The purpose of this journal is to keep track of a person's trade record...and in pursuit of his dream. He have a different dream from the majority since he was a kid. They all would say they want to be an astronaut,doctor, teacher, pilot....etc...but when they ask what is his dream...he only have one thing in mind, he want to be rich. He even set a goal when he was 12, to be a millionaire by 30. He don't know how, don't care how.. but he know that he want to be rich one day or die trying. He came from a rather poor family, with Mum earning just enough to make ends meet to feed him and his brother and a dude that doesn't really give a shit to provide for family. This background might have changed his mindset since he was young.
Now fast forward, he is currently 24 and working & pursuing part-time degree studies at the moment. Have been working for awhile now, typical corporate bank jobs...dreading everyday yet he can't leave his job since he needed the money for studies...and often still wondering how is he ever going to achieve the dream he once had. Honestly, he don't think that getting a degree is going to get him where he want to be, but rather slow him down...imaging forking out ~SGD30,000 just because every eff-ing person in Singapore has it and "he should have it too"! The pursuit of education now is not for the curiosity of your mind, but because that you do not want to be the odd one out. That is just how the society have become..and no, he did not pursue my degree because of society's pressure, but because of his mum, whom wholeheartedly wants me to get one. She's always saying that she's poor like this because she did not have the opportunity to study hard when she was young...and he do not wish to disappoint. He is sure she's right and he respect that, however his view is that the value of a degree has fallen to dirt in just 20 odd years...there is practically no demand for degree holder nowadays...and what's $300-$400 increment vs the $30000 that you pay? Forking out more than half of his salary monthly just to service the society's demand...Oh well, 1 year+ to go....enough of rant
Back to the real topic, funny thing is that he have been introduced to forex in Dec 2015 when he was looking for a job. It was actually a "propriety firm" to trade for them using their funds however the job requirement is that you sign for their membership (~$2000) first and they will refund the fee if you are selected, and if not selected, you will still acquire the skill to earn few hundred bucks everyday! Well...he figured why not,treat it as an investment. And you know what he did, he paid and signed up, it was a stupid mistake. After attending a few session, he quickly realized that they are just a bunch of salesman, selling education on forex, capitalizing on people's "get rich quick" mindset...hell they might even be shitty traders themselves but boy are they smart. This is a great business idea. However forex will not be made known to him if not for them.
He remember strongly, the first time he fund his live account with USD1000...it falls on the day of ECB's meeting, he had no idea who Draghi was and what his impact might have on the market. He basically opened my chart, and saw the market went crazy even before the president started speaking. He don't know what he was doing, but he was so excited. He remember myself selling for a few pip, got out , increase his lot, sold for a few more pip, got out, and increase his lot and sold for few more pip. It was the happiest feeling in his life, he never knew that he could make so much money in just a few minute. He basically ran my account up from USD1000 to USD4000 in that few moment (Yes, his leverage was crazy.) So over the weekend he thought to himself, if he can get this kind of return so easily, he might not need to work anymore and will able to reach his dream soon. He can't wait for the market to open the next week! That was the first time he's so looking forward to a Monday (You know, typical blue collar dread Monday). He was very impatient, literally went in and trade like how he did during ECB news in a dead flat market...was in and out with losses because he sometime thinks that its going up, he buy; and going down, he sell...its all guesswork and you know in a flat market, the spread will suck you dry... however he was pretty impressed with how he close out losing position instantly and turn the other way when he looks back. And in just about 2 weeks, his account goes flat.
Painful? Hell ya, winning USD3000 was one thing, but losing USD4000 was another. That amount of money was so significant to him. He could not accept the fact. At that point, he was so demoralized, "i quit"...he say to himself...it's true what they were saying. However, after he recovered psychologically, he realized that he isn't a quitter, or rather, he simply cannot be a quitter if he wants to succeed. He started looking back to see what went wrong. Lesson learnt? Over-leverage. Greed. Fear. He literally used up his full margin on every trade. So when he started making losses, he could'd open the same position size as previously. So say he open 10lot and he lost... he can only open maybe 5lot now...so what if he win? He could'd make back what he lose previously for movement in the same magnitude. Meaning to say, even if he have positive pips, the way he trade is doomed for destruction. Over-leverage coupled with emotional drawdown, he managed to whipsaw himself to destruction in a slow and deadly market...2 weeks is all it takes.
After some time-off, he realized that he should be on demo account...to make all the mistakes he never made previously (he was only on demo for about 1month before going live)...and find a consistent way to make money in the market. Made a couple of demo accounts & live account (interim), destroying them one by one, listing down every possible way to lose money and destroy an account. Over-leverage, Maximum margin utilization, Over-trading, Tilting, Trading news, Being Stressful, Anxiety,Paralysis, Being Hopeful, Being Fearful....etc
Now he is going to start with USD1000 for trading again, its not a lot, but he still have to finance his own studies. This amount is something he can afford to lose at the moment. He will try to record down what went right/wrong in this journal. It will not be perfect, all those causes that make him lose money will still happen. It's part and parcel of trading. The goal here will be to minimize them...now....let the journey begin.
