The 10,000 Hours and Beyond Club

Had my attention on this article and found it quite insightful. I hope you find it somewhat helpful, too.

18 Reasons Why Forex Trader Is The Best Job Ever

1. Your background doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what you were doing before you learn to trade Forex. All that matters is your ability to consistently extract money from the markets. Trading is one place where rewards are still based on merit, not politics.
2. Choose where in the world you live and work. You can’t exactly work anywhere, but you can do it in places where there is a reliable internet connection. See amazing places and be exposed to different cultures. It certainly beats a cubicle.
3. Lower start-up cost than almost any other trading market. Other markets such as the futures market require at least $25,000 to be properly capitalized. In Forex, you can get started safely with as little as $100 and by trading nano lots. Nano lots allow you to take very small amounts of risk (1% or less), even with such a small account size.
4. Trading is a journey of self discovery. Many people think that trading is only about money and greed. Sure, there is definitely some of that. But in my opinion, it is one of the greatest journeys to self discovery that the average person can participate in. Money can bring out the worst in people and learning how to tame these demons can help you to become a better trader and a better person.
5. Answer to nobody but yourself. Doesn't it suck to have to take orders all day? Learn to trade well and that all goes away. Trading for yourself requires more responsibility, but the rewards are also greater.
6. Find like minded people. Do you wish that you knew people who think like you and are interested in trading too? I have found that traders share many of same interests that I have, outside of trading. Traders can be a little hard to find, but they are some of the coolest people I have ever met.
7. Create a living that suits your personality. If you prefer to trade on a longer time frame, there are profitable trading strategies for that. Do you prefer day trading? There are certainly successful day traders also. You can tailor your trading strategy to your strengths and interests. How many jobs allow you to do that?
8. Express your creativity. Contrary to what many people believe, trading can be a very creative endeavor. Figuring out profitable trading strategies requires a great deal of ingenuity. If you like solving puzzles, trading can provide an outlet for you to use your mind to its full potential. You probably can’t say that about what you are doing for a living right now.
9. Learn while you keep your day job. Since you have more flexibility in when you trade, you don’t have to give up your day job. In fact, you probably shouldn't give it up until you can prove yourself as a trader. This will allow you to pay your bills and focus on learning to trade well. There is no surefire recipe for failure than learning to trade when your back is up against the wall.
10. Low overhead. One thing that I hated about investing in real estate was all of the paperwork that was involved. Other businesses have invoices and clients to deal with. There is almost no paperwork and no clients (unless you choose to manage money) in trading. At the end of the year, you can just get a simple profit and loss printout from your broker.
11. Be as isolated as you want to be. Maybe you don’t like dealing with people. Great, trading is one of the few businesses that you don’t have to deal with others to make money. It can be just you and the charts, if you want it to be that way.
12. Learn about others. Trading is also a tremendously interesting study in crowd psychology. This is actually one of the reasons that I first got into trading. Learn why people act irrationally and how you can do the opposite.
13. There is a low technology requirement. You don’t need the latest and fastest computer to trade Forex. You can get a $300 used computer on eBay, free trading software from your broker and a demo account with play money, and you can learn to trade. Other markets are catching up to Forex in terms of the free tools that are available, but not all of them are there yet.
14. Create free time to indulge your true passions. Trading doesn't necessarily have to be your greatest passion in life. You may love to do other things that you may not be able to make a living from. Learning to trade well can give you the free time and income you need to do indulge in these other things.
15. Do something for a living that most people have no clue about. When I talk to people about currency trading, I usually start to see their eyes glass over before I can count to five. It’s not that they are dumb, most people just don’t know anything about it. While it would be nice to be the center of conversations, I like being considered a little weird…I mean mysterious.
16. Make an impact on the lives of others. Trading allows you the time to give back to causes you believe in. Regardless if you give your money or your time, trading can help you make a difference in the world.
17. Make your personal relationships the best they have ever been. More time flexibility gives you the opportunity to spend time with people who are important to you. Life is pretty boring if you cannot share it with others. Use your time to strengthen those relationships.
18. Cross off items on your Heroic List. You can actually do this right now, you don’t have to be a successful trader to start doing what you have always wanted to do. But the trading lifestyle sure makes it a lot easier. Create a Heroic List and write down everything you want to do before you die. See my Heroic List here.

​Source
http://www.tradingheroes.com/18-reas...best-job-ever/

How is your trading goin friend? i m sure you re doing good. You posted some really amazing stuff here. Thank you for doing so. You gave me the chance to read them!
I wish you well!

As end of 2014 approaches, here is one interesting article i pumped into on Babypisp.com
We had some good black swans swim here. =)

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...s_1238742c.jpg

The 5 FX Factors that Made 2014 the Year of Dollar.



