The sharper the rally, the longer the correction.When any asset appreciates its value very quickly then people will book profits and invest in other assets.
Trading Psychology
Journey of a Trader: All of us have gone through this!Good time of the day, dear TradingView family. Happy new month! May March bring you lots of happiness, love, and profits.
Today we are gonna be doing a quick reality check and scrutinizing a long way every trader goes through before becoming successful and consistent.
All beginning traders get super motivated and excited before beginning this long journey. Instagram “gurus” create false expectations and trick people into thinking they will be making quick profits and becoming millionaires with a $100 capital. Beginner’s luck is real and super relevant in this case. Without having a proper trading plan and a backtested strategy, newbies jump into the markets and start trading full-speed. “Wow, I made my first profits! I can keep going like this and make lots of “Benjamins”. Overtrading, greed and self-confidence lead to a losing streak, panic, anger, and loss of faith. Solutions need to be found, and therefore traders start changing strategies and trying to find a way to the doors of success. They lack motivation and hunger to keep going. They start questioning themselves and thinking whether they should quit or keep pushing. At this stage of the journey, around 90% of beginners give up and leave the markets. The remaining 10% still have hope, so they keep grinding and enhancing their trading capabilities. After some time, they start seeing some progress in their abilities. They start having more winning trades now, and they become breakeven traders, meaning they neither make any profits nor encounter any losses. They stick to their strategy and optimize it along the way. They plan, execute and journal all trades. After a few months, they finally reach the doors of success and profitability. Of course, they do not get greedy or self-confident. Though, they still have losing days/weeks/months, their main focus is concentrated on long-term growth and prosperity. They know that if they keep following their trading strategy, obeying risk management principles and being disciplined, they will always be profitable in the long run.
To sum up and to motivate the beginners reading this: if you are going through hard time in the markets, if you do not know what to do or how to make thing work, keep pushing more and more. There is always a golden sky at the end of every storm. Therefore, never feel discouraged, do not give up, and keep grinding. YOU WILL ALL MAKE IT!
The Only Proven Way To Success in Trading 🥇
Hey traders,
Like any discipline, consistently profitable trading requires many years of practice.
In this post, we will discuss the only proven way to become successful in trading.
🔰First, let's start with the axiom: there are no inborn traders, trading is a skill, a skill that can be learned. Though talent may help you in some manner it does not guarantee your success.
One more axiom that is logically derived from the first one is the fact that trading is a complex skill.
The one that can be split into dozens of subskills.
Making that statement we may assume that our success in trading directly depends on mastering each subskill, each domain that it consists of.
But how do we master these skills?🤔
The only way to do that is to practice. Practice means doing something regularly in order to be able to do it better.
With your first attempts, you are doomed to fail. Inevitable you will suffer and you will feel miserable because of your incompetence.
Trying and doing the same thing again and again, at some moment you will feel the progress and growth. Your perseverance will bear fruit.
Knock, and it shall be opened to you.
And as a consequence, with some attempt, you will feel that finally the skill is mastered, that one more stage in your journey is passed.
Polishing the entire set of subskills and learning to apply that as a single unit will make you a consistently profitable trader.
Just stipulate the domains properly, name them and be ready to work hard.
❤️Please, support this idea with like and comment!❤️
WATCH OUT FOR THESE RED FLAGS !!!!!These are some common Red-Flags that'll ruin your relationship with trading.
Watch out for them and Stay away for a Successful trading Career
Can't stop trading Stock/Options? You may be addictedTraders with symptoms of gambling addiction “tend to follow a more active and speculative trading style, indicated by a higher frequency of stock trading, day trading and investing in derivatives and leveraged products.”
Here are some signs of addiction:
Trading becomes the main focus of your daily life.
You are trading at work, which isn’t your job.
You are chasing losses.
You can’t stop trading.
You have feelings for frustration, aggression, or attempt to suppress other personal problems.
Losing money makes you depressed.
You're constantly checking the latest value.
You hide the degree of participation in trading.
You rely on social media “experts” for investment advice.
You borrow money on a home equity line or a personal loan to invest.
No self-control or ability to stay away from your trading app.
Your emotional state is directly tied to the outcome of the stock market.
One of the strongest psychological factors that influence day trading is the fear of missing out (FOMO). That’s why day traders often suffer from ad-lib actions as they are not capable of anticipating sudden market changes.
Trading is fun when it doesn’t hurt your health and daily life. Addiction-prone traders have a gambler’s mentality. The strategies to avoid harm associated with pathological trading that have similarities with gambling could be the following: Do not spend more than you can afford. Stick to the budget. Do not chase losses.
Automated trading tools help to:
Address the lack of time issue: many traders have day jobs, families, etc., and can't spend all day in front of a screen.
React to the opportunity faster: Algos are way faster than people.
Remove emotions: Algos have no emotions.
Low code allows traders to experiment faster.
Risk/Reward trade setups are more important than Win RateIf you told somebody new to trading that markets can only go in one of two directions, it would be natural for them to conclude that even a beginner could be right half the time. That’s not the reality because traders don’t make a binary up/down calls on their outright positions. What traders do is say, “I think it’s going to go up to point x (target) and in the process NOT hit point y (stop).”
Markets do only go up and down, but the trades we place aren’t a binary call. Our target is “where we think the market will go” and our stop should be “I’m wrong if it hits this point.” It's not a binary decision, it is a decision on the direction and the amount of 'wiggle room' it needs on the way.
Don’t Be Fooled by Trading Strategy Win Rate
When novice traders come to the markets for the first time, they are bombarded with ads for magical trading systems offering extremely high win rates. It plays on the logical (but false) assumption that a higher win rate is always better. It ignores the cost of the higher win rate, what did we do to achieve it?
For example, it's unlikely the S&P 500 Futures will ever hit 0.00, so you could go long S&P 500 over and over and have a 100%-win rate. In the process, you will no doubt sit in trades for extended periods with massive drawdowns. In the event of a market correction, you could quickly draw down $40-$50k per futures contract and sit in for years waiting for a recovery.
A high win rate alone is not a measure of success. Should it be a goal? Not in absolute terms. Instead, a trader should chase a decent win rate relative to the break-even point of any specific opportunity.
How Traders Think About Risk Reward
Let's say you have an opportunity where you believe a price in the market is a key trading level. You think the market will rally higher from current prices 40 ticks. You enter the trade with a 10-tick stop. You risk 10 to make 40.
Can you do this and be right every single time? Probably not but you could be right 50% of the time and make great money. This is where confusion creeps in. People associate a 50%-win rate with no edge, with a coin toss. In this example, our win rate is way above the break-even rate for this setup, and so 50% is excellent. It represents an edge.
If you combine this with more active trade management, such as scaling into positions that go your way, you change the equation again. Your losers might be 2 lots but your winners 8 lots.
This is of course what a lot of 'outright' proprietary day traders are doing — looking for an opportunity with a low break-even point, where they can beat the odds.
They don’t care if the actual win rate is 40,50 or 60%. It doesn’t matter.
Trading Strategy Win Rate and Run of Losing Trades
One other important consideration is the ability to survive the inevitable run of losing trades. Let's say you use an artificially large stop to help achieve a 90%-win rate - an 8 tick stop and a 2-tick target. The moment your win rate dips below 80%, you will start to lose. Take 5 or 6 losers in a row, and you are looking at a drawn down account and the NEED to maintain a high win rate to stop the bleeding. Keep on down that road and the next thing you know they'll be calling you "the new Nick Leeson".
Trader Takeaway
The ability to exceed the break-even rate is where profits lie. Focusing on trading strategies with a low break-even rate will help you thrive and survive as a trader.
BINANCE:BTCUSD
👍
A Chat With Traders: Traders And Psychology With EnochEnoch Baz, the 19-year-old, who literally pays his mama’s bills with: forex trading. Baz is a penultimate student of Architecture in Nigeria. He started forex because according to him, “it’s the only way I can work minor and earn major from home”.
Enoch is an indices fan as he says, “that’s where the money is for me (lol). Work less, earn more.”—US30 and S&P500 do the trick. Chatting with Baz made me realize his undeviating and unswerving approach to trading these pairs. “I trade against Supply and Demand zones looking to be Liquidated and Mitigated”, he utters.
The trader also advances to explain this strategy. To Enoch, It’s more of combining Zone to zone with smart money trading (institutional trading)”.
In addition, he got introduced to Forex in October 2018, after he graduated High-school—by his cousin who’s not a trader currently. Albeit, he took it seriously in 2019. Enoch started off making researches and reading multiple PDFs in his genesis.
Enoch And His Trade Management
Hello Baz, so, how do you manage a trade when in it?
Yeah, before I hop into any trade, I have 3 goals: Firstly, I close with big profits, secondly, small profits, and lastly small loss. Either way, I let my trade run. After I’m in—I go ahead with my day. I always have my risk in mind. Once I’m fine with it, It’s a good day then.
Love the simplicity I must add. However, social media has allowed us as traders to have a wider footprint outside of the forex industry, what do you think your impact is in the industry?
