Fast and Furious Trading
In this week BKT Weeks Video, Boris Schlossberg continued his discussion on the 10 pips strategy. This link (Fast and Furious Trading) will direct you to his YouTube video.
His rules are as follows:
1. Look at 5 min charts - on EUR/USD and USD/JPY
2. Sell 2nd candle close above 2nd SD Band (for Sell Trades) or close below 2nd SD Band (for Buy Trades). Exception is 00 and 05 level.
3. Trade on all sessions using EUR and JPY
4. 10 pips stop; 7 pip limit
There are some interesting observations:
1. Boris stressed that this is not a strategy that can be automated. So, he believes that if someone designs an EA on this strategy, it will fail as there is discretion as to whether the rules should be implemented.
2. This is not a Holy Grail. There will be losing trades. I have personally observed the strategy and interestingly, it is more likely than not making money.
3. In this version, Boris did not cover the use of GBP/USD although in his video last week, he said GBP/USD may be incorporated into this system to improve the equty curve of the entire system.
2009-03-28
2009-03-21
Winning by Losing
by Kathy Lien and Boris Schlossberg of GFT Forex
"The key to succeeding in trading is to lose well. It doesn't matter if you are a die hard fundamentalist who thinks that chart reading is akin to astrology or an unrepentant technician who thinks that all news flow has less value than celebrity gossip. Every great trader I ever met knew how to control risk which is simply a polite way of saying that they knew how to take losses.
Of course losing is not what every newbie trader focuses on. Everybody wants to win big. Everybody approaches trading as though it was a lottery not a business. I am always amused by new traders who email me for the next 10 point trade and the next one and the next one after that thinking that the FX market is like a massive ATM machine. Those traders usually have a shorter shelf life than a half eaten apple.
On the other hand, traders that approach the market with a much more cautious attitude tend to do better. They soon learn that in trading losing is the only variable that you can control. Winning is frequently a function of luck, but losing is always a matter of skill.
Everybody hates stops. What's even worse is to be stopped two, three, four times in a row. In a debate between tight stops and wide stops I used to always hear "You don't want to die a death of a thousand cuts!" Well actually I do. After years of trading I came to the conclusion that tight stops will keep me in the game. I may be bloodied, I may be hobbled but I will remain alive to trade another day. In a choice between taking many small measured stops versus a few very large ones I will always choose the former because large stops can frequently turn into catastrophic losses, and much as it is unpleasant to lose money, it is always easier to recoup a series of small losses rather several huge ones.
Recouping is what trading is actually all about. Everybody who begins trading envisions an ever climbing equity curve that builds with the consistency of a weekly paycheck. Nothing can be further from the truth. In reality trading is always the act of giving money back to the market and then trying to claw it back.
Trading is tough precisely because it is so brutal. Unlike a job that pays us even if we are sick or distracted or simply not in the mood to do our best, trading promises you nothing. You lose, you don't eat. That's why I have such enormous respect for those traders who make their living solely from the market. They are the gladiators of modern finance and the ones that survive always know how to take a stop. The rest of us must learn those skills.
The need to build wealth through trading is greater now than at any time in the past 50 years. Does anyone who is 40 or younger believe that Social Security will pay them anything? How about your decimated 401K plans that are likely to range trade for the next 10 years as stocks cycle much like they did in the 1970's? Bonds? Good luck trying to fund your retirement with 2% yields.
Bottom line is that in the next decade trading may be the only avenue left to build wealth with your savings. That's why it is more important than ever to master key principle of the game - in order to win in trading you must learn how to lose properly."
What a timely reminder to many aspiring traders who think that traders have easy life and trading is as simple as ABC. Also, this article serves to reiterate that professional traders approach trading in a completely different way compared with amateurs. Professional traders always deal with the risks and profit target is the second. In this case of Kathy and Boris, they always talk about hitting T1 and move the stop to breakeven, and let the remaining lots do what they are supposed to do. They make they make. They don't make, it's fine. At least risk has been removed after hitting T1.
That's why I subscribed to their mode of trading completely, and it makes perfect sense to me. So, if one feels that forex is an ATM machine, and he can learn the tricks by attending courses but no practices after that, he may wish to spend to money to buy me kopi instead.
by Kathy Lien and Boris Schlossberg of GFT Forex
"The key to succeeding in trading is to lose well. It doesn't matter if you are a die hard fundamentalist who thinks that chart reading is akin to astrology or an unrepentant technician who thinks that all news flow has less value than celebrity gossip. Every great trader I ever met knew how to control risk which is simply a polite way of saying that they knew how to take losses.
Of course losing is not what every newbie trader focuses on. Everybody wants to win big. Everybody approaches trading as though it was a lottery not a business. I am always amused by new traders who email me for the next 10 point trade and the next one and the next one after that thinking that the FX market is like a massive ATM machine. Those traders usually have a shorter shelf life than a half eaten apple.
On the other hand, traders that approach the market with a much more cautious attitude tend to do better. They soon learn that in trading losing is the only variable that you can control. Winning is frequently a function of luck, but losing is always a matter of skill.
Everybody hates stops. What's even worse is to be stopped two, three, four times in a row. In a debate between tight stops and wide stops I used to always hear "You don't want to die a death of a thousand cuts!" Well actually I do. After years of trading I came to the conclusion that tight stops will keep me in the game. I may be bloodied, I may be hobbled but I will remain alive to trade another day. In a choice between taking many small measured stops versus a few very large ones I will always choose the former because large stops can frequently turn into catastrophic losses, and much as it is unpleasant to lose money, it is always easier to recoup a series of small losses rather several huge ones.
Recouping is what trading is actually all about. Everybody who begins trading envisions an ever climbing equity curve that builds with the consistency of a weekly paycheck. Nothing can be further from the truth. In reality trading is always the act of giving money back to the market and then trying to claw it back.
Trading is tough precisely because it is so brutal. Unlike a job that pays us even if we are sick or distracted or simply not in the mood to do our best, trading promises you nothing. You lose, you don't eat. That's why I have such enormous respect for those traders who make their living solely from the market. They are the gladiators of modern finance and the ones that survive always know how to take a stop. The rest of us must learn those skills.
The need to build wealth through trading is greater now than at any time in the past 50 years. Does anyone who is 40 or younger believe that Social Security will pay them anything? How about your decimated 401K plans that are likely to range trade for the next 10 years as stocks cycle much like they did in the 1970's? Bonds? Good luck trying to fund your retirement with 2% yields.
Bottom line is that in the next decade trading may be the only avenue left to build wealth with your savings. That's why it is more important than ever to master key principle of the game - in order to win in trading you must learn how to lose properly."
What a timely reminder to many aspiring traders who think that traders have easy life and trading is as simple as ABC. Also, this article serves to reiterate that professional traders approach trading in a completely different way compared with amateurs. Professional traders always deal with the risks and profit target is the second. In this case of Kathy and Boris, they always talk about hitting T1 and move the stop to breakeven, and let the remaining lots do what they are supposed to do. They make they make. They don't make, it's fine. At least risk has been removed after hitting T1.
That's why I subscribed to their mode of trading completely, and it makes perfect sense to me. So, if one feels that forex is an ATM machine, and he can learn the tricks by attending courses but no practices after that, he may wish to spend to money to buy me kopi instead.
2009-03-18
Trading 'expert' ordered to refund fees
I am sure many folks in Singapore are bombarded with the recent case of Dr. C who was successfully sued by a group of students. See this Link.
The basis of the claim lodged by the complainants is that Dr. C misrepresented to them on his qualification. Is it a joke? Yes, at least to me. When a self-proclaimed options guru markets his course, the participants relied only on his academic qualifications. Well, there is a big difference between academic qualifications and practical / experience qualifications.
Lecturers (or nka Assistant Professors) are all assumed to have at least Doctorate Degree, and it is a requirement. Do they necessarily possess practical experience? Not really. They need to be exposed to the development outside the campus in order to understand what the heck it is going on in the world. Having a paper qualification is good but it does not mean that this person is an expert.
If we all respect trading as a business, and is a skill we need to practise in order to get better and better, we just have to do and learn from someone who does it professionally and day in day out. Learning trading from a PhD will give us very good textbook knowledge. In this case, of course, I have the privilege to speak to Dr's classmates many years ago and understand his background and his trading journey. From what I was told, I did notice immediately that this guy is going to be in trouble one fine day. It's just a matter of time. Why? It's because when he is teaching someone options, he does not even bother (or should I say he knows?) talking about volatility and Greeks. He simply asked his students to have "faith" on him (btw, what faith is he talking about?). He also taught my good friends a 911 strategy which clearly does not make any sense as he did not reveal the entire risk of making that particular adjustment.
On the brighter side, without him in this market for the last few years, options won't be a popular subject at all. Most of my friends would probably not wake up and still live in the dream of knowing the so-called most powerful strategy in the Planet, which after I had a chance to look at it, is merely a pure gambling on direction without regard to volatility at all.
So, Dr. , you have done a few good deeds. Kudo to you! Salute!!
I am sure many folks in Singapore are bombarded with the recent case of Dr. C who was successfully sued by a group of students. See this Link.
The basis of the claim lodged by the complainants is that Dr. C misrepresented to them on his qualification. Is it a joke? Yes, at least to me. When a self-proclaimed options guru markets his course, the participants relied only on his academic qualifications. Well, there is a big difference between academic qualifications and practical / experience qualifications.
Lecturers (or nka Assistant Professors) are all assumed to have at least Doctorate Degree, and it is a requirement. Do they necessarily possess practical experience? Not really. They need to be exposed to the development outside the campus in order to understand what the heck it is going on in the world. Having a paper qualification is good but it does not mean that this person is an expert.