1. Start of the Fed taper
The Greenback may have been off to a weak start in January, as extremely cold weather conditions weighed on hiring and growth during the previous quarter, but price action warmed up soon enough as Fed taper talks dominated the airwaves. Former Fed Chairperson Ben Bernanke decided to carry on with the taper in January and new Fed head Janet Yellen simply picked up where he left off.
With that, forex traders began counting down the days before the Fed completely withdraws monetary stimulus, projecting the end of easing by October 2014. Even though the U.S. economy hit a few road bumps throughout the year, the gradual monthly reduction asset purchases was enough to keep the U.S. currency supported.

2. Risk aversion from geopolitical tensions
It’s no secret that the U.S. dollar usually takes advantage of risk-off market environments, as its safe-haven status serves as a refuge for traders during times of uncertainty. Geopolitical risks stemming from the conflict in Ukraine and Gaza weighed on risk appetite mid-year, resulting to unprecedented levels of fear and volatility in the markets.
While the troubles seemed to subside in the following months, any news reports suggesting that tensions could flare again were enough to spark risk aversion and a flight to safety every now and then. In fact, economic sanctions doled out on Russia by the European Union and the U.S. appeared to have a lasting drag on risk-taking.

3. Sustained U.S. labor market improvements
Save for a few glitches here and there, the U.S. labor market was able to show remarkable progress in 2014. Heck the jobless rate was able to drop from 6.6% all the way down to 5.8% this year! That’s its six-year low!
Much of the developments were made during the latter half of the year, as hiring gains averaged at close to 250,000 a month since June. Weak wage growth remained a concern though, with feeble gains in average hourly earnings throughout the year.
Other labor market indicators showed slow but steady improvements, as the participation rate stabilized around 62.8% and the employment-to-population ratio marked its largest gain in nearly a decade. So far, the jobs figures have exceeded Fed expectations, further supporting tightening prospects.

4. Global slowdown concerns and the “fear trade”
A potential slowdown in China, the looming euro zone recession, and global deflation woes… All these weighed in favor of the U.S. dollar sometime during the third quarter of the year, as the “fear trade” dawned upon the markets.
Right around that time, it was rumored that major central banks were silently engaging in currency wars in order to ward off deflationary threats. While the likes of the RBNZ and SNB opted for currency jawboning and the ECB and BOJ implemented actual easing, the Fed seemed unnerved and confident in Uncle Sam’s economic prospects.

5. Speculations of Fed tightening in 2015
As the Fed taper eventually resulted to an end of the stimulus program in October, market participants focused their attention on when the U.S. central bank might start hiking interest rates. Even though Yellen and her gang of policymakers have repeatedly mentioned that rates will stay low for a “considerable time” after easing ends, forex traders couldn’t help but speculate that tightening might start in mid-2015.
In their last FOMC statement for the year, policymakers decided to add some remarks on being patient about considering gradual monetary policy adjustments, giving the Greenback an extra boost. Of course Yellen emphasized that any potential interest rate changes would continue to be data-dependent, especially since inflationary pressures remain weak.
With that, any changes in economic outlook or policy bias could continue to have a strong impact on dollar movements in 2015, although the Greenback seems to be in an upward trajectory. Do you think the dollar is set to repeat its strong performance next year?

Source
http://www.babypips.com/blogs/pipono...ign=fbtimeline

Hi storm, Thanks for stopping by. I am doing healthy and kicking. =)
I have other trading journals set up, and you can the links in my Bio section.

This thread will be mainly where I put my market related thoughts and inspiration while keep the subjects light and interesting.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years. Wish you have a beautiful year in 2015.

Sit down and flipping through some notes on anything related to oil and gold in the recent months.
Found these quite interesting charts and thought to share here.

So about 45 days ago, While at the rank 6 gold holding nation, we read Russia was reported bought more gold in Q3 then all other countries combined to prepare for the upcoming "currency war" or "Sanctions War".


Pumping 55T gold into reserve in 1 quarter is a lot... Mr. Putin...

On the other hand, as the rank 1 oil exporting nation, Russia, we all have seen how the oil is doing now days.
If you missed it, here is a recap.



Now let's put oil and gold together and see if we have a match...


errrrr... yes, we do. Not a pleasant sense for Russia tho.

Last but not least, the ruble performance



Hum... as conclusion, I guess it's not hard to spot Mr. Putin might have misfired his master plans. Well, that least that's how i expected based on what happened. At the same time i am just curious how the whole situation unfolds in 2015.


Source
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/c...nomic-war.html
http://www.mcoscillator.com/learning...crash_pattern/

As I am waving and saying bye to 2014, here is a piece of interesting infographic on what went down on Twitter in 2014.