Well, I started my forex-focus-Instagram-account in October 2020, I’ve gotten a lot of messages regarding me leveling up individuals-forex game involuntarily from contents I post. It has been a good impact—helped people over the world know what this grind could bring.
Love the term “over the world” What is your trading plan? And what is your go-to asset class (what pair(s) would you consider are your favorites) and why do you prefer these pairs?
As for trading plan, It’s definitely the: Zone to zone ( risking just 4% of my account maximum), cos of its simplicity & direct approach to the market. I started trading XAUUSD, but currently, I trade indices like US30 & SPX500. Reason—that’s where the money is for me lol. Work less, earn more.
Enoch On Trading Techniques
Work less; Earn more. Yeah—the fun of trading the indices. Do you have a special way you trade this particular pair? If yes, can you share a tip for that pair?
Trade against Supply and Demand zones looking to be: Liquidated or Mitigated. It’s more of combining Zone to zone and smart money trading (institutional trading).
Woah. That’s a lot to take in. However, Fast one Technical, Fundamental or Sentiments? Why?
Technical. Although, fundamentals fuels the market, but only runs for a certain period. After that, we are left with the naked chart. So, Technical is king to me.
A personal question, How much money do you handle now?
Well, I handle two accounts: a $30,000 and a four figure on synthetic indexes.
That’s huge and inspiring, What are your forex weaknesses? How do you plan on going about them? Have you succeeded in doing that?
Forex weakness? Hmm. I’m thinking about that. I basically just trade my thing and what I have an edge in.
Totally threw me of with that one. The confidence. I admire that no doubt. Who is one person/academy you think Neophyte or everyone should follow and why?
Definitely—Cue banks. Following him on Instagram would give you valid reason not to quit.
Enoch In Trade environment and Work history
“Take a cue from cue”—I’ll do anything to interview him. He’s indeed a great trader. How would you describe your ideal work environment?
Love trading alone. So just me and my screens with—UK Drills music playing in the back ground.
The lone wolf. Tell me about a time you disagreed with a decision. A time you didn’t follow your trading plan. What did you do?
Took out my SL, I didn’t want to get stopped out because, it was a fundamental market on BTCUSD, short story, lost over 85% when I got back.
Ouch! What was your salary in your last job before forex? Was leaving it for forex worth it and why?
I’ve never worked a job. I was barely 16 when I started Forex.
Right. Makes sense—What are your trading aspirations? I know many trade for “financial freedom” but what happens when that’s achieved? What do you plan on doing with trading?
Plan on putting young boy and girls on this grind. I know what it feels like earning above average.
Enoch Talks Trading Psychology
Great plan. What keeps you sane? Cos’ I won’t lie trading can stress you out and some even get depressed. So how do you overcome this.
You know, I feel people risk money which they basically can afford to lose. Like I say, everyone needs to have a passive source of income to fund their trading accounts. That way, you stress-less after losses because it’s OPM (other people’s money). I leverage on OPM a lot, that way I don’t have to beat myself up after losses.
Other people’s cash. Hmm, That requires trust though. However, this may sound “cliché” but why forex? What is your major reason for choosing forex?
Personally, I got caught up with the lifestyle, but as a kid, I loved exploring. I had always wanted to test out everything, new gadget and stuffs I see. That way, I knew I could afford this when I make literally free money, that’s why I’m still trading; love giving major portions of my withdrawals.
Who doesn’t love a giver? Do you trade for any proprietary firm? If yes, which one and how is it going?
No, But FTMO is looking nice haha.
What would you consider to be your biggest forex achievement? Tell me about a forex accomplishment you are most proud of.
Being able to pay my mom weekly. Paying her more than her salary is a flex for me at 18. I’m also proud of being able to afford my trading gadgets without anyone’s assistance, fully funded by me and the markets. Good flex too. Also surprising my cousins with quite expensive gifts on their birthdays.
Aww. That’s really nice. Indeed a big flex for a trader your age. Okay Baz, Let’s visualize now. So what would you want your forex dream to be like (in details).
Inner circle for billionaire traders with the dope garages and cribs. That’s enough.
Enoch In The Business Of trading
Do you keep a journal? If yes, what does it consist of?
No journals. Just Notepads with Risk calculations.
Oh, okay. When you’re not trading, what are you doing?
On YouTube watching pranks and skits. I don’t watch movies longer than 15mins or I’m working on my “Social Media Management” site (SMM).
That interesting an weird. What would say is your “win-rate” and what really drives results in your trading?
Haven’t really had time to know my win-rate. But 78%- 82% is reasonable, because I rarely over trade. Haha! My Risk management is key, that’s my major sauce in trading. With my style of risk management, 38% win rate is still Profitable. I love hopping on high-rewarding trades.
Well, you ain’t lying. Listen, I think psychology is one of the most important if not the most important part of trading. So, that’s why I’m laying emphasis on it. What are your trading rituals and how has it helped your trading?
Pray, plan my trades and trade my plan. That way, I worry less because I’ve literally done the easiest things which are the most important things too.
Trading inspiration
Who or what inspired you to start trading? If you have a mentor, what’s their name and what about that individual inspired you?
I got inspired by Inyang Jude “Forex bae”. My cousin showed me his picture back in 2018. He was literally the first trader I saw from Nigeria. I’m grateful for the inspiration! Another mentor I have is MomoForex. His lifestyle is simple and that’s me.
Yeah. I actually love Nick Shawn. I believe he was a mentor to Momo—drop a forex secret you feel should be shared and no-one talks about.
How much are you risking on this trade? if you can’t answer that before taking the trade, don’t trade. Because I feel most people get surprised by how much they lose on a trade. They lack the background idea of how much they should be risking.
Interesting. How long do you plan on trading forex and Where do you see yourself in five years with forex?
Till forever. Let’s wait
Enoch and trading strengths
What are you biggest strengths in forex and What’s one thing you think you are very good at in forex?
That will be, determining market directions in the long run.
Nice. We have the Neophytes trooping in the industry. What’s your advice to them and what would you recommend they start with?
Knowledge first. You’re here for a long run. “Do what is right and cash will flow”
You hear that, it’s always the knowledge first. How do you handle pressure, impatience, fear, doubt and greed in forex?
I only experience doubt. If you’re doubting a trade, it’s best not to take that trade. And if you’re in a trade already and you doubting, it’s safer to close or move your Stop-loss very tight to curb losses.
Tell me about the toughest decision you had to make in the last six months. Was it a trading decision? If yes, tell me how you handled the situation.
Leaving a MLM company (best decision). I left this company that offered to help my trading journey. But it was clear BS! Full of fake traders and lifestyle. I was earning 3 figures for two months. My journey skyrocketed after I took the bold step to leave that company and start trading Full-time. Grateful for the growth now.
You calling MLM out like that, makes me want to ask further but, I WON’T PRY. Tell me how you think other people would describe you. What do you want to be remembered for in the industry?
Don’t really care of how anyone would describe me, Everyone has various opinions. I want to be remembered for the impact.
Trading traits
Straight-forward. Like that… What are traits do you have that keeps you successful?
Fearless. I take calculated risk always I involve myself in profitable relationships.
I know this particular question may sound weird. The reason asked is because as humans we have the whole “act now, think later” thingy going on even when it’s not the right thing to do. So, do you have a trading “guilty pleasure”? If “yes” what is it and how do you handle it when it happens?
Heh, FOMO “Fear Of Missing Out” from cryptos, If you don’t ignore the internet noise these days, you tend to hop on trends due to the hype and find yourself getting screwed up after.
I can hugely relate. We all talk about trading psychology, what can you say about that? Good question Baz. What is your go-to strategy? I would also love that you explain why that is your go-to. Do you have a major reason why you chose that strategy and how it has helped sharpen your trading.
Why beat yourself up when you were not comfortable risking such amount of money? That’s the major thing I can say. Always going to be: zone to zone. I spend two minutes analyzing a trade that would be take a regular trader hours. Yeah, it helped me create more time to do other important thongs.
Final words from Enoch
What’s your take on Neophytes that want to learn forex? Do you prefer they paid for the knowledge or stick with YouTube videos and free materials?
This question. First of all, there are two ways to acquire knowledge. By Discovering or Duplicating. These two approaches require different sacrifices. Time or money. When Discovering, You spend time in search of knowledge, absorbing but important & less important stuff. As time goes on when trading, you’ll find out you have a lot of things to unlearn cos they’re literally useless. That way, you spend another precious time trying to focus on the main sauce. For Duplication, you meet a “Guru” Mentor, who’s been in the game for a while, this way you don’t have to pass through the process of sourcing for a scheme. This guru puts you on what’s needed in the market and that way, you’re starting the major aspect of the market with enough time to execute Knowledge gained (while someone discovering is still trying to unlearn some things) either way, experience is important.
Small Steps on becoming a better traderLoss Less
Avoiding losses that cost you 20%, 30%, or more
Break-Even Trading
Further eliminating mistakes & developing discipline
Very Small Profits
You identify your personal problems and tweak individual strategy parameters
Consistent Profits
Adjusting tweaking & constant improvement.
