So before I get into detail about what this thread is going to be about, let me introduce myself.
About Me
I am a 21 year old South African Marketing student heading towards the end of my degree in the next year and a half (Down here we run along the normal calendar year, unlike some other countries
).My father got me into the idea of personal finance and ever since I was young he kept on telling me how I should save as much money as possible and put a certain amount aside whenever I got a form of income (albeit my small amount of pocket money). And this to me is probably one of the most important lessons one could teach their children, seeing as modern day consumers are just spending to their hearts content on their 'amazing' credit card... silly silly. This of course explains the massive amount of debt everyone is in. Simple life hack: If you don't have the money, don't buy it!
I bought my first share in a pharmaceutical company when I was 18, (the stock has has grown 514% in value from initial purchase) and since then have built up a little portfolio of 7 different shares and 5 ETF's. I would definitely consider myself to be more of a long term investor, holding things and waiting for them to go up in value.. As great as buying shares are for the long term, I find that Forex can be more lucrative.
The word "Trader" has flown past me over the time that I have been researching stocks, personal finance etc and I always thought that it just meant trading the stock market. Later I discovered that being a trader also means that you can trade something called Forex.. Ahh fancy word!
I used to see those stupid adverts down the side of your computer when I was younger about how you should join Forex to make millions, and I always thought it was some kind of spam message or scam. It took me a while to look into what it was actually about, and ever since then I think I have become hooked.
The fact that you can trade from home and practically anywhere is quite appealing, as I am the person who does NOT want a little desk job one day.
So at this moment you may be interested in why I am studying Marketing compared to something in Finance.
Well let me just start off by saying I am extremely right brained, meaning I am more creative than academic. I prefer writing, videos, crazy ideas, graphic design over 'boring' accounting numbers and long mathematical formulae. Lots of people have this idea that in order to trade and be involved in this 'fancy' stock market then you have to be some mathematical genius.. Personally I believe that cannot be more wrong (although being able to read the patterns does help)
I have come to LOVE this world of Finance and Investing and refuse not to be able to take part in it just because I am not academically orientated.
I want to show everyone and prove that just because you don't study Finance / Accounting, does not mean you can't get involved, understand and create a success of yourself from the market.
Maybe I see myself going into trading full time, who knows..
I have entered the world of Forex trading for a few reasons.
- I want to work from home one day and not be bound to a 9-5 schedule.
- It never hurts to have more than one stream of income
- I would love to become an individual fund manager (big dreams)
- Build up enough of a capital to purchase my first car
- Build up capital to get into the property market (Currently I am halfway towards my first deposit)
Long term life goals I see myself going into venture capitalism and the property market. Why work for a company when you can own it and make your money work for you. (Rich dad Poor dad)
I have started out quite an amateur, and my Forex knowledge consists of reading forums, watching YouTube videos, asking questions and reading ebooks on technical analysis. I am a big believer in the power of self study and learning from experience with others. Over the course of the year I have tasked myself to learn as much as possible about how the market works, what influences it, keeping myself up to date with the goings on, technical analysis, risk management, and the lingo of the market.
Goal: 100 pips per week (20 per day) with a 7/10 win ratio.
Aim for year 1:
It's important to know what you want when trading and to have an end goal. This year I have dedicated to trading my way up to afford my first car.
http://www.auto-shop.ca/images/289/288789/large_1.jpg.
Ambitious? Probably.. But a second hand 1998 BMW roadster goes for around R60K+-.
The other capital raised form my Forex account will go back into creating more.
I am going to be working in Rands, and because we all trade currencies you should know the exchange values.. If you don't, its roughly 1 USD to 11 Rand.
My initial deposit is going to be R1000.
As you can see below, after every two weeks the Rand value per point is increased. If I have been unsuccessful during the course of the week, and I don't achieve enough winning streaks then I will lower my Rand per pip as I don't want to blow the little budget I have.
A 10 pip stop loss will be put into place, risking 5%.
I believer transparency is important, and I will be posting every single trade that I partake in. Below is my goal list for trades and profit per week in an ideal world where losses don't occur. I will be keeping in actual version of these trades (edited into this post) as I go along, just so I can compare between the two and see how I can improve.
I am basing my trades off the 1Hr and 15M chart.
My Forex Rules
- Don't trade more than 3 times a day.
- Don't get emotionally attached to trades.
- Be positive.
- Don't trade in high news events (I am not experienced enough to know how the market will react).
- Wait for confirmation of indicators before entering a trade. (EMA crossover, RSI, SMI and MACD)
- Trade with the trend. If the 1HR chart is down, I can only short. If the 1Hr chart is up, I can only go long.
- Break that previous rule when I feel there is a good scalping opportunity.