If we all respect trading as a business, and is a skill we need to practise in order to get better and better, we just have to do and learn from someone who does it professionally and day in day out. Learning trading from a PhD will give us very good textbook knowledge. In this case, of course, I have the privilege to speak to Dr's classmates many years ago and understand his background and his trading journey. From what I was told, I did notice immediately that this guy is going to be in trouble one fine day. It's just a matter of time. Why? It's because when he is teaching someone options, he does not even bother (or should I say he knows?) talking about volatility and Greeks. He simply asked his students to have "faith" on him (btw, what faith is he talking about?). He also taught my good friends a 911 strategy which clearly does not make any sense as he did not reveal the entire risk of making that particular adjustment.
On the brighter side, without him in this market for the last few years, options won't be a popular subject at all. Most of my friends would probably not wake up and still live in the dream of knowing the so-called most powerful strategy in the Planet, which after I had a chance to look at it, is merely a pure gambling on direction without regard to volatility at all.
So, Dr. , you have done a few good deeds. Kudo to you! Salute!!
2009-03-16
Common Flaws found in Free Breakout Forex System
I have been a big fans of forex breakout system because it is a no-brainer and is fairly easy to implement. It is also uncommon that one can find breakout trading systems free in the internet.
This is an example:
Let me give you an example:
Suppose you have a set-up to buy EUR/USD
EP - 1.2959
PT - 1.3059
SL - 1.2859
Risking 100 pips for 100 pips profit (or RRR 1:1)
Some people will place the system diligently without asking any further questions. Some "smarter" ones will tell you that you should check the range - if it is 80pips or more, the set-up fails. So, you will ask "why 80 pips or more?" You get a response that it has been backtested.
While I found all these craps in the internet, we at the same time realize that market conditions do changes. So, we must be nimble and adaptive to the changing market conditions.
Have you ever wondered that EUR/USD can make 200 pips daily move consistently since last month? This was definitely not the case in 2008. So, relying on 80 pips as a gauge is a complete disregard of the current market conditions. Anyone talking about 80 pips does not know what he is doing.
To be in a better position, ask yourself what's the opening price for EUR/USD say at 5:00pm EST. Suppose the opening price is 1.2800. You roughly know that given a 200 pips average daily move on this pair, hitting a PT of 1.3059 is challenging as the estimated high will only be 1.3000.
You will also realize that different pairs/ crosses have different average daily move, which is something you need to know. As we are getting more experience as a forex trader, this is definitely a relevant question to ask. You will realize that not all set-ups can give us the best bang for the buck. This means that we have to think whether we should still take that trade.
See, this is something you may not find in free websites. However, you realize that you now know this relevant issue by reading my blog. It is easy, isn't it?
I have been a big fans of forex breakout system because it is a no-brainer and is fairly easy to implement. It is also uncommon that one can find breakout trading systems free in the internet.
This is an example:
*******************************************
-Determine the 08.00 – 12.00 GMT (0:00am to 4am EST) High Low on EUR/USD and GBP/USD
-Determine the 12.00 – 16.00 GMT High Low on EUR/USD and GBP/USD
-Set Buy Stop at High + 5 pips and SellStop at Low - 5 pips for both time frames and both currencies.
-Set Target Price at entry + 80 pips for EUR/USD and entry + 120 pips for GBP/USD
-Set Stop Loss at entry - 50 pips for EUR/USD and entry - 70 pips for GBP/USD.If the other side of the breakout is within 50 pips for EUR/USD or within 70 pips for BP/USD then the Stop Loss will be that level.(Longtrade:
SL = Low range - 5 pips = Sell Stop; Short trade: SL = High range + 5 pips = Buy Stop)
-Move the SL to breakeven after a gain of 30 pips for EUR/USD and a gain of 40 pips for GBP/USD.
-If a certain position is taken and price turns against you and it breaks the other side of the breakout channel then turn. If the breakout channel is broader then the stop loss first the stoploss will be hit. If the breakout channel is narrower then the stoploss then hitting the other side means that you have to turn your position.There is only one turn per time frame possible .
-At 24.00 CET all orders expiring and close all trades at market On Friday we do the same at 23.00 CET.
Note :
6 – 10 CET or 8 – 12 GMT
10 - 14 CET or 12 - 16 GMT
********************************
Sound easy to implement, huh? However, contrary to free information, no one seems to discuss a big flaw in this type of trading system.Let me give you an example:
Suppose you have a set-up to buy EUR/USD
EP - 1.2959
PT - 1.3059
SL - 1.2859
Risking 100 pips for 100 pips profit (or RRR 1:1)
Some people will place the system diligently without asking any further questions. Some "smarter" ones will tell you that you should check the range - if it is 80pips or more, the set-up fails. So, you will ask "why 80 pips or more?" You get a response that it has been backtested.
While I found all these craps in the internet, we at the same time realize that market conditions do changes. So, we must be nimble and adaptive to the changing market conditions.
Have you ever wondered that EUR/USD can make 200 pips daily move consistently since last month? This was definitely not the case in 2008. So, relying on 80 pips as a gauge is a complete disregard of the current market conditions. Anyone talking about 80 pips does not know what he is doing.
To be in a better position, ask yourself what's the opening price for EUR/USD say at 5:00pm EST. Suppose the opening price is 1.2800. You roughly know that given a 200 pips average daily move on this pair, hitting a PT of 1.3059 is challenging as the estimated high will only be 1.3000.
You will also realize that different pairs/ crosses have different average daily move, which is something you need to know. As we are getting more experience as a forex trader, this is definitely a relevant question to ask. You will realize that not all set-ups can give us the best bang for the buck. This means that we have to think whether we should still take that trade.
See, this is something you may not find in free websites. However, you realize that you now know this relevant issue by reading my blog. It is easy, isn't it?
2009-01-21
Why Does the Average Forex Trading Strategy Lose Money?
The following article (Part I) is a good wake-up call for folks who are looking for the Holy Grail.
http://www.dailyfx.com/story/topheadline/Why_Does_the_Average_Forex_1232461301568.html?print=1
Enjoy!
The following article (Part I) is a good wake-up call for folks who are looking for the Holy Grail.
http://www.dailyfx.com/story/topheadline/Why_Does_the_Average_Forex_1232461301568.html?print=1
Enjoy!
2009-01-18
Which Forex course is worth to attend?
Quite recently, a few readers in my Discussion Board asked me the same question - which forex course is worth to attend?
"I ... would like to get your advice which forex course provide best system and which one worth to attend?"
This is an alarming question to me because you will realize that the subject matter in this question is to ask for the "best" system. As far as I am concerned, I do not believe there is the BEST system in the market. In fact, I will honestly tell my readers that there isn't any such system in the market. Imagine the system is telling you that it is the best. However, the system itself can never be the Holy Grail. The fact that there exists no Holy Grail in the market means that there is no one "best" system out there.
It may be a piece of disappointing news to many because they have been constantly looking for the best system. Well, you know as much as I do that success in trading business is not only to master one trading system, or learn from one instructor. I have been relaying the following example to many folks and I am happy to repeat:
Suppose A and B both pay $3,000 to learn from X to trade forex. X provides the entry guidelines and the so-called things to watch out. It is not surprising for either or in fact both to ask "can this work in other currency pair?" and "can this work if I do this or that?" People are all like that. They think they are looking for the best system. At the same time, they are also looking for ways to "outsmart" the system. Is this a self-fulfilling prophecy here - i.e. human beings are better than systems? Is there any conflicting issue you realize?
If you happen to shop for a course or a particular instructor, and if he tells you trading psychology is not important, you should run and not walk away. If he tells you that if you simply follow the rules, you will definitely make money. I think you should run and not walk away.
In my example, both A and B may have different trading personalities. Therefore, they may apply different money management rules to suit their own circumstances I believe. It's not about being right or wrong in trading business. It is all about how to manage risks. So, if both are able to adopt certain rules to manage their risks, they are doing a great job as risk managers.
So, here is my reply to my readers: there is no one best trading system or trading course that guarantees making money. We are the ones who control our destiny.
By the way, there is so much free information in the public domain. If we focus on looking for free information, we will notice that it is everywhere. Perhaps one of the most common places to go is babypips.com, followed by forexfactory.com. So, have you checked these websites already?
Quite recently, a few readers in my Discussion Board asked me the same question - which forex course is worth to attend?
"I ... would like to get your advice which forex course provide best system and which one worth to attend?"
This is an alarming question to me because you will realize that the subject matter in this question is to ask for the "best" system. As far as I am concerned, I do not believe there is the BEST system in the market. In fact, I will honestly tell my readers that there isn't any such system in the market. Imagine the system is telling you that it is the best. However, the system itself can never be the Holy Grail. The fact that there exists no Holy Grail in the market means that there is no one "best" system out there.
It may be a piece of disappointing news to many because they have been constantly looking for the best system. Well, you know as much as I do that success in trading business is not only to master one trading system, or learn from one instructor. I have been relaying the following example to many folks and I am happy to repeat:
Suppose A and B both pay $3,000 to learn from X to trade forex. X provides the entry guidelines and the so-called things to watch out. It is not surprising for either or in fact both to ask "can this work in other currency pair?" and "can this work if I do this or that?" People are all like that. They think they are looking for the best system. At the same time, they are also looking for ways to "outsmart" the system. Is this a self-fulfilling prophecy here - i.e. human beings are better than systems? Is there any conflicting issue you realize?
If you happen to shop for a course or a particular instructor, and if he tells you trading psychology is not important, you should run and not walk away. If he tells you that if you simply follow the rules, you will definitely make money. I think you should run and not walk away.
In my example, both A and B may have different trading personalities. Therefore, they may apply different money management rules to suit their own circumstances I believe. It's not about being right or wrong in trading business. It is all about how to manage risks. So, if both are able to adopt certain rules to manage their risks, they are doing a great job as risk managers.
So, here is my reply to my readers: there is no one best trading system or trading course that guarantees making money. We are the ones who control our destiny.
By the way, there is so much free information in the public domain. If we focus on looking for free information, we will notice that it is everywhere. Perhaps one of the most common places to go is babypips.com, followed by forexfactory.com. So, have you checked these websites already?