Rinse & Repeat
Why do most traders fail? Common reasons that lead to failureWe have listed some of the main reasons that incline most traders towards lack of success. After being in this industry for quite a few years, we have noticed that 90% of beginner traders make the same mistakes all over again. We would like to address those issues below, and provide some recommendations:
1) Overtrading is a problem that many beginners and experienced players in the market face. Quality will always be over quantity. Taking a few high-probability trades is much more convenient and professional than buying and selling many positions at the same time.
2) Risk management should be strictly followed in all cases. Many traders tend to risk 5-10% on a single position and end up blowing their accounts. It is much safer and better to risk 1-2% per trade and keep things consistent.
3) Adding 10s of indicators into their charts and making their graphs messy is what many participants of the markets do. Making trading decisions based purely on indicators lead to failure 90% of the time. It is essential to rely on price action and use indicators as confluences.
4) "I will start trading with $100 and flip it into thousands of dollars in a few months, because I have seen a guy on Instagram do the same". That's such an unrealistic and distorted statement. Always set your expectations low if you want to be profitable in this field. Moreover, do not trust fake Instagram "gurus".
5) Never ignore the major fundamental drivers, as in some particular cases they can easily make the market jump around.
6) "Many authors on TradingView are going short on BITCOIN! Let's go and do the same". Never rely on randomness and other people's opinions and analyses. Make your own chart analysis and use other authors' views as a means of confirmation.
7) Always and always journal your trades. It will help you a lot in identifying your errors and fixing them.
8) Patience is always the key. Those who rush, stumble and fall.
9) Do not let a win get to your head and a loss get to your heart. Always remain cold-blooded and emotionless.
10) It is impossible to be profitable and consistent in this sector without having a valid trading strategy. Create a trading plan that works for you the best and stick to it for the long-run.
11) Many novices tend to increase their risk in order to make more profits. Instead of increasing the risk, increase your trading capital!
12) Getting aggressive and trying to open a trade every minute is not a way to go. It is important to remain calm, trade with caution, and be patient!
13) If you want it, you will get it. Most of beginners do not treat trading as a serious business and they spend less time practising it. In order to be successful and make money, you need to put in work!
14) Greed is not an option! Always set realistic target profits and enjoy your gains. Holding a trade forever is not a way to go
15) Giving up is for the weak. If you ever feel like giving up and quitting it all, think about that one reason that made you start
A Trader's ReflectionReflection What’s a reflection? Do you love your own reflection? So many questions—with, yet again… different definitions. A reflection is the return of light, heat, energy or sound waves from any surface. “To fix one’s thoughts (particularly from the past) on something”, is also a reflection. When you reflect, you ponder, mull, think—reflecting is synonymous with “past”—In most cases, you can only reflect if it’s something from the past.
However, writing this particular journal entry, I thought of… “what our reflections would be like as traders”. Have you ever had to reflect back to—who you were before trading?, Well, I do sometimes, who am I kidding? I’m even doing it now.
According to our definitions, In the word reflection, we get to pick some words like: “The return of light, heat, energy or soundwaves”, “Fix one’s thoughts”… You know what this means?, The first definition, simply means: your reflection is how you feel at a particular moment, the energy you transmit at that point is reflected. That’s why, if you look in the mirror—sad, you will not expect to see someone happy in there. Whereas, the second is an escape from realty. That is, when you reflect you leave this particular plane, moment and travel back in time.
A Trader’s Reflection
As traders, our reflections are shown to us by the charts (market). Just like your energy is reflected when you look in the mirror, the same thing happens when you trade the market. Therefore, the adage that says, “whatever you sow, you reap”—is a perfect example.
The market serves as a: trader’s mirror, the light, heat, energy and soundwaves are going to be very visible when you take a trade. Similarly, you don’t expect to enter the market sad and expect a happy outcome. I want to re-quote Ernest Holmes. “The market is a mirror and will reflect back to both its observer, spectator or player—that which it thinks into it”. The way the market seemed to you, was actually the way you created it in your own mind. That’s the energy returned I speak on.
Dumb question, Have you ever looked in the mirror? Anyway, who do you see—Yourself or some imagination of yourself? There are times when I’ll imagine what I’d want to be in 5-10 years from now, I’ll look in the mirror and nothing’s changed. It’s like imagining your flying but your feet never left the ground. My aunt said, “it’s good to be ambitious”—but, ambition without action is—damnation.
On twitter, I remembered tweeting—“the market’s not responsible for your decisions—You are”. A trader’s reflection simply means, The subconscious replication of a trader’s non-verbal signals. Similarly, your reality as a trader comes from what you see in the mirror (market). In addition, What you hold in mind manifests—irrespective of your preferences.
The Reality
In reality, we actually trade people’s reflections…
Looking at the mirror, if someone were to tell you, “oh, woah! you look pretty” is that enough? It might not be if you don’t think you look pretty. Even if the person tried to give you reasons. Most traders consider their problems to come from outside conditions whereas, Albert pointed out—“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”. Therefore, If a trader is feeling fearful, he can try to cover it up all he wants, but, his trading results will readily reflect his true feelings.
As traders, “you can lie to everyone but the one person you can’t lie to is—the market”
Took a break on Ruth Roosevelt’s blog. She made it known that, “Trading is a microcosm of life. What you do in life, you’ll do in trading”—A dirty mirror that’s made clean isn’t usually enough vision if one’s blind. We can fool everyone into thinking we’re professionals but not the market. Dude’s just so good at the detective job. You’ll get caught!
The market feeds off your energy, that’s why you can look at a market and say, “oh! I think the buyers are in control”, because, everything reflects. March 2020, the Covid beginning-era, the Nasdaq index and many other instruments dropped drastically. The market reflected the pain, fear, frustrations, and turmoil—every human was going through. What happened afterwards?, there was a massive decline. Energy is indeed contagious.
Dear Traders
In conclusion, Don’t be fooled, In trading, it’s not the analysis or predictions that matter—it’s your belief, thoughts and emotions. Once you take a trade with a messed up mindset, what do you expect would happen? You probably have a messed up outcome.
The market doesn’t have to read your mind to know what you’re thinking because—whatever you’re thinking reflects in your trading. However, most focus on the outward appearance because they think of social status, online gratification or they’re just good at marketing. Well, you can fool other people; who exactly are you fooling? The market does not create the ways in which you perceive it; it merely reflects what is going on inside of you in any given moment.
The annoying thing about this particular mirror (market) is that, it doesn’t speak or warn you. It just reflects; The great thing about it is: You get to know the truth.
Humans will lie, Your fake gurus will say anything so you can keep purchasing their course. The market, will reveal everything about you both good and bad. A good trader isn’t judged by his analysis or predictions; A good trader is judged by his outcome. Tell your gurus to start showing you “real” account histories and not trading view analysis. Haha!
Make The Market Your Teacher
Finally, the only guru you should be listening to is: The market. The market will quite naturally make you face what is inside of you on a moment-to-moment basis. What is inside of you could be confidence or fear, a perception of opportunity or loss, restraint or uncontrollable greed, objectivity or illusion. The market just reflects these mental conditions, it does not create them. I’ve come to very conclusion that—in trading, having a mind of your own is bliss. You must be a fool thinking your guru can 100% predict the market. Unless he trades billions (can actually move the market). We are all just mere spectators hoping to join the winning animal.
Safe Haven Currency, How are they affected by global eventsHello everyone:
Want to talk a bit more about safe haven currency in the market.
Since the recent tension between Russia and Ukraine,
the safe haven currency could strengthen as a result of such uncertainty in the world.
We will take a look at some past history of these currency pairs,
how they react to the market at the time, and what could we reasonably expect in the current market conditions.
Safe Haven Currency
USD
JPY
CHF
It's in our interest to look for opportunities when a strong currency is paired with a weaker one.
This generally will move the price very impulsively with strong momentum.
Pair such as these below will potentially develop the best price action for good R:R trades.
AUDUSD
NZDUSD
USDCAD
GBPUSD
AUDJPY
NZDJPY
CADJPY
GBPJPY
AUDCHF
NZDCHF
GBPCHF
CADCHF
Always have good risk management when it comes to entering. Don't enter all the pairs, don't open too many positions,
and understand correlation between the currency pairs.
Thank you
DISCLAIMER:
-My forecast and analysis are NOT trading signals nor financial advice, you should not enter trades and invest solely on this information.
Jojo
How to build a Trading Strategy?Hey, fam, welcome on another educational post! The topic is the following: step-by-step guide to building a working trading strategy
The process of building a trading strategy that will lead one to the doors of consistent and profitable trading is a pretty difficult one and it takes quite some time and effort.
1) Firstly, it is crucial to identify what kind of trader you are. If you have plenty of time in your hands to to sit in front of the monitor and go through the charts 24/7, then scalping or intraday trading would be suitable for you. If you enjoy clicking “Buy” and “Sell” buttons and opening 10-15 or even more transactions per day, then two of the above listed styles would be suitable for you. On the other hand, if your timetable is packed with different activities all the time and you do not have enough time to sit in front of the charts, swing or position trading would work the best for you. If you are aiming for making big gains instead of small “quick profits”, then both swing trading and position trading can fill your needs.