Ah, time surely is passing fast, and here comes the 2015.

Is this what you have been working for?


Geez... guys please just focus on the video and ignore the links within the movie description... I didn't realize there was a link at the bottom that would lead you to somewhere...

The video is pretty educational and gave a good idea what the big boys are doing these days.

Enjoy.

Cant we all use put this in use?

9 EASY-TO-STEAL HABITS OF THE SUPER SUCCESSFUL
http://bit.ly/1Ei8FU5

Well written by Barry Ritholtz...

It’s time to market forecasters to admit the errors of their ways

I come not to praise forecasters but to bury them.

After lo these many years of listening to their nonsense, it is time for the investing community — and indeed, the seers themselves — to admit the error of their ways. Most forecasters are barely cognizant of what happened in the past. And based on what they say and write, it is apparent (at least to this informed observer) that they often do not understand what is occurring here and now.

So there’s no reason to imagine that they have the slightest clue about the future.

Economists, market strategists and analysts alike suffer from an affinity for making big, frequently bold — and most often, wrong — pronouncements about what is to come. This has a pernicious impact on investors who allow this guesswork to infiltrate their thinking, never for the better.
I have been beating this drum for more than a decade. What say we finally put a fork in Prediction, Inc.?

There is a forecasting-industrial complex, and it is a blight on all that is good and true. The symbiotic relationship between the media and Wall Street drives a relentless parade of money-losing tomfoolery: Television and radio have 24 hours a day they must fill, and they do so mostly with empty-headed nonsense. Print has column inches to put out. Online media may be the worst of all, with an infinite maw that needs to be constantly filled with new and often meaningless content.

Just because the beast must be fed does not mean you must be dragon fodder. (More on this later.)

The other partner in this mutually beneficial dance is the financial industry. Forecasting is simply part of its marketing strategy. There are two principle approaches to meeting the media’s endless demand for unfounded guesses about the future. Let’s call them a) Mainstream and b) Outlier.



The Mainstream strategy is simple: Take the average annual change in whatever the subject at hand is and extrapolate forward a year. Voila! You have a mainstream forecast. If you are talking about equities, predict an 8 to 10 percent gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. For economic data, project out the past 12 months forward. You can do the same for gross domestic product, unemployment, commodity prices, bonds, inflation, just about anything with a regularly changing data series. If you are feeling puckish, you can shade the numbers slightly up or down to separate your prediction ever so slightly from the rest of the pack — just to keep it interesting. As Lord Keynes once said, better to fail conventionally than succeed unconventionally.

A perfect example is the recent collapse in oil prices. Having completely missed the 50 percent drop that occurred over 2014, analysts are now tripping all over themselves to forecast $40, $30, $20 per barrel in 2015. Since their prior guesswork completely missed the biggest energy story in decades, why should any of us care about their current guesswork?

Then there is the Outlier approach, where a wildly unorthodox forecast is made. The prognosticator predicts the Dow Jones industrial average at 5,000 when it’s three times that, or hyper-inflation, or $10,000 gold, or a 1 percent yield on the 30-year treasury bond, or a collapse in the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet.
If it comes to pass, the forecaster is feted as a rock star. If not, most people forget. (Although some of us actually track these outlier forecasts). Those in the prediction industry are pernicious survivors. They understand how to play on the human psyche to great advantage. Like the cockroach, they adapt well to conditions of chaos or uncertainty.

There is a flaw in the human wetware that leads to a demand for even more (bad) predictions. The evolutionary propensity that humans suffer from is the desire for specific predictions from self-confident leaders.



This is demonstrated in a wealth of academic data about forecasting track records. Research has shown there is a high correlation between a forecaster’s appearance of self-confidence and believability. Unfortunately, there is an inverse correlation with accuracy, for reasons revealed by the Dunning and Kruger studies on metacognition and self-evaluation. Same with specificity: Studies show that the more precise a prediction, the more likely it will be believed, and the less likely it is to be right. These (and other) factors set up viewers to have the most faith in the people who are least likely to be right.
Perhaps the biggest issue of all is the most obvious: Human beings, in general, stink at predicting the future. All of you. History shows us that people are terrible about guessing what is going to happen — next week, next month, and especially next year.


Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...ddc_story.html

Many people asked what does it take for someone to be really good at doing something.

I say,

my heart,
my soul,
my sweat,
my blood,
my tear.

Everything.

Many people came across my travel thread and asked me what is the secret to trading?
http://www.forexfactory.com/showthread.php?t=485124


Actually, I have been thinking about share some of my personal experience with the community. It's just I never had time to sit down and organize my train of thoughts in words.

I thought maybe today is the day to do it.


So here goes a story of mine, and I hope my story would inspire you just a little bit more. Maybe it would help you to keep you stay on your course for a little longer.