- Ask myself why I am entering a trade.
- Don't trade 'just because I think it will go up'.
- Analyse each trade to see where I went wrong and how I can improve for the next time.
Currently I have a demo account with a South African broker called GT247.com and they are one of the few brokers that allow me to have a small minimum deposit. I will be entering the live market when my account has expired , and after I feel confident enough in my knowledge to make a success out of my future trades.
IDEAL TRADES
Month 1
Starting balance = R1000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R5 per pip = R500 a week - New balance R1 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R5 per pip = R500 a week - New balance R2 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R10 per pip = R1000 a week - New balance R3 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R10 per pip = R1000 a week - new balance R4 000
Closing balance = R4000
Month 2
Starting balance = R4000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R15 per pip = R1500 a week - New balance R5 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R15 per pip = R1500 a week - New balance R7 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R20 per pip = R2000 a week - New balance R9 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R20 per pip = R2000 a week - new balance R11 000
Closing balance = R11 000
Month 3
Starting balance = R11 000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R25 per pip = R2500 a week - New balance R13 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R25 per pip = R2500 a week - New balance R16 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R30 per pip = R3000 a week - New balance R19 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R30 per pip = R3000 a week - new balance R22 000
Closing balance = R22 000
Month 4
Starting balance = R22 000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R35 per pip = R3500 a week - New balance R25 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R35 per pip = R3500 a week - New balance R29 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R40 per pip = R4000 a week - New balance R33 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R40 per pip = R4000 a week - new balance R37 000
Closing balance = R37 000
Month 5
Starting balance = R37 000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R45 per pip = R4500 a week - New balance R41 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R45 per pip = R4500 a week - New balance R46 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R50 per pip = R5000 a week - New balance R51 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R50 per pip = R5000 a week - new balance R56 000
Closing balance = R56 000
Month 6
Starting balance = R56 000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R55 per pip = R5500 a week - New balance R61 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R55 per pip = R5500 a week - New balance R67 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R60 per pip = R6000 a week - New balance R73 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R60 per pip = R6000 a week - new balance R79 000
Closing balance = R79 000
Month 7
Starting balance = R79 000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R75 per pip = R7500 a week - New balance R86 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R75 per pip = R7500 a week - New balance R94 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R80 per pip = R8000 a week - New balance R102 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R80 per pip = R8000 a week - new balance R110 000
Closing balance = R110 000
Month 8
Starting balance = R110 000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R85 per pip = R8500 a week - New balance R118 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R85 per pip = R8500 a week - New balance R127 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R90 per pip = R9000 a week - New balance R136 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R90 per pip = R9000 a week - new balance R145 000
Closing balance = R145 000
Month 9
Starting balance = R145 000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R95 per pip = R9500 a week - New balance R154 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R95 per pip = R9500 a week - New balance R164 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R100 per pip = R10 000 a week - New balance R174 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R100 per pip = R10 000 a week - new balance R184 000
Closing balance = R184 000
Month 10
Starting balance = R184 000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R105 per pip = R10 500 a week - New balance R194 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R105 per pip = R10 500 a week - New balance R205 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R110per pip = R11 000 a week - New balance R216 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R110 per pip = R11 000 a week - new balance R227 000
Closing balance = R227 000
Month 11
Starting balance = R227 000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R115 per pip = R11 500 a week - New balance R238 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R115 per pip = R11 500 a week - New balance R250 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R120 per pip = R12 000 a week - New balance R262 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R120 per pip = R12 000 a week - new balance R274 000
Closing balance = R274 000
Month 12
Starting balance = R274 000
Week 1: 20 pips a day @ R125 per pip = R12 500 a week - New balance R286 500
Week 2: 20 pips a day @ R125 per pip = R12 500 a week - New balance R299 000
Week 3: 20 pips a day @ R130 per pip = R13 000 a week - New balance R312 000
Week 4: 20 pips a day @ R130 per pip = R13 000 a week - new balance R325 000
Closing balance = R325 000
Therefore at the end of a 12 month period in an ideal world I would have turned R1000 into R325 000 / or $85 into $27741,15
So this is me and what I would like to achieve.... I welcome you on my trade journey and this lovely learning process. All tips, advice and little things that you have to offer would be highly appreciated, as I would love to learn from others.
All my trades will be posted throughout this thread, with updates of my overall progress being edited onto this original post.
My biggest weakness will emotional attachment and missing out on trades because I am too nervous to take part. So I am busy trying to correct this and learn just to ignore the fact that my account is a monetary value. Instead I will try adopt a 'game mind' like strategy, where my goal is to try collect as many virtual points as possible without losing any. I used to love computer games, and this will keep me competitive in that form.
Phew that was long!
As it is frequently happening in our lives