2) Moving on to the next step, it is crucial to have a watchlist, or in other word, a "favourites" list. It is better to have a batch of 5-10 favourite tradeable securities, than trading random things all the time. Let’s bring a real-life example: Would you prefer having 5 pets and take care of them individually, or 40 pets? What we are trying to emphasise, it is better to make yourself familiar with a pair and be able to read it like a book. Moreover, it is much easier to monitor 10 familiar setups rather than 50 random pairs. Thus, take some time skimming through various setups, and add them into your watchlist upon “falling in love with them”.
3) Always have a clear entry and exit strategy, and always ask yourself the following questions before entering a trade: “Why am I buying/selling this security?”, “Where are my Target Profit and Stop Loss set?”, “What portion of my trading capital am I risking on this trade?”. Every trader has his or her own entry and exit plan. Try to thoroughly examine all possibilities and see what works best for you. For example: enter when a nice wick candle has been formed around the area of demand/supply that aligns with 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level, set a fixed Target Profit of 1:3 Risk-to-reward, set the Stop Loss below the formed Double Bottom .
4) Execute, journal, optimize! If a trade goes wrong, ask yourself a question: “What went wrong and could I have prevented it?”. Make some modifications in your plan if necessary.
5) Never underestimate fundamentals and heavy economic or real-life news. Some examples are NFP, Markit Manifacturing PMI, quarter/annual GDP growth news. Moreover, wars/conflicts between two countries are crucial to be aware of as well. These heavy news have it all to mess the market around. Therefore, always consider these events, make your fundamental analysis and trade accordingly. Move your Stop Loss to the Breakeven point, or even exit a trade earlier in loss if needed, in order to stay safe before the news hit.
6) Last but not least, and most importantly, always stay patient, disciplined, free of emotions, cold-blooded, and remain loyal to your trading plan! “But my plan is not working. I endured 3 losses in a row. Should I immediately change my plan?”. The answer is a big fat “NO”. Instead of changing your strategy that took you so long to put together, think of identifying the week points and optimizing the plan.
How to REALLY Become Profitable ? 🔥 (Education read)
Hello traders , today we are going to talk about a very delicate subject. Yes Tradingview is a place to share technical analysis with the community , however we should also share from our experience , what we believe it can bring value to the table and help other traders worldwide to become profitable. In that way , make sure to give a like and comment , eventually this post can become an editors pick and so reach a maximum amount of users of this platform :) let's grow together!
Okay now let's get into it ?
How To really become profitable?
The average human is not wired to properly trade the financial markets..We are wired in the worst way to be a consistently profitable trader. Trading goes against the human psychology. To all those learning to trade the financial markets, this game is not what you think it is. Most books and courses simply do not paint an accurate picture of the reality Most of traders think the only way to become profitable is by working hard and focus in the technical strategy and blindly following signals or mentors.
The truth is that all of that is absolutely wrong. Here's a list of 6 elements that from my experience are game changers to slowly extract consistent profits from the market. Do us a favor and share another in the comment section that you believe is important. Our goal is to make from this post a place to help us each other from our experience. okay , first and most important
Risk Management
That is the number one killer and doer.
For most traders; they open a position size much larger than they can handle or much larger than what is appropriate for their account size. They want to make miracles with small accounts. Do not chase the money , chase the skill. In that way money will eventually come. There are investors ready to trust you 6 figures if you prove them you can handle it like a pro. The problem is that by not really managing your risk you will let emotions run your perception. When emotions increase , accuracy decrease. Trading is a Game of probabilities you can do everything right and end up wrong and you can do everything wrong and end up winning.There is a random distribution of winning and losing trades in that way if you risk more than expected and the outcome is not in your favor you will end in a very bad situation , risk managemet is simple. You just have to Make sure to have a proper position size and manage your exposure or you will have nothing left to manage.
Proper Psychology
After all these years, I would say that the majority of trading the financial markets is primarily a psychological painfull skill. It is not an advanced holy grail system or strategy. For most traders trying to chase consistency, they believe their system always needs changing, and they focus more on the "analysis" side by reading more books and taking more courses, hoping to find that secret system. The system can be based on a coin toss, and with the proper psychology, this trader can outperform a psychologically-flawed trader but is using one of the best analytical methods. There are many psychological aspects you should focus. We can talk years about it. I advise you to read Mark Douglas for that. One of the most important things is to Dissolve all your fears . You must understand how it runs your trading.
You must understand and have a deep talk with yourself to see the way fear control your mind. here's 4 types of fears when it comes to trading : Fear of being wrong , Losing money , Distribute profit, Missing out .
By other side you must understand the neuro associative conditioning that created good trading habits and self destructive habits.
Here's some examples:
Pro trades see retracements as opportunity while newbies see retracements as threats
Pro traders have hope when they have a winning trade and despair when they have a losing trade while newbies have hope when they have running a losing trade and despair to distribute profits when they have a winning trade.
there is pleeenty of examples.
Discipline in healthy external habits.
As Paul Sartre said, we are our choices.
What we do with our 24 hours will define the kind of person we are. This is all about changing and adopting proper habits in your pro and personal life.
If you do have side issues like bad habits or personal issues in relation with (girlfriend / parents /friend / work etc.. ) they will make it difficult to execute a proper system in your trading. All those bad vibes will send resistive energy and when you get this energy you can either shut down or step through and doo exactly what you are supposed to do regardless. Take care of your personal habits and problems.
Avoid bad habits that drain your energy and focus here are some:
Wake up late and be a lazy procastinator vs. 5 am morning and doer
Partying 24/7 vs. Learning
Being lazy vs. being a doer.
Social media vs/ productivity.
Trading is not made for the undisciplined human being .
Before getting serious with trading, I I used to have a lot of bad habits that honestly, I’m not proud of it. But everything can change. The more I fall in love with the process and taking care of my habits and more my trading improve and happier I become. it's all about building a proper internal well being environment.
I will never meet a good trader or sucesfull business man or entrepreneur that is lazy , procastinator , that wake up late or that don't care about it's personal life.
Think in term of probabilities
This is a very important one , this one made me profitable. Mismanaging risk is a bad habit. Most of traders have the worst trading habits because they asume the outcome and they don't like to be wrong. They assume they know what the outcome will be, so they bail out of trades. They think it will make them more money, so they risk more equity in one single trade because they believe this trade is a high probability one that it will make them money. They have a trade by trade approach. they execute with a Can't lose mentality
They assume that after a few wins the next trade is likely to be a winner, so they are double up. They assume that after a few losses the next trade is likely to be a loss, so they do not execute or they reduce the risk. it's okay we all have been there.
By adopting simple proper ''SERIES OF TRADE APPROACH '' your outcome will change and you will become profitable in the long run
This is the approach that a few minority of the traders use. This approach is not based on predicting anything; rather this is a precise pre-defined system of pulling the trigger when your system or edge presents itself, and the outcome of the trade is irrelevant . You care about the outcome of a series of trades.
We take a series of trades, and we are entirely focused on the outcome of the series, and NOT the outcome of each individual trade. The outcome of each trade and attempting to predict the outcome of each and every trade is an uphill battle because humans are designed to expect what they predict. It is difficult to implement your system or edge in the markets flawlessly if we become attached to any one single prediction. The truth of the matter is that we do not know what will happen next; the only certainty is the markets uncertainty.
Having your own personal predefined edge
In fact, mentors can transfer you knowledge but never experience. You need to use their experience to create your own plan , you need a strategy and you need a flawless execution. there is no doubt either it works or no. make sure to set rules to find good trades execute those good trades and let those good trades play out. Trading is very personal.
Laser Focus learning curve
Those who make it in this business were laser-focused; they made a decision to either be right or wrong. A laser shines a coherent beam of light and is powerfully focused on a single point. That point will undergo immense heat or pressure. Same applies to learning to trade. It requires all your energy to be put forth on a single objective.
Compare this with a light bulb or the sun, which shines its rays outwardly with its energy distributed in all directions. You will barely feel the heat as the energy is unfocused and dissipates accordingly. This applies to those traders who have issues They doubt their decisions and jump from one strategy to another they chase the holy grail they change from system , they buy multiple courses , change of style etc..... There is million ways to make money in the markets but only you will make it with your own way. My advise is to Focus in one pair or few pairs, one session , a clear defined profit system, one pattern a clearly defined type of trading and that's it.
Make a decision, and instead become focused like the laser beam on what it is that you desire to develop, and you are more likely to achieve your target.
In order to keep in mind this remember this quote of Bruce Lee “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”...
Thanks for your attention , hope it was helpful . Please make sure to support this idea and comment what you think about . Let's reach editors pick attention and grow together.
5 Possible Outcomes Of Your Trades | Trading Basics 👶
Hey traders,
Depending on your actions, you can get 5 completely different results
taking just one single trade.
1️⃣The first outcome is a small win.
By a small win, I mean a winning trade producing up to 2.5% account growth.
2️⃣The opposite situation leads to a small loss.
To me, a small loss is a losing trade producing up to -1% account decline.
3️⃣Occasionally once the price starts moving in the predicted direction, one can protect his trading position moving his stop to entry and making a position risk-free.