Never too late to Get Education
I was able to make some time to meet up with my fellow Optionetics colleagues over the weekend at Suntec City as we had our first 3-day Interactive Computer Training (ICT) Class in Singapore in 2009. I met up with some old friends who started with me around the same time in this trading business, and at the same time new friends who recently joined our Optionetics program.
This friend of mine started with Optionetics in 2005. We had a drink somewhere around Suntec City and shared with each other what we had been doing over the past few years. He shared with me that over the last couple of years, he did not do much with his portfolio and he used "complacency" as his reason. The market was bullish until the financial turmoil back in late 2007. His portfolio went up and he did not see the need to do anything. Put simply, he thought that he would just let the portfolio continue doing what it has been doing.
Of course you know as much as I do what happened over the last year. This friend of mine felt the pain too. Fortunately, he told me that he was not hurt as badly as his peers. During our talk, he shared with me that he went for education with Optionetics, and he should have had realized that there are ways to protect his portfolio. This serves as a wake-up call for him to change his strategies by being more alert to what's happening in the market, and get further education in order to improve his literacy in dealing with trading business.
A lot of things happened for a reason. When we feel the pain, it's probably the time for us to change our behavior. Does it happen on you too? What I am saying is that regardless of the entry into this trading business, there is always something to learn every single day. This is because the market condition keeps changing and what we saw is not what we see now.
Several people in this ICT Class were new to Optionetics. However, they all went for the class for a common reason - to take charge of their lives and make a difference regardless of the extent to which it will be. Some of them shared with us that they wanna have more time to pursue their passions - including hobbies, families and children etc. All I can say is that these folks have made their first step (i.e. by taking action).
You will realize recently that the poor folks who bought Hi-Note and Lehman Mini-bonds somehow were promised to be compensated in whole or in part. There are ethical and legal issues involved in this saga, and is beyond my role to comment. Suffice to say this serves as an alarm bell, in particular to the young ones, that they must do something to improve their financial literacy. If I were to describe that Mini-bonds is like (and I have simplified the picture for discussion sake here) buying 1 call and selling 2 puts. Optionetics students will be able to quickly tell me that:
1. Long 1 call and short 1 Put is synthetically long stock - an unacceptable position from Optionetics' perspective
2. 1 Short Put (or naked put) - which is also unacceptable position from Optionetics' perspective.
At the end, I have yet to hear any of my students from Optionetics who went to buy these kinds of instruments. Perhaps what they paid for getting the Optionetics education save them a lot. We knew some celebrities in HK who lost some HK$20m on mini-bonds. For our Optionetics students, they paid only a tiny fraction and they are able to stay away from this saga.
So, while I understand that S$5,000 for a 2-day life-time Optionetics program may be expensive. At the same time, if one thinks of these poor chaps, spending S$5,000 instead of losing the entire portfolio is worthy.
There were also stories about brokers and remisers in Singapore who lost a lot of money on stocks. One poor chap lost $1m because he failed to acknowledge his reading in the market and apply dollar cost averaging techniques.
What I can share with these people is that
"Will they buy insurance when they buy their houses?"
"Will they buy insurance when they buy their cars?"
So,
"Will they buy insurance for their stocks?"
It's amazing that many people did not know stock insurance, which is essentially put options. Had these guys been educated to apply this very simple techniques, they might be able to save millions of dollars.
It's amazing that there are many people who are prepared to enter into the financial markets without getting education, thinking that they are able to deal with all sorts of issues. When they lose money, they start to blame themselves, blame the markets, blame the Government. Is it what you do in your life - knowing how to blame and nothing else?
Here is your opportunities -
For newbies - we have Optionetics 2-hour Introductory Seminars in Singapore from 21 to 23 March (for details: check out http://www.optionetics.com.sg).
For repeating students - sign up for the upcoming 2-day Intermediate Seminar in Singapore on 5 and 6 April 2009.
For students who decide to step up and get further education - we have the following advanced courses in Singapore
- ITT Class - 14 to 16 April 2009
- Master ICT Class - 8 to 10 April 2009.
There is always something for someone. The question for you is "are you committed?"
I was able to make some time to meet up with my fellow Optionetics colleagues over the weekend at Suntec City as we had our first 3-day Interactive Computer Training (ICT) Class in Singapore in 2009. I met up with some old friends who started with me around the same time in this trading business, and at the same time new friends who recently joined our Optionetics program.
This friend of mine started with Optionetics in 2005. We had a drink somewhere around Suntec City and shared with each other what we had been doing over the past few years. He shared with me that over the last couple of years, he did not do much with his portfolio and he used "complacency" as his reason. The market was bullish until the financial turmoil back in late 2007. His portfolio went up and he did not see the need to do anything. Put simply, he thought that he would just let the portfolio continue doing what it has been doing.
Of course you know as much as I do what happened over the last year. This friend of mine felt the pain too. Fortunately, he told me that he was not hurt as badly as his peers. During our talk, he shared with me that he went for education with Optionetics, and he should have had realized that there are ways to protect his portfolio. This serves as a wake-up call for him to change his strategies by being more alert to what's happening in the market, and get further education in order to improve his literacy in dealing with trading business.
A lot of things happened for a reason. When we feel the pain, it's probably the time for us to change our behavior. Does it happen on you too? What I am saying is that regardless of the entry into this trading business, there is always something to learn every single day. This is because the market condition keeps changing and what we saw is not what we see now.
Several people in this ICT Class were new to Optionetics. However, they all went for the class for a common reason - to take charge of their lives and make a difference regardless of the extent to which it will be. Some of them shared with us that they wanna have more time to pursue their passions - including hobbies, families and children etc. All I can say is that these folks have made their first step (i.e. by taking action).
You will realize recently that the poor folks who bought Hi-Note and Lehman Mini-bonds somehow were promised to be compensated in whole or in part. There are ethical and legal issues involved in this saga, and is beyond my role to comment. Suffice to say this serves as an alarm bell, in particular to the young ones, that they must do something to improve their financial literacy. If I were to describe that Mini-bonds is like (and I have simplified the picture for discussion sake here) buying 1 call and selling 2 puts. Optionetics students will be able to quickly tell me that:
1. Long 1 call and short 1 Put is synthetically long stock - an unacceptable position from Optionetics' perspective
2. 1 Short Put (or naked put) - which is also unacceptable position from Optionetics' perspective.
At the end, I have yet to hear any of my students from Optionetics who went to buy these kinds of instruments. Perhaps what they paid for getting the Optionetics education save them a lot. We knew some celebrities in HK who lost some HK$20m on mini-bonds. For our Optionetics students, they paid only a tiny fraction and they are able to stay away from this saga.
So, while I understand that S$5,000 for a 2-day life-time Optionetics program may be expensive. At the same time, if one thinks of these poor chaps, spending S$5,000 instead of losing the entire portfolio is worthy.
There were also stories about brokers and remisers in Singapore who lost a lot of money on stocks. One poor chap lost $1m because he failed to acknowledge his reading in the market and apply dollar cost averaging techniques.
What I can share with these people is that
"Will they buy insurance when they buy their houses?"
"Will they buy insurance when they buy their cars?"
So,
"Will they buy insurance for their stocks?"
It's amazing that many people did not know stock insurance, which is essentially put options. Had these guys been educated to apply this very simple techniques, they might be able to save millions of dollars.
It's amazing that there are many people who are prepared to enter into the financial markets without getting education, thinking that they are able to deal with all sorts of issues. When they lose money, they start to blame themselves, blame the markets, blame the Government. Is it what you do in your life - knowing how to blame and nothing else?
Here is your opportunities -
For newbies - we have Optionetics 2-hour Introductory Seminars in Singapore from 21 to 23 March (for details: check out http://www.optionetics.com.sg).
For repeating students - sign up for the upcoming 2-day Intermediate Seminar in Singapore on 5 and 6 April 2009.
For students who decide to step up and get further education - we have the following advanced courses in Singapore
- ITT Class - 14 to 16 April 2009
- Master ICT Class - 8 to 10 April 2009.
There is always something for someone. The question for you is "are you committed?"
2008-12-26
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
Time really flies in that we are approaching the final week of 2008. As most hedge fund managers have already gone for holidays, I do expect there isn't much to do with the forex market until next year. As a result, I have officially closed shop in my forex business for 2008.
Looking back what I have done during the first year of running this new (forex) business, I have learnt a couple of things:
1. Believe in yourself and you will find ways to achieve certain goals - my limiting belief of not being able to stomach the volatility in the forex market over the last decade, has been thrown away. Now that I am able to trade forex simply means that limiting belief is just limiting belief. If I give myself a complete stretch, I have progressed to the next step.
2. Successful trading is all but psychology - I could have the so-called "best and powerful" trading strategies and also the "best" forex guru in town to teach me, and yet the progress could not be achieved until I have got the trader's attutide right in this business. That's how the psychology comes about. Have an attitude that is deemed correct in my own circumstances. Follow the rules, and keep myself discplined. Further, remember the importance of continious improvement - Kaizan. I followed faithfully what I called "7 Essential Credentials of a Successful Trader" to work on this new business. I am glad to see significant progress in the first year and trust that I will be able to deal with the challenges in 2009.
3. Always have a back-up plan - this forex business was the result of my contingency plan in 2008. By anticipating the challenges in the equity and index markets, I started equipping myself with additional knowledge in another area of practice and I was glad that this anticipation resulted in a successful launch of my forex business. The fact that I could start the real operation within a couple of months means that I could make a difference from my old days as an options trader. So, what's my back-up plan for 2009? I am going to look at the next level of challenges - i.e. futures market. This means that I will be essentially one day able to trade anything under the sun. Having said that, I do anticipate a come-back to the index options market in 2009 as I expect that the trend will likely be a side-way for 2009 and perhaps 2010. I did quite well in 2005 in the sideways market by deploying sideways strategies - something which I am very good at. So, I am ready to play sideways strategies again in 2009 at least.