Now fast forward, he is currently 24 and working & pursuing part-time degree studies at the moment. Have been working for awhile now, typical corporate bank jobs...dreading everyday yet he can't leave his job since he needed the money for studies...and often still wondering how is he ever going to achieve the dream he once had. Honestly, he don't think that getting a degree is going to get him where he want to be, but rather slow him down...imaging forking out ~SGD30,000 just because every eff-ing person in Singapore has it and "he should have it too"! The pursuit of education now is not for the curiosity of your mind, but because that you do not want to be the odd one out. That is just how the society have become..and no, he did not pursue my degree because of society's pressure, but because of his mum, whom wholeheartedly wants me to get one. She's always saying that she's poor like this because she did not have the opportunity to study hard when she was young...and he do not wish to disappoint. He is sure she's right and he respect that, however his view is that the value of a degree has fallen to dirt in just 20 odd years...there is practically no demand for degree holder nowadays...and what's $300-$400 increment vs the $30000 that you pay? Forking out more than half of his salary monthly just to service the society's demand...Oh well, 1 year+ to go....enough of rant
Back to the real topic, funny thing is that he have been introduced to forex in Dec 2015 when he was looking for a job. It was actually a "propriety firm" to trade for them using their funds however the job requirement is that you sign for their membership (~$2000) first and they will refund the fee if you are selected, and if not selected, you will still acquire the skill to earn few hundred bucks everyday! Well...he figured why not,treat it as an investment. And you know what he did, he paid and signed up, it was a stupid mistake. After attending a few session, he quickly realized that they are just a bunch of salesman, selling education on forex, capitalizing on people's "get rich quick" mindset...hell they might even be shitty traders themselves but boy are they smart. This is a great business idea. However forex will not be made known to him if not for them.
He remember strongly, the first time he fund his live account with USD1000...it falls on the day of ECB's meeting, he had no idea who Draghi was and what his impact might have on the market. He basically opened my chart, and saw the market went crazy even before the president started speaking. He don't know what he was doing, but he was so excited. He remember myself selling for a few pip, got out , increase his lot, sold for a few more pip, got out, and increase his lot and sold for few more pip. It was the happiest feeling in his life, he never knew that he could make so much money in just a few minute. He basically ran my account up from USD1000 to USD4000 in that few moment (Yes, his leverage was crazy.) So over the weekend he thought to himself, if he can get this kind of return so easily, he might not need to work anymore and will able to reach his dream soon. He can't wait for the market to open the next week! That was the first time he's so looking forward to a Monday (You know, typical blue collar dread Monday). He was very impatient, literally went in and trade like how he did during ECB news in a dead flat market...was in and out with losses because he sometime thinks that its going up, he buy; and going down, he sell...its all guesswork and you know in a flat market, the spread will suck you dry... however he was pretty impressed with how he close out losing position instantly and turn the other way when he looks back. And in just about 2 weeks, his account goes flat.
Painful? Hell ya, winning USD3000 was one thing, but losing USD4000 was another. That amount of money was so significant to him. He could not accept the fact. At that point, he was so demoralized, "i quit"...he say to himself...it's true what they were saying. However, after he recovered psychologically, he realized that he isn't a quitter, or rather, he simply cannot be a quitter if he wants to succeed. He started looking back to see what went wrong. Lesson learnt? Over-leverage. Greed. Fear. He literally used up his full margin on every trade. So when he started making losses, he could'd open the same position size as previously. So say he open 10lot and he lost... he can only open maybe 5lot now...so what if he win? He could'd make back what he lose previously for movement in the same magnitude. Meaning to say, even if he have positive pips, the way he trade is doomed for destruction. Over-leverage coupled with emotional drawdown, he managed to whipsaw himself to destruction in a slow and deadly market...2 weeks is all it takes.
After some time-off, he realized that he should be on demo account...to make all the mistakes he never made previously (he was only on demo for about 1month before going live)...and find a consistent way to make money in the market. Made a couple of demo accounts & live account (interim), destroying them one by one, listing down every possible way to lose money and destroy an account. Over-leverage, Maximum margin utilization, Over-trading, Tilting, Trading news, Being Stressful, Anxiety,Paralysis, Being Hopeful, Being Fearful....etc
Now he is going to start with USD1000 for trading again, its not a lot, but he still have to finance his own studies. This amount is something he can afford to lose at the moment. He will try to record down what went right/wrong in this journal. It will not be perfect, all those causes that make him lose money will still happen. It's part and parcel of trading. The goal here will be to minimize them...now....let the journey begin.
Searching for some order in these apparent chaos...