Being stopped out such a trade produces 0% profit. The level where the position is closed is called a breakeven point.
4️⃣If one perfectly predicts a future direction of the market and opens a trading position accordingly, occasionally, a huge profit can be made.
A winning trade producing more than 2.5% net account growth is called a big win.
5️⃣Being wrong in the predictions, however, one can adjust and trail a stop loss not letting himself be stopped out. Such behavior may lead to a substantial loss or even a margin call.
A losing trade that produces more than -1% net loss is called a big loss.
❗️Learning how to trade, I strongly recommend you eliminate the 5th outcome. Managing not to lose more than 1% of your account will substantially improve your trading.
❤️Please, support this idea with like and comment!❤️
Trading is like a bus journeyYes, a bus has crashed!! – the crash test driver unfortunately crashed into a forest. Don’t worry no one was hurt! 😉
Let me tell a bit of a story. I hope it resonates with some.
I have been trading over 5 years and I have observed many people failing including myself.
A big reason people fail is the lack of a plan and a journal.
We need a plan to follow to ensure we know what to do.
We need a journal to illustrate whether we executed the plan correctly. Now this may sound easy, and it is not. We, as human beings, do not like to follow rules. Can everyone relate to driving over the speed limit? Have you ever driven over the speed limit? We think we know better even though we know the speed limit is there so if we do hit someone the likelihood, they have a serious injury is less if we keep under the speed limit. This also relates to us. If we keep to the speed limit, we are likely to be less injured in a crash.
I have, over the years seen many training groups and organisations, and one of the items which is glossed over, in my opinion, is the insufficient detail on how to journal.
“It’s just an excel spreadsheet”, I hear you say, to record what you have done right? No its not.
You have rules to a trade, and you need to know whether you traded according to the plan, I hear you say, “A checklist, ah yes I know this”. How many people fill out a checklist before they take the trade? I am sure that the number that really do this is very small.
So, we have 90% of people failing (this is a statistic we all know I hope) few people keeping to the rules, and hardly anyone making a journal correctly that records whether the rules of said trade have been met. Can you relate with this? Also, a journal should record how we felt at the time of taking the trade, and what happened as it developed, so we can see perhaps what psychological barriers we have.
Let me give you an idea. What if you had a journal that details the rules for each trade, and for each trade you had a built-in checklist to encourage you to follow those rules? Do you think this would keep you on track to follow the rules? No - you still will not follow the rules. After reinforcement and practice, the chances you will follow the rules increase. This is what it is about. Reinforcement and practice. A successful trade set of 25 trades of you following the rules, will do wonders to your performance.
Where does the crashed bus come into this story? We are going to bake a cake first before the bus!! Everyone loves cake! :-) .
Now, another problem which repeats again and again, is if I say here is a cake - people go I want to make a different cake. Why is this? I have given you a specific cake to make and you want to make a different one. Now, what I would ask you, is, do you know what the success rate of you baking your own cake is? You know that - ok, go for it and good luck. Just write down the recipe and follow the rules of making it.
Think of this another way, here is the bus. I know you are dying to know where the bus comes into the story.....
"You are standing at a bus stop and waiting for a bus which has your name written in big letters on the side. A bus comes along, it doesn't have your name on it, and you decide to get on, always optimistic, it might just go the right way. The bus does not go where you want it to, and everything goes wrong. You get lost in the forest and the bus crashes, bad crash test driver!!!.
Now, the person that waited for the bus with their name on it, when they step on the bus they find a chest with money inside, wow, that is why the bus had their name on it.
Now, you are on the bus, when do you get off? As the bus bounces down the road, the chest starts filling up with more money. You need a plan to stay on the bus and you need a plan to get off the bus - you take the money with you, I would hope!! ;-)
In terms of trading, do you exit your trades too early and then watch the trade keep going for lots of percent and think only if? There are multiple ways that can be used to trail. Develop rules for trailing and follow them. You get off the bus when your rules are met to get off. If you have no rules, you are likely to let profits disappear, get off to early, get stopped out for a loss.
Do you get worried of missing out? The good news about busses(trades) there will be another one along shortly. There is always another bus with your name on it.
Do these concepts relate to you and your trading? Impatience, not following the plan, think you know better than the back-tested results?
If so, you know what to do. Journal each trade with a checklist to encourage you to follow the rules for entry, trailing and exit and you will see your performance increase. It will take time and practice. Having rules will make you less emotional to react in an adverse way and more accepting of a mindset “this is what I do!”.
If you see your entry requirements are satisfied, jump on the bus. Trail according to your rules, to a point, then get off and collect profits.
Have no deviation from your mission to get on the right bus and to get “home” in one piece.
I hope this analogy has been helpful for you.
Good luck with your trading!! All my best.
Pyramid of Trading: a step-by-step guide to successHey, fam! Happy Saint Valentine's Day and welcome on another educational post. The topic is the following: a step-by-step guide to success in trading.
We all start somewhere, right? Something grabs our attention and builds instant interest that makes us persuade a specific thing. If you decide to interview a number of traders and ask them reasons why they had decided to become a trader, they will all give you various answers. One will tell you that his motivational driver was a random guy on Instagram that drives a Lamborghini Urus and claims that he is a day-trader. Another one will state that he has always been aiming towards building a great career and becoming financially independent and so forth.
Regardless of the background, all of them had started their trading journeys having the same drive, enthusiasm, passion, hunger, and motivation. One cannot simply succeed in this sector without being ambitious and eager enough.
While the above stated characteristics serve as basis of motivation, the next tier is one of the most important ones, as it sets the ground for all upcoming success and profitability. It is crucial to keep constantly learning, brainstorming, making yourself familiar with new stuff, applying the learned in practice, and adapting to the changes that take place both in your life and in the market.
After the fundament has been set, it is time to move to the main part: Planning, Executing, Journaling. First of all, if we have reached this particular tier, it means that we already have e strategy that we stick to and refrain from changing every week/month. We use this strategy to plan our trades and execute them once all criteria have been met. We journal all of the taken trades, both winners and losers.
Journaling helps us optimize our strategy and make some chages in it if neccessary. As market conditions change quite rapidly, our strategy and business plan should be modified as well in order to account for those changes. In addition, regardless of anything, we remain patient, cold-blooded, and trust the process.
After climbing all those tiers and reaching the very top of it, we can finally say that we are profitable and consistent, and we can enjoy the fruits of our own labour.
Of course, it is never as easy as it may sound, but long-term vision, patience, and ambition can take him or her to the doors of profitability. Thus, we encourage all fellow traders to keep grinding and strive for prosperity!
With love,
Investroy Family
5 KEY points to control FOMOHi Traders,
FOMO is a VERY real thing and in this post, I wanted to share with you 5 key points that has helped me control my psychology around this throughout my trading journey.
1. Accept the market can go in any direction; Neutralize your mindset:
The market changes very quick on any given basis and just when you think you have a perfect set up, it could take a turn and make profits turn into losses in matter of seconds. As you analyze the market, you need to have a neutral mind set understanding that price can go either way and as structures develope, you may need to change your bias and take a step back to look at the price action in a different view. If you approach the market in a neutral mind set, you are not "marrying" your set up and this helps reduce your emotions and builds your psychology.
2. Risk Management:
Risk Management is the holy grail in trading. If you cannot control how much you risk, you are simply gambling. Losses are inevidable in trading and you need to understand you will always endure them, but keeping the risk at minimal (1%) will sustain your capital to be able to continue trading. Keeping the same risk on each and every trade and maximizing your reward ratio will help you compound your profits and eventually your losses will be outweighed by your rewards.
3. If you missed the first entry, there will ALWAYS be another one:
Often traders will try and chase a massive drop HOPING that price will push down further when in fact could catch you with your pants down. Understand that there will ALWAYS be another entry that may fit your trading plan. If you missed the first one and start chasing volatility rather then sitting on your hands waiting for another confrmation, your judgement gets clouded which will the create revenge trading, greed, FOMO and capital loss.
4. Take what the market gives you; leave your EGO at the door:
Any experienced trader will tell you to check your EGO. Just because you THINK the price will go to your target, it doesn't mean that it will. Price does not need to reach your target for you to be profitable, taking your profits as the market gives you will make you profitable. As the market moves and creates structures, at times it may not be ready to continue to rise or drop and that is why you need to manage your trades accordingly and adjust your mindset to acheive this in order to avoid uncessary losses.
5. Have a Trading Plan & Follow your Trading Plan:
Having a Trading Plan is key in order to know when to get in or out of the market. If you are unable to identify your profit targets/stop levels, entries, exits etc. you are doomed to fail. Following a plan will help with consistency along with many other areas towards the road of success. Implementing a plan is just one area which will help gain confidence in this business, its what that plan entales which will help you succeed in this business.
Every trader that has they're own trading style, plan, management and mind set and there is NO right or wrong in trading as long as you are following your plan and your decision meets your criteria.
I encourage every trader to review your plan and make necessary changes as your journey continues to achieve greater results.
Leave a comment and and share your thoughts around this topic :)
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Enjoy your weekend!