Finally, this will be my last post for 2008. I wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas and look forward to the upcoming challenges in 2009.
Believe in yourself and you will make a difference! This is our Patterns of Excellence!!
Time really flies in that we are approaching the final week of 2008. As most hedge fund managers have already gone for holidays, I do expect there isn't much to do with the forex market until next year. As a result, I have officially closed shop in my forex business for 2008.
Looking back what I have done during the first year of running this new (forex) business, I have learnt a couple of things:
1. Believe in yourself and you will find ways to achieve certain goals - my limiting belief of not being able to stomach the volatility in the forex market over the last decade, has been thrown away. Now that I am able to trade forex simply means that limiting belief is just limiting belief. If I give myself a complete stretch, I have progressed to the next step.
2. Successful trading is all but psychology - I could have the so-called "best and powerful" trading strategies and also the "best" forex guru in town to teach me, and yet the progress could not be achieved until I have got the trader's attutide right in this business. That's how the psychology comes about. Have an attitude that is deemed correct in my own circumstances. Follow the rules, and keep myself discplined. Further, remember the importance of continious improvement - Kaizan. I followed faithfully what I called "7 Essential Credentials of a Successful Trader" to work on this new business. I am glad to see significant progress in the first year and trust that I will be able to deal with the challenges in 2009.
3. Always have a back-up plan - this forex business was the result of my contingency plan in 2008. By anticipating the challenges in the equity and index markets, I started equipping myself with additional knowledge in another area of practice and I was glad that this anticipation resulted in a successful launch of my forex business. The fact that I could start the real operation within a couple of months means that I could make a difference from my old days as an options trader. So, what's my back-up plan for 2009? I am going to look at the next level of challenges - i.e. futures market. This means that I will be essentially one day able to trade anything under the sun. Having said that, I do anticipate a come-back to the index options market in 2009 as I expect that the trend will likely be a side-way for 2009 and perhaps 2010. I did quite well in 2005 in the sideways market by deploying sideways strategies - something which I am very good at. So, I am ready to play sideways strategies again in 2009 at least.
Finally, this will be my last post for 2008. I wish all of my readers a Merry Christmas and look forward to the upcoming challenges in 2009.
Believe in yourself and you will make a difference! This is our Patterns of Excellence!!
2008-12-16
Am I a marketer?
First and foremost, I am grateful that there are many readers in my Discussion Board , and I realize that not everyone has been actively participating in my board, which is fine with me. I am not in the board selling you any information or courses. However, as and when I think there are some interesting products, I do post a link or two to keep my readers aware. Of course, if my readers are interested, they have the choice of buying the products directly by clicking the link in my board.
Having said that, I am recently quite perturbed with a few participants who registered in my board and made a lot of unresourceful remarks. You know as much as I do that every aspiring trader wants to succeed in trading and yet, no one is going to spoon feed us. Thus, we all have to devote our time to learn and better equip ourselves in this business. Put simply, there is no short cut or miracle. If I don't give me 100%, I won't see the result I have today. Is it a fair statement?
Now, here is the deal. I am happy to share with my readers knowledge I have provided that it does not infringe any proprietary rights. A particular reader recently has demanded me to release certain details of a proprietary system and insisted that it is no harm to share just as little information as possible. When I replied politely that this trading system is proprietary, I got remark that I am the best marketer in promoting my course and stuff like that.
What a joke, isn't it? Sharing information is fine to the extent that the source originates from public domain. If the information is proprietary, it cannot be given out free. That's the real life in business. Obviously, we all wanted to get this kind of information free of charge. Doing so is however not respecting intellectual property law, and is also unfair to people out there who are willing to pay for such information.
So, blaming me as a marketer for courses because I don't give out such proprietary information does not help that person at all. Well, there are also many sites that provide free forex trading system information. Why doesn't this person go to read for himself? Well, I don't have a clue!
First and foremost, I am grateful that there are many readers in my Discussion Board , and I realize that not everyone has been actively participating in my board, which is fine with me. I am not in the board selling you any information or courses. However, as and when I think there are some interesting products, I do post a link or two to keep my readers aware. Of course, if my readers are interested, they have the choice of buying the products directly by clicking the link in my board.
Having said that, I am recently quite perturbed with a few participants who registered in my board and made a lot of unresourceful remarks. You know as much as I do that every aspiring trader wants to succeed in trading and yet, no one is going to spoon feed us. Thus, we all have to devote our time to learn and better equip ourselves in this business. Put simply, there is no short cut or miracle. If I don't give me 100%, I won't see the result I have today. Is it a fair statement?
Now, here is the deal. I am happy to share with my readers knowledge I have provided that it does not infringe any proprietary rights. A particular reader recently has demanded me to release certain details of a proprietary system and insisted that it is no harm to share just as little information as possible. When I replied politely that this trading system is proprietary, I got remark that I am the best marketer in promoting my course and stuff like that.
What a joke, isn't it? Sharing information is fine to the extent that the source originates from public domain. If the information is proprietary, it cannot be given out free. That's the real life in business. Obviously, we all wanted to get this kind of information free of charge. Doing so is however not respecting intellectual property law, and is also unfair to people out there who are willing to pay for such information.
So, blaming me as a marketer for courses because I don't give out such proprietary information does not help that person at all. Well, there are also many sites that provide free forex trading system information. Why doesn't this person go to read for himself? Well, I don't have a clue!
2008-12-11
Practice Defensive Forex Trading
“In trading, Risk is Pre-Determined but Reward is Un-Predictable. Your Stop determined your risk. The Market decides your reward. Success in trading is supported by your discipline, diligence and decided by your Money Management and Psychology.,” - Henry Aw Young, Singapore
Henry is a good friend of mine with whom I met in Adam Khoo's Wealth Academy Program in 2008. He is also a professional trader and a trading coach.
As you can see, people who have been proper trading education will say something like the above. Always determine the risk before looking for the reward. Establish the pain threshold with informed decision right before placing the trade and know how much we will lose in a particular if we are wrong first before asking how much money we can make if we are right.
Amateur traders could find it hard to accept. They tend to ask "if trading is for money, why should they not take about how much they can make in a trade?" Well, the answer is fairly simple. If we are in a trade without knowing the maximum pain threshold, and if we are wrong in that trade, emotion will drive us crazy, and we will start giving excuses so that we can delay our pain until such time as we cannot. By that time it will be too late to get out of the losing position, and the traders might as well not exit the trade. The probable outcome s that the traders have their accounts wipe out and curse and swear that they shall not trade anymore because the market is unfair to them.
Does this sound familiar to you? You should have heard in the recent bear market where many people lost tons of money because they approached this business in a completely incorrect manner.
So, who in the market right now are still making money? I guess people who have been educated properly and practice defensive trading. And what do I mean by defensive trading? Let's draw some indications below:
1. Always find a reason not to trade, and if you find one, then, you are out of the market. This helps us to focus on quality set-up / pattern and at the same time, kick away emotional trading.
2. Always address stop loss first before looking at the profit. Yes, it is completely reversed. The advantage of this is by ascertaining the stop loss, you will be able to determine the proper position sizing, and risk allocation. If you find that the stop loss is something you are not comfortable, you have found another reason to stay out of the market.
3. Trade based on your trading personality. I know this is a challenge. Some of us tend to trade in a shorter time frame. I am one of them. When I talk about shorter time frame, I mean it is short in my own definition. For example, I trade forex by using at least a 5-min chart and at the same time. 1 min-chart is too short in my definition.
4. Do take into account of bid/ask spread. Very often, we tend to look at the upside of an individual trade and when taking into account the spread, the result can look very different. So, remember to incorporate bid/ask spread in your trading result so that it becomes more realistic.
5. Do your research and development. I would like to answer Chris' (JMOT's) questions here. I am a system trader because it is something I learnt from Tom Gentile, the co-found of Optionetics. I took Tom's traits in my trading business and very often, I blend a few systems which may give me better results. For example, if I take FAST2 to trade on USD/JPY, the accruacy may be somewhere between 65% and 75%. Knowing that the win/loss ratio and the risk/reward ratio, most FX1 students may find it hard to make money on FAST2. Some of the students may start blaming FX1 and whoever on the planet saying that this course sucks.
In my case, I focus on how to better the system with a view to increasing the win/loss ratio. In my own R&D, I asked myself the following questions:
- Can I use some signals to filter out the less probable side of the trade? Put simply, if USD/JPY is on a short-term downtrend, and there is a long signal, should I take this trade blindly? This is why I incorporate Kathy Line's BB Band in my modified FAST2. So, if the pair is in the sell zone, I will concentrate on the short trades.
- Can I take into account support and resistance? Put simply, if USD/JPY gives me a sell signal, and at the same time, the profit target will face a strong support somehow in between, should I take this signal? Peter Bain and John Person are the gurus in pivot point analysis. There are also free MT4 code for daily pivot points. How about putting pivot points in the pair and filter out less probable trades? For example, this afternoon there was potentially a short USD/JPY trade and I decided not to trade. My PT was 92.20 and S1 is 92.24. So, I did not place the trade which eventually was proven to be a right decision becuase it really bounced back nicely at S1and moved all way to my SL and I would have registered a max loss on this signal.
So, these are some of my ideas to fine-tune the trading systems based on what I know. You may ask how the hell I know all of these. I can share with you that it is based on my hunger and desire to become the best forex trader in Singapore. That means I constantly look into my existing trading systems (and till now, I have at least 20 systems) and decide which of these are suitable in the given market condition. Unlike many amateur traders, instead of focusing the word "why?", I look at "how". With this little weeak of the question marker, I see a hell lot of oppotunities in forex market.
Another reader asked why I posted my daily forex record in my discussion board. I am not showing off of course. The sole purpose of doing this is to keep track which systems I use on a particular day, and how they performed. Of course, some of these systems are proprietary and thus I am not allowed to post the detail entry and exit rules. I need to respect the intellectual property of the inventor of the systems. At the same time, I have recently spent hell lot of time to forexfactory.com and singaporeforexforum.com as there are tons of free traidng systems and some of them provide MT4 codes. So, if you are committed to be the best of the best, you must decide for yourself what you should do.