So here goes...

I remember there was one night I stayed home study trading. I was on my second year in currency trading. I had no success back then. 7 out of 10 trades ended up lost. Many live accounts got wiped within 10 days. I was angry and confused.

That night I had stacks of books (were the greatest FX trading books at that time) and 3 months worth of demo trading history on the desk in front of me. I had a long day at work, so I didn't start reading them till I had dinner.

I started reading just a little bit after 8:00 after in finished my dinner. One page after another; note after note. When I finally got tired and went into the kitchen for a glass of water, I realized it was 3:26 in the morning. I was just standing in the middle of the kitchen having water. I look through the windows, it was all dark outside. I looked my phone, about 20 missed calls. And what was left was silences. I realized I was all alone in the house, and all of my roommates were no where to be found. It was 3:30 in the morning.

At that moment, I was still a bit lost in process even thought I spent the last 6 hours studying. However, at the moment, I knew I would find my light and walk through this darkest time as long as I tell myself not to stop trying.

I remember what happened in that night so clear as it happened yesterday. Even now days, memories would always take me back.

That night was the New Year Eve of 2011.

Now, every morning I walked out the shower curtains, I know I'd be able to face my life, my purpose, my journal and my faith one step at a time moving forward. My job is unique, and I just have to stay above average, stay excellent to finish it. There is no other way around it.

If you want me to give you an advice or secret how to stay in the business. I would give you 4 words.

"Keep trying; Don't Quit."

FXSayWhat

My sincere thanks to you. This piece of inspiring anecdote along with your other threads had certainly stirred something inside me, brought back the excruciating pain I've felt strongly after countless failures and failures in those formative years.

The moment I decided that being a successful trader was the only goal worth pursing even at the cost of my own life, was when I saw a scene from the film "Fight Club" where the leading character pointing a gun to a shop keeper and then...No Spoilers

Thank you for mentioning the 10,000 hours rule as well, not many people could understand what does if feel like to NEVER GIVE UP AFTER YEARS OF UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT AT SUCCESS.

Thanks for the blogs, very inspirational indeed! One of many secrets to trading Forex is perseverance.

Hi Tardigrade,

I am glad you found this thread helpful. I respect the people who are NOT afraid of fail.

Failure is NOT going to stop the NEXT successful currency trader, is it? That goes for every single profession on the plant of earth, or is it not?

Success is beating on your craft over and over and over till the job gets done. I have never seen anyone who succeed without paying the hard work at the beginning.

For some people, failing 1 time, 5 times means game over. They were raised that way. But how about going over that fence of failure? How about failing 10 times, 100 times or even 1000 times? How about spending the first 1000 hours learning the craft and spending another 1000 hours master it?

As the matter of fact, I am writing this blog because I am still failing. Failing of meeting my NEXT goal.

Cant you see the difference is clear? What are we committing to do? What are we dying to do?

Merry Christmas, not for the conventional reason but at least we can take a break

Maybe you are the lucky few who have discovered a trading strategy that well matched your unique psychic, and developed the essential discipline in order to stay profitable. How many hours did you spend trading/learning forex before you believe your trading sustainability had come? Mine's around 8,000 hours, and I'm just getting started to get a hang of it


I think you may like this picture

Cheers

It's not so much what you are doing that makes you happy. It's whether or not you are being mindful of what you're doing.

I'd say the first 10,000 hours is just knowing how good and bad the business is. And then it comes down to how to deal with the personal flaws and develop winning attitude (in trading) when it comes to overcome the most two well known factors fear and greed in trading. Overcoming and development these personal factors would be a major part of key elements in succeeding in trading.

After all, trading or finding a successful trading system is easy, but profit from them is hard in many cases to many traders.
So what changed?
Attitude Change.
(Emotional) pain tolerance changed.
People changed.

Funny little photo that says so much. I will bookmark it. Thank you.

Yes, time will tell but you must be there when it tells...so stick around and ask no more question... wisdom will come when it comes!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Thanks for stopping by, Xtrade_vn. Happy holiday to you and your family, too.

Entry 011216

Many traders overlook the the risk within their systems and the market while spending most the time focusing the gain instead of the risk.

I love outdoors, and many outdoor sports have its ways to inspires me in many aspect of life. I would like to have this moment to share this inspirational quote among the pro climbers in terms of how they see the risk in their hanging by a thread career. Perhaps there is also similarity we can learn to change the way we see the risk in trading too.

"The game of claiming is cut the line as fine as you can. If you are died taking stupid risk, not only you dead, you embarrassed yourself, you disgraced yourself. You are not supposed to take risk lightly. You are suppose to show that you are so good and so controlled that you'd take it right to that line, and you go no further. "