A Chat With Traders: Traders And Psychology With JohannaJohanna a 22 years old forex trader—with an enthralling background and compelling story. The Sudanese trader’s story starts from: Cameroon and Norway. Johanna was born in Cameroon but, bred in Norway.
According to her, “emotional intelligence is a crucial part of forex trading”. Albeit, traders don’t really talk about it. However, she prefers to trade in a converse way in relation to other retail traders. “I didn’t know I would be so affected by psychology in this game”, she mutter. In addition, “I’m a risk-taker. I love taking risks”.
Who is Johanna?
Originally from South Sudan, born in Cameroon but raised in Norway. I am currently both: a dental student and an upcoming day trader. Was first introduced back in 2018 through another female trader posting it on Instagram but—because of fear and lack of motivation, I did not take it seriously until late 2019.
Had jobs in different branches: from store employees, elder homes, and customer service. None of them have really fulfilled my perspective of living my life on my own terms.
So when I got introduced to trading, I knew it could give me the freedom I was looking for. What I didn’t first know, was the work, effort, and knowledge that was required. My first initial thought was to give someone else my own money to trade for me whilst learning, just for me to become a victim of scams on my earliest day.
Moving forward, after almost 10 months of trading live, I’m looking to get the right skill needed for me to handle the market in the long term but also educate and inspire more females to join the industry.
Woah, Johanna that’s some kick wass intro. I wouldn’t continue until this question is asked though. How long have you been trading? How did you learn forex and come to know it?
It has already been year on a live account. But, I was 5 months on demo before that.
Johanna’s On Trade And Psychology
The previous chat I had, inspired this particular question. Social media has allowed us as traders to have a wider footprint outside of the forex industry, what do you think your impact is in the industry?
The industry is heavily male-dominated and I really want females to contribute and represent another side. I’m also big on learning the right skills; from the right people so you don’t get scammed easily in this industry.
That’s you speaking from experience there. Right? Do you have a special way you trade this particular pair? If yes, can you share a tip for that pair?
My approach is a bit different: as I look to trade the strongest and the weakest pairs. I will therefore look for these pairs during my market preparation—this will also help me to understand the directional bias for further analysis.
Hey, Johanna—are you a technical or fundamental fan?
Technical and fundamental. I personally feel like both are important to have an overall look of the market and why things happen the way it does.
Without a doubt. Loving the way you’re handling this questions. What is your go-to strategy? I would also love that you explain: why that is your go-to. Do you have a major reason why you chose that strategy and how it has helped in improving your trading.
I like trading the opposite of what retail traders generally do, and as an Intraday/Swing trader, I prefer to look out for major liquidity grabs and trade from those areas.
“The opposite”. How can you tell—Just a curious cat here. By the way, Who/what inspired you to start trading? If you have a mentor, what’s their name and what about that individual inspired you?
Haha. The freedom to be able to trade from wherever and whenever I want is—definitely the inspiration. Those who inspired me are: Melisa Hilma, Cue banks, Forex with ally, and the Gold father
It’s research time for me—I guess. However, still on psychology, What keeps you sane? Because I won’t lie—trading can stress you out and some even get depressed. So how do you overcome this?
Hmm. I trade with an amount that doesn’t affect me, adjust my risk management to a level where I feel comfortable trading, and ready psychology books both for trading and personal development.
Okay, that works. Especially the reading part. I know this particular question may sound weird. The reason asked is: as humans we have the whole “act now, think later” thingy going on even when it’s not the right thing to do. So, do you have a trading “guilty pleasure”? If “yes” what is it and how do you handle it when it happens?
Made this mistake a lot in the beginning. Albeit, I’ve tried to work on being very strict and journal every time—I might do this mistake to then go over it during the weekend. If greediness occurs, I really need to take a step back and look at my plan, checklist, and rules before taking a trade.
Someone’s disciplined. Tell me—what are the three traits you have that keeps you successful? And what three traits do you hope to have in trading that would make you a consistent trader?
A big risk taker, I love taking risks. Being consistent and systematic as a person, also helps me become a better trader and the appetite to always learn something new! As a trader you meet so many challenges, you can never be bored!
Truth to that. It’s amazing the discoveries one can get from just trading. Speaking on bore-dom—When you’re not trading, what are you doing?
I study, read and I like meeting friends. In addition, the Corona virus has also made me start watching some new tv shows. I love to bing watch them on: Netflix and HBO.
Yeah being hooked on some shows as well. Tell me about a time you disagreed with a decision. A time you didn’t follow your trading plan. What did you do?
There was this one time where I did something. Though, I do not recommend it. Took a trade into a news event. That’s personally against my rules. I still did it and it went away for a while before it reversed and hit my stop loss. The worst part was: I was trading Nasdaq100 (indices) that moves very fast and can easily blow up your account with one bad move.
Eish! I can definitely relate. Nasdaq’s my field. How do you handle pressure, impatience, fear, doubt and greed in forex?
You know what, I don’t work well under pressure—so, I can’t be dealing with anything that might pressure me to do something outside my plan. I’m actually a very patient person and I haven’t really rushed in the market. Things take time and I accept it. I might doubt myself sometimes but I keep thinking that others have done the same but they are now in better situations. Same thing with greed. Greed will test you in the market but, taking control of that earlier in the trade will help you a lot. I take what I can from the market and I’m happy with that.
Well said. Johanna. Let’s visualize now. So what would you want your forex dream to be like (in details).
Too many dreams. My forex dream is just one of many things I need to accomplish. Being financially stable from forex is the first step, but investing in other assets and businesses is as important as my drive to learn forex.
Investing, compounding. A great dream. Who is one person/academy you think Neophyte or everyone should follow and why?
Really look up to Melisa Hilmi, the first person who introduced me to forex. She has a genuine drive for the market and has an amazing course from beginner stage to advanced. Also, she has an amazing track record, history and I appreciate people who do their own thing.
Haven’t really heard of her. Another assignment for me. What are you biggest strengths in forex and What’s one thing you think you are very good at in forex?
I’m a big risk-taker. This makes me less emotional when I trade: as I’m not attached to money—the same way as many might be in the beginning.
“Big risk-taker” That means you probably won’t relate to this question—But, Have you ever tried quitting? If yes, what did you do about it?
Yes. I took 2 months break after I got scammed and was really depressed. I got back up knowing that it was just a mistake. Trading is still something I should be able to try out but by myself.
Ouch. So sorry about that. By the way, speaking on losses—What was your greatest loss, how much was it?
My greatest loss so far is: $6000 in 2 days.
That’s crazy. What motivates you?
Being able to change how I and my family live. My younger siblings motivate me—even more. I want to give them much more than what I got when I was younger.
Aww. That’s so sweet. In trading, how do you manage a trade when in it?
While the trade is running, I make sure I have alerts on areas of key levels. I might check it one time every hour and might adjust my stop loss to make the trade risk-free.
I’m curious now. What’s your trading plan? And what is your go-to assess class (what pair(s) would you consider are your favorites) and why do you prefer these pairs?
I start off by looking at major news for the day/week and look out for events that might affect my trades. Most of my market preparation for the week happens during the weekend and I will focus on only executing my trades after that. I look for high probability trades and I have a checklist I mark off before, during, and after the trade. They include: my entry rules, exit rules, risk management strategy, and how I will manage my trade while it’s running. My favorite pairs are: GBP and NZD pairs.
Johanna speak on the Industry and It’s Newbies.
Hope to see your watchlist someday. I always ask this particular question. What’s your take on Neophytes that want to learn forex? Do you prefer they paid for the knowledge or stick with YouTube videos and free materials.
Spent a lot of time on YouTube and it helped me but—you should also take a course: as the information can be overloaded with free materials.
Yeah. Lots of free courses everywhere. Learning everything can be quite exhausting. This may sound “cliché” but why forex? What is your major reason for choosing forex?
Not funny but, I was first scammed in the crypto industry—I backed off from that. Then forex seemed like a reasonable market for me as it involved more than just studying currencies.
Lot of scamming on your part. Moving forward. We all talk about trading psychology, what can you say about that?
Didn’t know I would be so affected by psychology in this game. Pay attention to every move that affects your mindset and work hard on improving it.
Needed to hear that from you. Because, I think psychology is one of the most important—if not the most important part of trading. So, that’s why I’m laying emphasis on it. What are your trading rituals and how has it helped your trading?
When looking for high probability trades, I only take trades that matter hence—why I don’t need to take many trades every week. I stay out of bad markets and back-test my weekly losses.
Back-testing, important. What are your trading aspirations? I know many trade for “financial freedom” but what happens when that’s achieved? What do you plan on doing with trading?
Plan on making an educational space. Not just within trading, but also in finance. There are many opportunities out there: to better yourself financially. However, I see many people don’t take that chance due to: either lack of experience but also fear of losing money. I want to motivate more people to go for what they want.
Good-luck on these aspirations Johanna. It’s a great idea. What would say is your “win-rate” and what really drives results in your trading?
I would say I have a win rate of 68-72%. My results are driven by hours of back-testing different pairs and their movement.
Not bad really. Did you have a job though. If yes, What was your salary in your last job before forex? Was leaving it for forex worth it and why?