Have fun in your forex venture!
“In trading, Risk is Pre-Determined but Reward is Un-Predictable. Your Stop determined your risk. The Market decides your reward. Success in trading is supported by your discipline, diligence and decided by your Money Management and Psychology.,” - Henry Aw Young, Singapore
Henry is a good friend of mine with whom I met in Adam Khoo's Wealth Academy Program in 2008. He is also a professional trader and a trading coach.
As you can see, people who have been proper trading education will say something like the above. Always determine the risk before looking for the reward. Establish the pain threshold with informed decision right before placing the trade and know how much we will lose in a particular if we are wrong first before asking how much money we can make if we are right.
Amateur traders could find it hard to accept. They tend to ask "if trading is for money, why should they not take about how much they can make in a trade?" Well, the answer is fairly simple. If we are in a trade without knowing the maximum pain threshold, and if we are wrong in that trade, emotion will drive us crazy, and we will start giving excuses so that we can delay our pain until such time as we cannot. By that time it will be too late to get out of the losing position, and the traders might as well not exit the trade. The probable outcome s that the traders have their accounts wipe out and curse and swear that they shall not trade anymore because the market is unfair to them.
Does this sound familiar to you? You should have heard in the recent bear market where many people lost tons of money because they approached this business in a completely incorrect manner.
So, who in the market right now are still making money? I guess people who have been educated properly and practice defensive trading. And what do I mean by defensive trading? Let's draw some indications below:
1. Always find a reason not to trade, and if you find one, then, you are out of the market. This helps us to focus on quality set-up / pattern and at the same time, kick away emotional trading.
2. Always address stop loss first before looking at the profit. Yes, it is completely reversed. The advantage of this is by ascertaining the stop loss, you will be able to determine the proper position sizing, and risk allocation. If you find that the stop loss is something you are not comfortable, you have found another reason to stay out of the market.
3. Trade based on your trading personality. I know this is a challenge. Some of us tend to trade in a shorter time frame. I am one of them. When I talk about shorter time frame, I mean it is short in my own definition. For example, I trade forex by using at least a 5-min chart and at the same time. 1 min-chart is too short in my definition.
4. Do take into account of bid/ask spread. Very often, we tend to look at the upside of an individual trade and when taking into account the spread, the result can look very different. So, remember to incorporate bid/ask spread in your trading result so that it becomes more realistic.
5. Do your research and development. I would like to answer Chris' (JMOT's) questions here. I am a system trader because it is something I learnt from Tom Gentile, the co-found of Optionetics. I took Tom's traits in my trading business and very often, I blend a few systems which may give me better results. For example, if I take FAST2 to trade on USD/JPY, the accruacy may be somewhere between 65% and 75%. Knowing that the win/loss ratio and the risk/reward ratio, most FX1 students may find it hard to make money on FAST2. Some of the students may start blaming FX1 and whoever on the planet saying that this course sucks.
In my case, I focus on how to better the system with a view to increasing the win/loss ratio. In my own R&D, I asked myself the following questions:
- Can I use some signals to filter out the less probable side of the trade? Put simply, if USD/JPY is on a short-term downtrend, and there is a long signal, should I take this trade blindly? This is why I incorporate Kathy Line's BB Band in my modified FAST2. So, if the pair is in the sell zone, I will concentrate on the short trades.
- Can I take into account support and resistance? Put simply, if USD/JPY gives me a sell signal, and at the same time, the profit target will face a strong support somehow in between, should I take this signal? Peter Bain and John Person are the gurus in pivot point analysis. There are also free MT4 code for daily pivot points. How about putting pivot points in the pair and filter out less probable trades? For example, this afternoon there was potentially a short USD/JPY trade and I decided not to trade. My PT was 92.20 and S1 is 92.24. So, I did not place the trade which eventually was proven to be a right decision becuase it really bounced back nicely at S1and moved all way to my SL and I would have registered a max loss on this signal.
So, these are some of my ideas to fine-tune the trading systems based on what I know. You may ask how the hell I know all of these. I can share with you that it is based on my hunger and desire to become the best forex trader in Singapore. That means I constantly look into my existing trading systems (and till now, I have at least 20 systems) and decide which of these are suitable in the given market condition. Unlike many amateur traders, instead of focusing the word "why?", I look at "how". With this little weeak of the question marker, I see a hell lot of oppotunities in forex market.
Another reader asked why I posted my daily forex record in my discussion board. I am not showing off of course. The sole purpose of doing this is to keep track which systems I use on a particular day, and how they performed. Of course, some of these systems are proprietary and thus I am not allowed to post the detail entry and exit rules. I need to respect the intellectual property of the inventor of the systems. At the same time, I have recently spent hell lot of time to forexfactory.com and singaporeforexforum.com as there are tons of free traidng systems and some of them provide MT4 codes. So, if you are committed to be the best of the best, you must decide for yourself what you should do.
Have fun in your forex venture!
2008-11-22
Getting addicted to Forex Trading
My wife and I went to a parent workshop this morning about internet security at home for concerned parents. The presenter mentioned that online gaming is very popular among the kids and it is very easy for them to be addicted. I was thinking whether it is just the problem for the kids because I have a similar challenge too.
Over the last four weeks, I only placed 3 options trades, all of which were simple quickie on directional bets. For the rest of the time, I focused 100% on forex trades. Yeah, I had two business trips in the month of November and honestly did not really trade. However, the fact that I am now back to the normal schedule allows me to focus again on forex trading.
As I explained to some of my readers, forex trading is tough if one hasn't got the proper education. In addition, under the influence of Boris and Kathy from GFT Forex, I honestly do not trade forex by looking at the technicals alone. I read into a lot of fundamentals and use fundamentals to confirm my directional bias, and use technicals (if I have to) to confirm my bias. So, in this sense, I have fulfilled with Boris mentioned on the first M and the second M.
Imagine in a down day where you see a bullish signal on the carry trade pairs, are you seriously going to long? Well, a pure technical trader may go for this trade and probably it will be either a small winner or luckily best, no loss. However, by understanding the fundamentals, one will more likely than not filter out this long signal and hence, places no trade.
My forex trading hours are primarily in the afternoon, Singapore time. To me, this is the best time to trade because there is no US news that could swing the market easily. In addition, Europe markets have the tendency to follow the US market of the previous days. It's therefore easier to gauge the direction.
Having said that, I know and am aware that there are students who still prefer to trade during US cash market hours. It's fine because it boils down to one's trading preference - in this case, the operating hours. Now that I have traded forex for a while, I must say that I have an upper hand on the news around Asia and Europe, and even Canada, Kiwi and Aussie. There are many opportunities a day so a forex trader should not worry about having nothing to trade. Of course, we filter the better ones in order to ensure a higher win/loss ratio.
I have many trading systems in forex - which I acquired from many mentors and gurus. However, I screened out the best of five which have been working consistently:
Asia High Low System - AHLS
This is a system that requires one to place a trade at 3pm Singapore time on EUR/USD. The idea is to look for breakout of the range, and aim at a quick bite of the breakout and pocket the profits. This system has a track record of about 60% correct over the last few years. A few of us are working on a semi-automatic system and probably will launch in the near future.
London Momentum
This is a system that requires one to place a trade at 3pm Singapore time on GBP/JPY, at which time the London market is open. There is a set of formula to use to calculate the EP, SL and PT and is largely based on Jimmy Young's original version with mutiple lots to go in and scale out. The system however suffers an inconsistency at the beginning of this year and thus, I have researched and introduced a filter that provides a better result. Yesterday, I have further refined the system in such a way that I chalked up 185 pips per 3 lots in a mere two hours. So, London Momentum (Beta 2) will be what I am concentrating on for the next month to see if it can give me a better result. There isn't a trade everyday but for the time I traded so far in November, I recalled there was only a losing trade.
5 min 60 SMA
For Jimmy Young's trading tactics coaching class students, and also the TradeCast Publication subscriber, you know this is the main daily trading system Jimmy and his students use. The challenging part of this system is the execution, and I am still working on how to get a better execution. In addition, I have introduced a new set of stop loss rule which largely follows Kathy's multiple lot scaling out method. So, as Boris said, forex traders are risk managers. I would therefore be more than happy to lock in the profits and make the trade risk free first before looking for the final lot to make a home run.
1 min 60 SMA
This is the newly inented trading system introduced by Jimmy not long ago. It's purely based on the news each day, and can be referred to in the NewsTrader Publication. I have tested this system since last week, and it's 50/50 so far. Let me test it further before I give you my insights.
FAST2
When USD/JPY is trading in a tight range, FX104 did not really work. So, as an alternative, let's go back to the first forex trading system introduced by FX1 Academy. Using Kathy's BB filters and my own parameters, I have managed to screen out many bad qualty set-up. I am glad to say that I have not made a single loss this week on FAST2 based on my parameters. So, who said FX1 Academy's $4,500 course not working? I bet to differ.
For further information about Jimmy Young's trading course, please go to http://www.fxte.com for further details. I know the full-package costs US$7,999 (consisting of the basic course, intermediate online course, trading tactics coaching class, and the advanced online seminar) and it is quite expensive in view of the current economic climate. And at the same time, it is expensive because it gives you the entire trading package which enables you to start, rather than putting one in a half-past-six position. Jimmy shares with his students the game plan each day and this is the cream of the crop. He also does post-mortem everyday to explain what works and what does not work. I have certainly benefited so much from Jimmy's insight.
My wife and I went to a parent workshop this morning about internet security at home for concerned parents. The presenter mentioned that online gaming is very popular among the kids and it is very easy for them to be addicted. I was thinking whether it is just the problem for the kids because I have a similar challenge too.
