychology: A Practical Guide to Improve Your Trading Psychology. Aziz, Andrew, Baer, Mike (19 November 2020). Mastering Trading Psychology: Improve Your Trading with Firsthand Reports by Real-Life Traders. Aziz, Andrew, Aaziznia, Ardalan (14 October 2020). Stock Market Explained: A Beginner's Guide to Investing and Trading in the Modern Stock Market. Aziz, Andrew, Pezim, Brian (2 October 2018). How to Swing Trade: A Beginner’s Guide to Trading Tools, Money Management, Rules, Routines and Strategies of a Swing Trader. Aziz, Andrew (12 June 2018). Advanced Techniques in Day Trading: A Practical Guide to High Probability Strategies and Methods. Aziz, Andrew (28 July 2016). How to Day Trade for a Living: A Beginner's Guide to Trading Tools and Tactics, Money Management, Discipline and Trading Psychology.