$1300-1700 a month. Definitely worth it. Not looking to go back to a corporate job anytime soon.
Haha. Forex stole you away. Tell me how you think other people would describe you. What do you want to be remembered for in the industry?
Very social and outgoing. I want to be known for someone introducing the market in a different way by: showing them both obstacles and good days. There’re too much fake lifestyle on social media.
Well, most are great marketers. Others, for social status. Do you keep a journal? If yes, what does it consist of?
Yes, I do. I have different sections where I journal my market, pips achievements, losses & wins, my risk percentage, and personal processed thoughts I had during the trade.
Nice. I’m really grateful for your time. Although, I won’t be leaving till you tell me about the toughest decision you had to make in the last six months. Was it a trading decision? If yes, tell me how you handled the situation.
No worries. Quitting my last job. It was a hard decision but I knew it was the right thing for me not only to pursue my trading dream but—also be able to focus on things that make me happy. I don’t regret it at all.
That’s tough. How would you describe your ideal work environment?
My ideal work environment is essentially an office filled with other female traders working to help and educate other upcoming traders like myself on their journey.
Yup. You’ve definitely got a great belief system. I’ll be looking forward to this Ma’am. You know we have the Neophytes now in the industry. In fact, more Neophytes are trooping in. What’s your advice to them and what would you recommend they start with?
Simple. Throw away the whole “I’m going to become rich in a few weeks”. Focusing on the money aspect will really turn your motivation off in the beginning as: you don’t even have the skill set. Focus on the skillset, and the money will come along.
Process first, then outcome. You couldn’t have said it better. What would you consider to be your biggest forex achievement? Tell me about a forex accomplishment you are most proud of.
When I was profitable enough to quit my job. It takes time, and I’m nowhere near where I want to be but—I have at least come a long way.
Positivity goes a long way. Do you have weaknesses—What are your forex weaknesses? How do you plan on going about them? Have you succeeded in doing that?
Social media can be a very scary place and as an upcoming trader, you will encounter a lot of different things. Comparing myself to other traders is a weakness of mine, but I keep reminding myself that their journey is different from mine and we all have our own path. I don’t really look at other traders that much anymore and just focus on myself and my own journey.
The media, if used wrongly is a deadly disease. Proprietary firms are in existence now. Do you trade for any proprietary firm? If yes, which one and how is it going?
No, not yet but I’m looking to take the FTMO when I’m ready.
Finally, before I leave you Johanna. How long do you plan on trading forex and Where do you see yourself in five years with forex?
Plan to stick to my written rules and risk management. I also look up everything that I don’t understand and learn from it. Progress is my everyday mission.
How to Construct Your Trading Plan 2.0 Hi everyone:
Today let's go over a trading plan in more detail. I have made an educational video on this before, and many have asked me to create a more in depth breakdown on this topic.
So let's take a look at what topics to include in a trading plan.
First, what you should understand is there are no set guidelines of what exactly you should include in your trading plan.
Most traders will have different approaches on this topic, and some will have similar ways of constructing it.
What is important is this is something you will look at on a regular basis.
You will add, remove, edit your plan so it is the most up to date with the information you want to include in.
You should NOT however, just copy someone else’s trading plan, since it won't be applicable to you.
Below I have outlined the 6 main topics that I include in my trading plan, and I will go over each topic in more detail on what can be included in.
Personal Goals, Emotion/Mindset, Changes
Trading Checklist
Trading Quotes to reflect on
Trading Past experiences, mistakes, and lesson
Trade Enter Criteria
Trade Management
If you have any questions, feel free to let me know :)
Thank you
How To Use Bitcoin Futures To Hedge Your CryptoYou are either a trader or a HODL'er. Since I am a trader I don't like to sit in massive swings in my spot Bitcoin positions, I like to use Micro Bitcoin Futures to hedge my spot position to minimize the risk and also maximize my long position in spot. In this video I explain how I am currently hedging my long Spot Bitcoin position using Micro Bitcoin Futures, Symbol MBT.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Derivatives trading is not suitable for all investors.
The Trader As An ArtistArtist What is art? I hear people say that word (art) a lot. In my opinion, everyone should stick to what they consider it to be. These arguments have been going on for the longest time. Ain’t stopping soon. Funny, when most hear the word “art” they’d have already imagined: the Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry nights. Art is actually one of the first way we learnt to explore the world—Through its elements and principles.
Today I opened my desktop… or is it laptop? Any-hoo, that’s not the point. I opened this piece of work and decided to do an in-depth research on the definition of “art”. According to the Oxford languages, They said, “Art is expressing or applying human creative skill or imagination in visual or non-visual form”. Honestly, I don’t even think that’s the definition I was looking for. I mean—not everyone knows they have the “creative skill”… What’s this creative skill anyway?
A creative skill is basically the ability to think about a task or problem in a new or different way. Meaning it can be anything right? P.S—Some-one said, “the best creative skill anyone can have is patience”. So are you trying to say, I need a creative skill to do an “art”. Huh… Well… Hey now, don’t get me wrong I’m not trying to argue with oxford. Maybe that’s their view of this word. Who am I to judge? Like I said, “it really can be anything; any-thing you can think of at all” here’s why:
Is Art Just About The Creative Skill?
Talking with Jules the other day—I heard her linguistic teacher say, communication is an “art” of… Wait, hold up. Heh, so communication can be an art. I mean—people do this thing everyday, How else is information passed if not through communication. All the definitions I’ve looked up on the word (art)—has the word “skill” in it. Any skill at all. I mean if oxford says the skill has to be creative well, their problem.
Ergo, can we say, we all do “art” in one way or the other. Lol! I just felt insanely proud saying that out loud.
Anyway, my view point is—the definition of art is subjective, we’re all right. Art is basically anything. It’s a language. Not just a thing, can also be a way. Anything that can be done by us humans (mammals), is definitely an “art”. I might be wrong but, I’ll come back to that.
What Is Art?
Back to my definitions—Then there’s that word “imagination”. You know what, I believe anything you can imagine is an art. Defining art is hard because—there’s no right or wrong in the definition of art. If you go on the internet now or ask someone, you’ll hear gazillion definitions.
More Definitions Of Art
Leo defines it as: experiencing an emotion and transmitting it onto others. A creative work of a human. It’s more than practice, it’s a way of life, Form of expression, quality of doing something. Also, An activity that manifests beauty, and The mastery and ideal way of doing something.
The definitions are infinite. Till today, the definition is subjective, open, debatable—It’s so amazing how one thing can mean different things. Art can be an emotion or feeling, an expression, imagination… It’s such an interesting word.
You watch movies and you cry, how exactly can a movie make you cry? How can one be so talented in evoking: feelings, moods or emotions on others—just by a single act? My British friends will say, “Amazing inn it”.
A Work Of Art
There’s a term that intrigues me, “a work of art”. Since the word “art” there is subjective it can be anything you make it to be. Art is an expression. Your job can be a “work of art” That can mean different things to different people.
This Friday, I took a stroll on google—came across Anita Louise’s blog. Anita made reference to an artist who said: he’s art has no meaning. She says, “the no-meaning is the meaning”. That took me down memory lane. I remember my first sculpture class in—art class, we were supposed to create whatever anything at all. Mr. Jake said, “become art”…
Heh, I remember picking tooth picks, more than a thousand of them. Had no clarity of what I wanted to make. Decided it’s best I play around with it. In the evening, I discovered that it gave me some kind of shape that I couldn’t describe. That piece didn’t make sense to me. To my out-most surprise, I scored the highest. Jake said, “Woah, Jamal this is interesting…” it made him curious. He also stated: that’s exactly what art means.
Mr. Jake’s statement left me in a state of awe.
That’s the message Anita was trying to convey. Most times—the meaningless art pieces are so intriguing that it becomes meaningful. That’s the beauty of art. The language of art is about appreciating any and everything—bringing the most senseless things to life.
Art And Interpretation
For you to interpret art, you need to ask yourself three questions:
What’s the meaning?
What’s the message?
What do the patterns mean?
In philosophy—the point of view is different. It’s grouped in two ways: Intentionalism and Anti-intentionalism. Intentionalism is: viewing the art from the artist perspective, whereas—Anti-intentionalism is: viewing and interpreting it from our own point of view—based on how we feel about it. The gift of art is that, no two persons can have the same interpretation. That’s what makes art very unique, interesting and fun.
In an art class, if a still-life composition is placed in front of you, most artist would decide to do hyper-realism, others a sketch. The shading is different as well, That is, some would use pointillism, others hatching, cross-hatching or scribbling. What I’m saying in essence is: it’s all about the interpretation and expression.
After the class, you’d hear different interpretations. In all honesty, Art is such an amazing thing. Not just in drawing but—other forms as well.
Types Of Art
Listen, I know the main topic is, “the trader as an artist” but I need you to stay with me—see where I’m headed. The main purpose of this topic is: to appreciate the art of trading, to give beauty to the person behind these charts. In addition, to appreciate something is to understand the meaning behind that thing—more on this in—the principles and elements of trading. Colleges today, galleries or wherever people get their information from these days will tell you—there’re two types of art: visual and Non-visual.