Over the last four weeks, I only placed 3 options trades, all of which were simple quickie on directional bets. For the rest of the time, I focused 100% on forex trades. Yeah, I had two business trips in the month of November and honestly did not really trade. However, the fact that I am now back to the normal schedule allows me to focus again on forex trading.
As I explained to some of my readers, forex trading is tough if one hasn't got the proper education. In addition, under the influence of Boris and Kathy from GFT Forex, I honestly do not trade forex by looking at the technicals alone. I read into a lot of fundamentals and use fundamentals to confirm my directional bias, and use technicals (if I have to) to confirm my bias. So, in this sense, I have fulfilled with Boris mentioned on the first M and the second M.
Imagine in a down day where you see a bullish signal on the carry trade pairs, are you seriously going to long? Well, a pure technical trader may go for this trade and probably it will be either a small winner or luckily best, no loss. However, by understanding the fundamentals, one will more likely than not filter out this long signal and hence, places no trade.
My forex trading hours are primarily in the afternoon, Singapore time. To me, this is the best time to trade because there is no US news that could swing the market easily. In addition, Europe markets have the tendency to follow the US market of the previous days. It's therefore easier to gauge the direction.
Having said that, I know and am aware that there are students who still prefer to trade during US cash market hours. It's fine because it boils down to one's trading preference - in this case, the operating hours. Now that I have traded forex for a while, I must say that I have an upper hand on the news around Asia and Europe, and even Canada, Kiwi and Aussie. There are many opportunities a day so a forex trader should not worry about having nothing to trade. Of course, we filter the better ones in order to ensure a higher win/loss ratio.
I have many trading systems in forex - which I acquired from many mentors and gurus. However, I screened out the best of five which have been working consistently:
Asia High Low System - AHLS
This is a system that requires one to place a trade at 3pm Singapore time on EUR/USD. The idea is to look for breakout of the range, and aim at a quick bite of the breakout and pocket the profits. This system has a track record of about 60% correct over the last few years. A few of us are working on a semi-automatic system and probably will launch in the near future.
London Momentum
This is a system that requires one to place a trade at 3pm Singapore time on GBP/JPY, at which time the London market is open. There is a set of formula to use to calculate the EP, SL and PT and is largely based on Jimmy Young's original version with mutiple lots to go in and scale out. The system however suffers an inconsistency at the beginning of this year and thus, I have researched and introduced a filter that provides a better result. Yesterday, I have further refined the system in such a way that I chalked up 185 pips per 3 lots in a mere two hours. So, London Momentum (Beta 2) will be what I am concentrating on for the next month to see if it can give me a better result. There isn't a trade everyday but for the time I traded so far in November, I recalled there was only a losing trade.
5 min 60 SMA
For Jimmy Young's trading tactics coaching class students, and also the TradeCast Publication subscriber, you know this is the main daily trading system Jimmy and his students use. The challenging part of this system is the execution, and I am still working on how to get a better execution. In addition, I have introduced a new set of stop loss rule which largely follows Kathy's multiple lot scaling out method. So, as Boris said, forex traders are risk managers. I would therefore be more than happy to lock in the profits and make the trade risk free first before looking for the final lot to make a home run.
1 min 60 SMA
This is the newly inented trading system introduced by Jimmy not long ago. It's purely based on the news each day, and can be referred to in the NewsTrader Publication. I have tested this system since last week, and it's 50/50 so far. Let me test it further before I give you my insights.
FAST2
When USD/JPY is trading in a tight range, FX104 did not really work. So, as an alternative, let's go back to the first forex trading system introduced by FX1 Academy. Using Kathy's BB filters and my own parameters, I have managed to screen out many bad qualty set-up. I am glad to say that I have not made a single loss this week on FAST2 based on my parameters. So, who said FX1 Academy's $4,500 course not working? I bet to differ.
For further information about Jimmy Young's trading course, please go to http://www.fxte.com for further details. I know the full-package costs US$7,999 (consisting of the basic course, intermediate online course, trading tactics coaching class, and the advanced online seminar) and it is quite expensive in view of the current economic climate. And at the same time, it is expensive because it gives you the entire trading package which enables you to start, rather than putting one in a half-past-six position. Jimmy shares with his students the game plan each day and this is the cream of the crop. He also does post-mortem everyday to explain what works and what does not work. I have certainly benefited so much from Jimmy's insight.
3 Simple Rules of Winning Forex Traders (from Kathy Lien and Boris Schlossberg of GFT Forex)
About two weeks I went on CNBC and predicted that range will rule the currency markets for the foreseeable future. The price of EUR/USD at the time of broadcast? 1.2630. The price of EUR/USD at close of trade today? 1.2590. So range reigns in the currency market as every rally fails and every decline proves false breaking the hearts of both bulls and bears and that dynamic will probably last for the rest of this year. Thus with little new to say and holiday shortened week ahead of us I thought we'd change the format this week and skips the price action review concentrating instead understanding the basic building blocks of successful trading.
This past week in Kuwait I gave a presentation titled "3 M's that Drive the Currency Market". It showcased a simple analytical framework created by Kathy and I to explain most of the price movement in currencies. The 3 M's stand for Macro - broad economic and political themes, Micro - day to day economic releases and Monetary - for monetary policy of the G-10 nations. The 3M's model, though relatively straightforward, does a very good job of encapsulating virtually all of the catalysts in the FX market.
As I was flying back to US, my thoughts drifted to the 3M idea and I realized that trading itself can also be summarized in a 3 variable model - a model I call the Three Simple Rules Of Winning Traders.
Rule 1 - Develop an opinion
Whenever I hear traders tell me, "I don't have any opinion, I just trade price action." I always smile ruefully and think to myself that the trader is both an idiot and a liar. The fact of the matter is that every time you enter the market you are implicitly rendering an opinion on the future movement of price. The difference between those traders who do so implicitly versus those who put forth an explicit reason for their trade is that the former have no clue of what they are doing while the later at least try to figure out the story behind the trade.
It goes without saying that I have little respect for traders who mechanically follow price action like mindless robots. In trading you get paid not for what is happening now, but for what will happen in the future and if you cannot figure out what is likely to drive price towards your target you are just a lemming in the market. Right or wrong, developing an opinion is the cornerstone of a winning strategy.
Rule 2 - Let Price Confirm Your Thesis
To politely paraphrase a very crude Wall Street saying, opinions are like faces - everyone has one. Developing an opinion even one that is ultimately correct is utterly worthless if the market happens to disagree with your assessment. The history if trading is littered with brilliant analysts who were absolutely correct on their calls and yet were bankrupted by the vagaries of price action before they were ever proven right. Your opinion may be dead on, but as traders it is price movement, not opinion that we are trading. Until and unless price corroborates your opinion you have no entry signal for your trade.
Rule 3 - Manage Your Trade
More than anything else great traders are good money managers. I've always believed that you can put two great traders on the opposite side of a position and often both of them will wind up making money. On the other hand put two novices in the same spot and they will more than likely both lose. Trading above all the art of managing the unknown. Let's say you own a sandwich shop in some strip mall in Nebraska. Most likely you would know to within 10 or 20 sandwiches how many customers you will have every single day of the year. Now imagine that sandwich shop was the FX market. The day to day variance would drive most sandwich shop owners insane. Some days you may sell 500 sandwiches, other days you may have to dump all your food supplies into the garbage as no business came through your door. That's why trading at its core is always about managing risk. Every time you trade the operating principle is - Hope for the Best Prepare for the Worst.
The only way we've been able to control risk and at the same time participate in the market is by always cutting our position in half once a short profit target is met. No matter what anyone tell you, there is simply no way to know a priori if any given trade will be successful. At BKT we really believe that half a loaf is better than none. Success in trading is contingent not only on your analysis but on your ability to properly manage your position. That is why the game is hard. To be a winning trader you must be both - a good analyst and an an excellent risk manager.
2008-11-06
AN ARTICLE TO SHARE
Dear Readers,
I would like to dedicate this article to all of you.
Lesson Learnt From My Grandmother
It brought me a lot of fond memories when I first wrote it, and the more I read, the happier I will be. The fact that life is full of challenges means that we can become stronger and stronger. You know as much as I do that we should love our family, relatives and close friends, and treasure them before it is too late to do so.
So, if you haven't talked to your parents for a while, go ahead and make that phone call and say "I love you". Treasure yourself too because who is the most important person in this world. After going through Module 2 of Patterns of Excellence, I know the answer pretty well. So, take charge of your life and become 120% responsibility for what you are doing.
Dear Readers,
I would like to dedicate this article to all of you.
Lesson Learnt From My Grandmother
It brought me a lot of fond memories when I first wrote it, and the more I read, the happier I will be. The fact that life is full of challenges means that we can become stronger and stronger. You know as much as I do that we should love our family, relatives and close friends, and treasure them before it is too late to do so.
So, if you haven't talked to your parents for a while, go ahead and make that phone call and say "I love you". Treasure yourself too because who is the most important person in this world. After going through Module 2 of Patterns of Excellence, I know the answer pretty well. So, take charge of your life and become 120% responsibility for what you are doing.
2008-10-28
Ok you guys win. I can't beat you guys!!
In a local forum, someone said,
"I buy, the price go down. I sell, the price go up."
"I give up. Lost $20k in one month. "
"No more."
We need many of these people in the market to fund our profits. Retail investors and traders who are so penny wise and pound foolish will never appreciate the importance of getting education. They approach investment and trading in the wrong ways.
Everyone knows that in order to profit, he has to buy low and sell high. But many times, he does not seem to be able to figure out that in order to profit, he can actually sell high and buy low (well, I am not talking about naked short position, and don't get me wrong on this). And interestingly, he may be buying high and selling low. Why does this happen? This has something to do with fear and greed.
Fear - afraid to take losses and as a result, losses keep piling up until that person cannot tolerate anymore.
Greed - take profit as fast as possible because it may be gone. So, the person will take profit and later will discover that he could have made more and started screaming and shouting.