Visual art—The term “visual” means sight, to see. Therefore, visual art is an art of vision. It involves the art that’s seen and felt psychically. Non-visual art—In addition, Non-visual art is an art of the soul and the brain. This type of art—can’t be seen but rather felt, it evokes feeling both good or bad in humans.
Who’s an artist
On Saturday, I went to the Library to check-out the new books. There’s a book on objective and subjective POV. There was a write-up, “when you become objective about art and not just subjective, that’s when you start to see artists all around you”. The carpenter in your neighborhood or the gardener across your yard. The writers, traders… Oops, I just said traders. Of course why not. You may not create a master piece that ends up in a museum, but, if you find yourself involved or doing something in your life that—combines a sense of purpose with practiced skill, honey, you’re an artist.
Mark joined me in the library, I wasn’t even paying attention to him, because I came across an article that said, “Trading isn’t an art”.
The writer said, the statement is ridiculous. That you can’t bring Picasso or Gogh into the picture. That really got me irritated. I find it funny how rigid one’s mind can be. To the writer everything “art” should either be a painting of some sort. Years back, I remember when someone asked what I studied—I’d tell them “art”, the next question that pops up is—woah, so you can draw? Pfft, man I get so tired.
Back to the article, I mean he’s definitely an artist Cos’ his piece got to me. Anyway, the one who’s good at something especially if it involves something with skill—that’s an artist.
What Is Trading And It’s Relation To Art.
Trading is the act of buying and selling. Everyone can buy and sell, but, not everyone can do this consistently—without having your emotions involved in someway. Buying and selling isn’t always a positive act, especially if it involves money. Your emotions come to play. Controlling them is what makes you successful in this act. Right? That’s where the skill comes in. Since I need to acquire some sort if skill to become great at this profession, Why can’t I call trading an art?
Without the skill, you’ll lose.
Art requires skill; trading requires skill. What more do you need—That’s equilibrium there. This isn’t some sort of debate though. Not debunking anything. In other words, trading is an art since it requires a skill. There’s a saying that trading is a pattern and number game. Ergo, if trading isn’t an art, how do you recognize the pattern? There’s something called “pattern” in art. A pattern is a repetition. It also involves the elements of art. However, I could go on and on. My point is, trading is an art; a trader is an artist. Finis.
The Trader As An Artist
Since I parked my bike outside, I’ll probably go pick it up. Most people don’t know this but, traders are probably one of the smartest people ever. These guys have mastered the art of emotional intelligence, self-control, discipline, and patience.
Hear me out, this is a mental skill.
A tough work like this doesn’t get much appreciation. Trading is both a visual and non-visual form of art. Visual in the sense that, The charts can be seen, It’s patterns, structure and cycle. All these have their different meanings and interpretations. However, it’s the work of a trader to read these patterns and understand them. All these require a specific skill.
The up and down tics in trading come from market structure, price-action and market cycles all which is—a graphical representation of both buyers and sellers in the market. Each tic represents a humans decision. The only way traders can really survive is: by knowing the intentions of the market. In some cases, that’s nearly impossible.
Well, these guys do it anyway.
Furthermore, It can be non-visual—due to the feelings and emotions this art evokes in the traders. Traders who can’t control their emotions encounter problems. Whereas—the ones who have mastered emotional intelligence, can see its rewards.
The Trader As An Artist -The Market’s Interpretation
Finally, how we interpret the market falls under the—intentionalism and anti-intentionalism of the philosophical interpretation of art. Intentionalism: We are interpreting the market’s movement from the it’s own perspective. That means you are trading what you see. Anti-intentionalism: Traders who interpret the market like this, trade what they think they see and react based on that.
After reading—trading in the zone by: Late Mark Douglas ,I think most professional traders would rather stick with—the intentionalism part of the market.
Let’s step back a little to—art and it’s interpretations. Traders also have different ways we interpret the market, different strategies, and different styles. Just like the different forms of drawing and different shading techniques (More on this in the next article). It’s all about expression. That’s why I found that article about, “Trading isn’t an art” really funny.
In conclusion
Art is about expression. Similarly, trading involves movements. These artist (traders) have learnt to read this movements, to understand its meaning, and they react accordingly. Traders developed the internal ability to control both their mind and actions. The trader as an artist is someone who has polished their chart reading skills, market analysis skills, through pattern recognition and have in the process learnt the art of emotional intelligence. Anyone can be a trader but not everyone can be—a trader.
Furthermore, to be a successful trader, means—you are a successful artist.
Traders vs Gamblers: Know the main differences!Hey, fam! Happy Friday and welcome on another educational post. The topic is the following: differences between a trader and a gambler.
We are gonna go through 6 crucial points and elaborate how traders are different from gamblers.
1) As a trader, one’s aim is to focus on the next 100 trades instead of the next 10. Long-term success, profitability, and consistency are two of the main things traders should target. However, a gambler’s wish and desire is to make quick money.
2) A successful trader/investor has a backtested trading plan that he sticks to and optimizes along the way, adapting to changing market conditions. On the other hand, gamblers like to trade based off what other people think and tweet, or by simply opening a random Buy/Sell position and hoping it plays out successfully.
3) Profitable traders always diversify their portfolio and risk no more than 1-2% per trade. On the contrary, gamblers go “full margin mode” on a single trade without setting a Stop Loss and end up blowing their accounts and blaming the markets.
4) Chasing markets and rushing the process is not what real traders do. Instead, they follow their plan and wait for the price to play out and match their entry criteria before executing. Nonetheless, gamblers like to overtrade, open positions based on nothing, make biased decisions.
5) When enduring a loss or two (or three), traders neither get emotional nor try to revenge the markets. They know that if they obey risk management principles and open high risk-to-reward positions, they will cover all their previous losses and get back to making profits. Gamblers, on the other hand, get angry and start attempting to revenge the market by making foolish decisions and entering many illogical trades.
6) Last but not least, if you want to be successful and profitable in this field, you have to treat trading as a business and take things seriously. Those that think markets are a playground or a casino machine will never succeed in this space.
Is Trading “Gambling” or “Risky” ? Explained in business terms.Hi everyone:
The question that most people will ask is whether trading is the same as “gambling”.
Throughout the 9 years of my trading journey, this has always been brought up and asked about many times.
Of course anyone is entitled to think based on their perspective and view, so I am not here to argue or convince them otherwise.
Rather, I am here to share some key aspects of what I learned in trading for the last 9 years,
as well as years in the business world to discuss the difference between “Gambling” and “Risky” in trading and in business.
Most people who have never traded in their lives, but have heard about trading, usually assume trading is some sort of get rich quick scheme.
They often assume it's a type of “gamble”. Since most people around them probably lost money in trading.
It's not surprising as the statistics don't lie, 90-95% retail traders lose money in trading and quit eventually.
But what most people don't know is “why” and “how” they lose money in trading.
It's usually a combination of poor mindset and emotion.
No systematic plan, no risk management, get rich quick thinking, revenge/over trading, fear of missing out, and alot more psychological issues.
They did not put in the time and effort to succeed. Which then resulted in traders losing money and quitting.
Eventually making up excuses of why they fail in trading, and blame the market, the broker, the strategy.
All these no doubt also resulted in what normal people will say trading is a “gamble.”
On the other hand, is trading “risky” ?
Trading is just like any other businesses out there, that will be risky due to unforeseen circumstances.
Businesses face external factors that they can not control, just like in trading. Businesses have internal expenses, overhead costs, labour, loans, C.O.G.S…etc as well as many competitions within their respected industry.
It requires hard work and determination to succeed. Even for larger businesses that are where they are today, they were all risky when they started.
Was Amazon Risky ? Was Tesla Risky ? Was Facebook Risky ? Absolutely. But that did not stop their owners from putting in maximum effort and time to make it work.
Trading is no different, you are the owner, director and the CEO of your trading account.
So, don't confuse and get “gamble” and “risk” mixed up.
It's up to us individually to acknowledge and understand the difference between the two.
The truth is, successful traders understand the difference between “gamble” and “risk”.
To remove the “gambling” aspect from trading, is to have a well written trading plan, proper risk management, right trading psychology, positive mindset and control emotion.
Whatever strategy you decide to implement is not really the cause of your success or failure, but rather those I mentioned above.
This way, you remove almost all the “gambling” aspect away from trading, and it is now “risky” but bearable for you to handle.
Will trading always be “risky” ? Sure, it is a business and anything can happen unexpectedly and out of nowhere.
But successful traders understand the importance of treating trading like a business, so contingency plan, back up plan, trading plan, management plan,
and much more should be carefully thought out so you will know what to do when you are hit with sudden surprises like in a business operation.
The worst thing we can do is to not be part of any “risk”. If we are so relaxed, laid back, and have no stress to motivate us to move forward, then we stay within our “comfort” zone.
We become so glued to our 9-5 job which we then think it's safe. But, we will forever be in a rat race against many others who are better than us in credentials that will land that higher position/salary that we want.
“So to me, without taking a “risk” in life is the biggest “gamble” that you can do in life.”
Welcome to let me know and share with everyone what you think about this topic :)
Thank you
Jojo