Having said that, by getting proper education, this person could have saved $20k. Of course, when every smarter Alec is telling you that "cash is king and thus you should wait", he is also not getting proper education. Please don't listen to these people because they never tell you that you can profit from a bear market first before it reverts. So, instead of waiting for the bull market to come back, why waste time to stay sideline? We have traders who continue to make money in the bear market, me included. It's the result of us getting proper education, and trading with a plan. Don't under-estimate the power of education and don't be afraid of getting involved in the bear market.
Well, who knows when we are seeing this situation in future. But if we are educated, I am sure we know how to deal with this next time.
In a local forum, someone said,
"I buy, the price go down. I sell, the price go up."
"I give up. Lost $20k in one month. "
"No more."
We need many of these people in the market to fund our profits. Retail investors and traders who are so penny wise and pound foolish will never appreciate the importance of getting education. They approach investment and trading in the wrong ways.
Everyone knows that in order to profit, he has to buy low and sell high. But many times, he does not seem to be able to figure out that in order to profit, he can actually sell high and buy low (well, I am not talking about naked short position, and don't get me wrong on this). And interestingly, he may be buying high and selling low. Why does this happen? This has something to do with fear and greed.
Fear - afraid to take losses and as a result, losses keep piling up until that person cannot tolerate anymore.
Greed - take profit as fast as possible because it may be gone. So, the person will take profit and later will discover that he could have made more and started screaming and shouting.
Having said that, by getting proper education, this person could have saved $20k. Of course, when every smarter Alec is telling you that "cash is king and thus you should wait", he is also not getting proper education. Please don't listen to these people because they never tell you that you can profit from a bear market first before it reverts. So, instead of waiting for the bull market to come back, why waste time to stay sideline? We have traders who continue to make money in the bear market, me included. It's the result of us getting proper education, and trading with a plan. Don't under-estimate the power of education and don't be afraid of getting involved in the bear market.
Well, who knows when we are seeing this situation in future. But if we are educated, I am sure we know how to deal with this next time.
2008-10-17
My Dearest Grandmother
I will always remember you, my grandmum, the one who brought my up and took good care of me when I was young. I know you suffered a lot over the last few months, especially whenever I heard from Flora that you were admitted to hospital again.
I admired you for being tough and determined. I admired your perseverance even though at times you suffered tremendous pain. Having said that, you remained positive and had faith on the doctors' diagnosis. You faced the tough test the God put on you this month - for doing an operation which a normal person would not even dare to receive. You were doing well to be honest. We, all members of Wong's family, are proud of you.
Will the God take care of you, and you will enjoy a new page of life.
Your dearest Grandson!
Jack
I will always remember you, my grandmum, the one who brought my up and took good care of me when I was young. I know you suffered a lot over the last few months, especially whenever I heard from Flora that you were admitted to hospital again.
I admired you for being tough and determined. I admired your perseverance even though at times you suffered tremendous pain. Having said that, you remained positive and had faith on the doctors' diagnosis. You faced the tough test the God put on you this month - for doing an operation which a normal person would not even dare to receive. You were doing well to be honest. We, all members of Wong's family, are proud of you.
Will the God take care of you, and you will enjoy a new page of life.
Your dearest Grandson!
Jack
2008-10-09
Whoosh 26 Module 1
Oct 2008 marks a milestone for me in terms of stretching my goals. I was part of the coaching team for Whoosh 26 - Patterns of Excellence (POE) Module 1.
Thank you for the guidance from the various senior coaches, and of course Pete Tan, our POE Head coach.
If you think coaching in Wealth Academy is the same as coaching in POE, please re-think. POE Coaching is 100,000 times more challenging than WA coaching. First of all, Pete expects all coaches to attend the pre-course coaching workshops (all together there are four sessions). I missed two of them and was a bit embarassed when I showed up on the third session. These sessions started from 7pm to 4am next morning. No kidding. Also, I am new to Pete and was not comfortable in front of him on the first night. But ... I am now used to Pete. He is a very tough guy and at the same time, is willing to share his knowledge with the group.
In terms of the actual POE, we had some 40 participants and for the first time as a coach, I understand the rationale of two key activities - WHY MUST YOU CHANGE? and WHY AM I IMPORTANT? Regrettably, I missed the STEEL ROD on the third night otherwise this coaching experience will be more fulfiling I must say.
Overall, it is a definitely a stretch to me, and I look forward to Mod 2 at the end of this month. I am grateful to all the senior coaches from POE for accepting me as part of the Whoosh coaching family. I learnt a lot, and I trusts that we will share our joy and happiness in future Whoosh batches.
What to do with your money now?
I commend the effort by my best pal, Conrad who wrote this short article in his blog ( http://www.conradalvinlim.com/?p=270). I am doing my readers a big favor by presenting Conrad's thoughts to you.
Ironically, I received a few calls recently from my readers and buddies who asked me what they should do in this economic crisis (or should it be named 'opportunity instead?). If you flip newspaper and watch Channel News Asia, CNN and CNBC, you may have heard this phrase very often - CASH IS KING!
When I reviewed the arguments presented by the speakers and journalists, I could not help but to think that some of these arguments are too naive. Why? This is the best time and it is never too late to improve your financial literacy, thereby offering yourself a valuable opportunity to learn how to manage your money. Instead of asking around what to invest and how to invest, it is now your time (yes, your time) to look for these answers.
As nicely put by Conrad, you know your bank deposit isn't that safe because the safe zone is only S$20,000 per account. Cash in milo tins may be safer in that regard. But instead of keeping the money and doing nothing, why do you not offer yourself an opportunity to get education?
When so many people are screaming and shouting about the downfall of the equity market, when so many people are losing money in this market, only a few have equipped the skill to make money. I happened to be one of the few people who had the ability to do so.
Today is 9 Oct, 2008 and over the last 6 trading days, my forex portfolio was up by 17%, and there are still three weeks to go before the end of Oct. When my buddies who hold off to trade options because they are scared of the high implied volatility and wide slippage, forex is my logical choice because it is the largest market and no matter what happens in the equity market, the liqudity and the tight spread the forex market continues to offer make me wonder whether I have made to right decision to move to play and defend in the forex market.
Well, my story is that I started forex education formally only in this March. However, with the proper trading psychology and well-founded business plan, I was able to start my forex business in a few months and am now reaping the fruits of my earlier effort. So, while many people who took up courses and still lost money in forex, and while many people continue to say that forex trading is risky, here is an example - see for yourself how to delay gratification and get yourself some education will help you to survive in this market.
While my friends told me that they have bought nice cars and houses, I always think how to invest in myself first - delayed gratification is painful because one can be easily influenced by the peers. However, instant gratification can be painful when something suddenly happens and you have no time to respond.
If you are seriously in getting some forex education, you can consider the following:
http://www.babypips.com
http://www.theforexbooks.com
http://www.singaporeforexforum.com/forum.php
http://www.gftforex.com/
http://www.dailyfx.com
http://www.netvibes.com/BKTraderFX#FXDashBoard
and many more ...
If you are ready to start your forex education, let me know. I have tons to share with you too.
I commend the effort by my best pal, Conrad who wrote this short article in his blog ( http://www.conradalvinlim.com/?p=270). I am doing my readers a big favor by presenting Conrad's thoughts to you.
Ironically, I received a few calls recently from my readers and buddies who asked me what they should do in this economic crisis (or should it be named 'opportunity instead?). If you flip newspaper and watch Channel News Asia, CNN and CNBC, you may have heard this phrase very often - CASH IS KING!
When I reviewed the arguments presented by the speakers and journalists, I could not help but to think that some of these arguments are too naive. Why? This is the best time and it is never too late to improve your financial literacy, thereby offering yourself a valuable opportunity to learn how to manage your money. Instead of asking around what to invest and how to invest, it is now your time (yes, your time) to look for these answers.
As nicely put by Conrad, you know your bank deposit isn't that safe because the safe zone is only S$20,000 per account. Cash in milo tins may be safer in that regard. But instead of keeping the money and doing nothing, why do you not offer yourself an opportunity to get education?
When so many people are screaming and shouting about the downfall of the equity market, when so many people are losing money in this market, only a few have equipped the skill to make money. I happened to be one of the few people who had the ability to do so.
Today is 9 Oct, 2008 and over the last 6 trading days, my forex portfolio was up by 17%, and there are still three weeks to go before the end of Oct. When my buddies who hold off to trade options because they are scared of the high implied volatility and wide slippage, forex is my logical choice because it is the largest market and no matter what happens in the equity market, the liqudity and the tight spread the forex market continues to offer make me wonder whether I have made to right decision to move to play and defend in the forex market.
Well, my story is that I started forex education formally only in this March. However, with the proper trading psychology and well-founded business plan, I was able to start my forex business in a few months and am now reaping the fruits of my earlier effort. So, while many people who took up courses and still lost money in forex, and while many people continue to say that forex trading is risky, here is an example - see for yourself how to delay gratification and get yourself some education will help you to survive in this market.
While my friends told me that they have bought nice cars and houses, I always think how to invest in myself first - delayed gratification is painful because one can be easily influenced by the peers. However, instant gratification can be painful when something suddenly happens and you have no time to respond.
If you are seriously in getting some forex education, you can consider the following:
http://www.babypips.com
http://www.theforexbooks.com
http://www.singaporeforexforum.com/forum.php
http://www.gftforex.com/
http://www.dailyfx.com
http://www.netvibes.com/BKTraderFX#FXDashBoard
and many more ...
If you are ready to start your forex education, let me know. I have tons to share with you too.
2008-09-28
Big Mouth Iron Condor (BMIC) SystemTM
A lot of traders around the world were comparing my BMIC SystemTM with Dan Sheridan's High Probability Condors. First, let me clarify that BMIC System is a system created by me and it is not based on Dan's system alone. In fact, BMIC System is generated by mixing and playing with at least three iron condor systems that are available currently in the internet and of course, the system works because I have done sufficient backtesting before I put this system on live trading.
Now, some of you may find that my Beta 1 Guidelines are too much to handle. Remember that this system is a rule-based system and therefore I have a lot of rules to capture different scenarios. For example, the hard close rule is to deal with the overnight RLS settlement. Buy back cheap rule is to make sure that a trader can remove his obligation as early as possible. So, they are all there for reasons. You cannot get these rules in a complete sense by reading other iron condor systems because most of them tell you vaguely how to get in but none of them is really able to address the "How to get out", or at best, you may consider this or that ... blah blah blah.
Why do I not talk about volatility? In the first place, iron condor consists of two vertical spreads. Therefore, the volatility is hedged in that you buy high IV option and sell high IV option at the same time. Or you buy low IV option and sell low IV option. Indeed, RVX can help to determine how big the mouth is. It helps in certain sense but that's all you can use. So, not mentioning volatility is not fatal because it does not matter at all, unlike time spread or diagonals.
If RVX is at all time low, chances of getting burnt WOULD NOT GO UP because you are going to use some rules to get out of the position. For example in Beta 1, I talked about what if you lose 1.5 times of your original credit received, you should consider getting out. So, those who said they may be burnt did not consider faithfully all the potential exit rules, and I am daring to say that - they did not.
All in all, no matter which iron condor system you are trading, make sure that you have done sufficient backtesting and forward testing before putting money at risk. Taking someone's system without testing it can be fatal and when you get burnt, don't blame the system developer but yourself - why? It's because you haven't done enough practice to drive F1. How can you drive like Lewis Hamilton when you just get your license?
Go figure.
Com'on - Listen to the so-called guru's advice
Read the following in a local forum with interest of how silly and naive aspiring traders can be:
"I am a newbie and just started trading few weeks ago. I thought I got some good information from this forum and won some money initially. One particular forummer caught my eyes as he was very articulate and claimed he was right of the market movement for the past few months..2 weeks ago on a friday, when the market turned, I listen to his advice and go long, becos he sound to firm and sure abt the position..never did I expect he flip his position so fast on the coming monday..Now i suffered for a lost of $10450..very sad now I never lost such a huge amount in my life..and the above was my entire saving..I am keeping this away from my wife over the weekend and now feel very depress and lost"
Hey, in the first place, a few lessons we can learn from this poor chap's mistake:
1. Treat someone's opinion as a fact is fatal because a trader can turn his opinion in a split second. Since he is not giving you any advice, he owes no fiduciary duty to you. If you are wrong, it is your own mistake and you have no legal recourse against this guy. So, don't even think of suing that trader? No way, you are wasting your money and your lawyer will happily pocket the legal fee.
2. Never trade with the amount you cannot afford to lose. So, if you hear like this guy say "I suffered a loss {sic} of $10,450 ... I never lost such huge amount in my life", probably he is trading too big and thinking that this trade would be a home run. Once you are in the mindset of gambling, chances are you are asking how much this trade can make, and not how much you will lose if you are wrong in the first place. That's why gamblers can sometimes make money but in the long run, gamblers can't last. Probability is not on their sides anyway.
3. This is really a joke but is so common. So many people are not willing to pay a few K to get proper education because they say the instructors suck, the course sucks, the materials suck, the strategy does not work. Ironically, they are happy to pay so much money to let Mr. Market teach them a good lesson. You can call this moral hazard, or the law of adversity. Isn't it better to pay $10k for proper education and learn how to trade well and last longer, instead of paying $10k to Mr. Market and now the money is gone. This poor guy literally has less than $10k to start his trading business. He felt sad and probably he wouldn't trade anymore because humans are scared due to "once bitten, twice shy" syndromes.
Another victim ....
Read the following in a local forum with interest of how silly and naive aspiring traders can be:
"I am a newbie and just started trading few weeks ago. I thought I got some good information from this forum and won some money initially. One particular forummer caught my eyes as he was very articulate and claimed he was right of the market movement for the past few months..2 weeks ago on a friday, when the market turned, I listen to his advice and go long, becos he sound to firm and sure abt the position..never did I expect he flip his position so fast on the coming monday..Now i suffered for a lost of $10450..very sad now I never lost such a huge amount in my life..and the above was my entire saving..I am keeping this away from my wife over the weekend and now feel very depress and lost"
Hey, in the first place, a few lessons we can learn from this poor chap's mistake:
1. Treat someone's opinion as a fact is fatal because a trader can turn his opinion in a split second. Since he is not giving you any advice, he owes no fiduciary duty to you. If you are wrong, it is your own mistake and you have no legal recourse against this guy. So, don't even think of suing that trader? No way, you are wasting your money and your lawyer will happily pocket the legal fee.
2. Never trade with the amount you cannot afford to lose. So, if you hear like this guy say "I suffered a loss {sic} of $10,450 ... I never lost such huge amount in my life", probably he is trading too big and thinking that this trade would be a home run. Once you are in the mindset of gambling, chances are you are asking how much this trade can make, and not how much you will lose if you are wrong in the first place. That's why gamblers can sometimes make money but in the long run, gamblers can't last. Probability is not on their sides anyway.
3. This is really a joke but is so common. So many people are not willing to pay a few K to get proper education because they say the instructors suck, the course sucks, the materials suck, the strategy does not work. Ironically, they are happy to pay so much money to let Mr. Market teach them a good lesson. You can call this moral hazard, or the law of adversity. Isn't it better to pay $10k for proper education and learn how to trade well and last longer, instead of paying $10k to Mr. Market and now the money is gone. This poor guy literally has less than $10k to start his trading business. He felt sad and probably he wouldn't trade anymore because humans are scared due to "once bitten, twice shy" syndromes.
Another victim ....
2008-09-25
Thanks, Conrad
My best trading pal, Conrad Alvin Lim mentioned me in his blog, and guess what? I received two friends request in my Facebook. Not a bad way to attract traffic and increase my profile (do I really need a high profile? I don't actually).
Without sharing too much the stories of my two new friends, I would just like to highlight the difference between Wealth Academy Trader ("WAT") and Optionetics two-day intermediate seminar. I consistently receive questions, specifically asking me to compare and contrast these two courses. It's like "Greeksman, I am considering either WAT or Optionetics. What's your take?"
I see the comparison as that of an apple with an orange. I am not in the best position to comment on WAT since I am never Conrad's student myself. However, from the conversation I have with Conrad and his students, and since I have the honour of being a special guest in his WAT forum, I understand that WAT provides basic training on trading matters.
In my opinion, whether a person decides to trade stocks, indices, options, futures or forex, because he chooses to be a trader, he has to acquire the basic skill. I believe therefore WAT is a good course to help aspiring traders to build their foundation. I don't any get commission from Conrad though to say this. I do find that had Conrad taught WAT earlier, I would have had become one of his students so that I can brush up my technical analysis and candlesticks.
In the world of Optionetics, however, apart from having a basic technical training, one will add on the foundation of options. So, one can start trading options assuming that he has already had trading skill. I sincerely believe that this should be the case. If one starts immediately to trade options, it's like "Hmm ... you are driving a F1 race car without having a driving license". I am not saying that it is not possible but you know the risk involved.
In the end, whatever one decides to do, he must understand why he is doing what he wants to do, and do whatever it takes to achieve the goal he set for himself. So, if you are interested in knowing more on Optionetics, do drop me a note or come to one of our previews by registering at http://www.optionetics.como.sg. The previews for the upcoming seminars will be 7-9 October in Singapore, and 11-13 October in Hong Kong.
If you are physically in Hong Kong, please come to Langham Place, Mongkok on 11 Oct at 1:00pm. Why? It is because for the first time in Optionetics' history, I will be doing the preview in 100% Cantonese. The slides will all be in Chinese too. So, if you are interested in hearing Optionetics talk options in Cantonese, I shall see you in Hong Kong. I am sincerely looking forward to it.
My best trading pal, Conrad Alvin Lim mentioned me in his blog, and guess what? I received two friends request in my Facebook. Not a bad way to attract traffic and increase my profile (do I really need a high profile? I don't actually).
Without sharing too much the stories of my two new friends, I would just like to highlight the difference between Wealth Academy Trader ("WAT") and Optionetics two-day intermediate seminar. I consistently receive questions, specifically asking me to compare and contrast these two courses. It's like "Greeksman, I am considering either WAT or Optionetics. What's your take?"
I see the comparison as that of an apple with an orange. I am not in the best position to comment on WAT since I am never Conrad's student myself. However, from the conversation I have with Conrad and his students, and since I have the honour of being a special guest in his WAT forum, I understand that WAT provides basic training on trading matters.
In my opinion, whether a person decides to trade stocks, indices, options, futures or forex, because he chooses to be a trader, he has to acquire the basic skill. I believe therefore WAT is a good course to help aspiring traders to build their foundation. I don't any get commission from Conrad though to say this. I do find that had Conrad taught WAT earlier, I would have had become one of his students so that I can brush up my technical analysis and candlesticks.
In the world of Optionetics, however, apart from having a basic technical training, one will add on the foundation of options. So, one can start trading options assuming that he has already had trading skill. I sincerely believe that this should be the case. If one starts immediately to trade options, it's like "Hmm ... you are driving a F1 race car without having a driving license". I am not saying that it is not possible but you know the risk involved.
In the end, whatever one decides to do, he must understand why he is doing what he wants to do, and do whatever it takes to achieve the goal he set for himself. So, if you are interested in knowing more on Optionetics, do drop me a note or come to one of our previews by registering at http://www.optionetics.como.sg. The previews for the upcoming seminars will be 7-9 October in Singapore, and 11-13 October in Hong Kong.
If you are physically in Hong Kong, please come to Langham Place, Mongkok on 11 Oct at 1:00pm. Why? It is because for the first time in Optionetics' history, I will be doing the preview in 100% Cantonese. The slides will all be in Chinese too. So, if you are interested in hearing Optionetics talk options in Cantonese, I shall see you in Hong Kong. I am sincerely looking forward to it.
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