Trader Update

Mini-Term was a awesome Experience!!! School has been an opportunity killer. I've found that I can't handle managing a trade while in the middle of class...so I slowed down the number of trades I take per month. I had an awesome month in January which ended my cold streak (see picture). I'm currently a little below my peak. I plan to make some positive gains during my Spring Break!

Below is an opportunity I am ecstatic about. Sometime in November currensee.com called me and told me that they would be interested in having me as one of their first trade leaders. The site is 'like' a facebook for forex traders. The members are able to view the trades and pick a trade leader to invest in. I trade as I would normally do but the investors that are following me have my trades and risk management duplicated on their accounts. It's a great win-win-win scenario!

1. Currensee.com gets the commission from their IB business not only on my account but the investors...plus most traders lose or bust out quickly. Currensee will have longer and better residual income from TLP (Trade Leader's Program). Very Smart.
2. Traders/Investors can tap into talent that would normally be exclusive to elite (30%+ yearly gains). Also learning traders can 'hedge' their live accounts by using TLP. Say I make 30% they lose 10%. They are still up and have the live learning experience.
3. I am paid like a Wall Street fund manager. I will be taking 25% of the profits. For every 4 investors that match my account my profits will double for the same amount of risk taken...sweet RRR!

Mini-term

Mini-term - noun

An eight day intense study on a subject of interest by North Carolina Science and Mathematics students hosted by a professor or alumn. I have the privilege...nay...the honor to teach introduction to forex trading to these high school kids! The curriculum will include online education by forexmentor and live trading during the London open (3 am EST). I'm adding an interesting spin to the normal mini-term. I will be dividing the class into two-four groups that are going to complete tasks and assignments in 'The Apprentice' format. Team leaders and positions will be divided and switched up evenly. This 'game' is to add some flavor in what would be a boring mini-term. I see the benefit in creating experiences not just a class for the kids to rollover to their future. Think about it. When an employer asks for work/business/life experience: I want them have at least one interesting story under their belt to separate themselves from sheeples.

Getting IN: Dealing with Fear

How to mitigate fear of trading by desensitizing your to losses.

The bad feeling of getting stopped out feels 2x emotionally than the good feeling created from a good trade. How to psychologically 'stay' in the game?

Win twice as much as one loss. What do you mean? Shoot for RRR of at least 1:2 or develop your skills so that you have a 75% winning trade ratio (with proper money management of course). Tour trades need to offer a 1:2 psychological risk reward to keep your mental game balance.

Closing a winning trade brings a sense of relief rather than a joyous celebration. I remember my first four digit day...I thought I would be extremely excited. It was joyous for about 2 minutes after closing the position...that was it? I guess I need to shoot for a 5 digit day next!

Pull the trigger! This is tricky. It requires a few entries to build or observance that the strategy does indeed work.

Beginner: Use the smallest position possible (in my case 1 mini-lot...even better with micro-lots). Getting stopped out (20pips = $20) will still hurt because it's still a nice lunch. But the information gained will build the much needed 'faith' in the strategy.

Advance: Detachment. My suggestion is to calculate how much you are going to to risk today...and say to yourself "I have done my back testing, research, and seen this strategy perform with an EDGE on this pair. In the LONG run I will be profitable. Today I am going to throw X dollars, %, Pips, etc into the market with no expectation of the result."

We tend to go in with this mentality: "I have seen my mentor's trade this strategy with decent results. There have been times where they have been stopped out. Not sure if it's going to happen this time. Not sure if this strategy is going to be profitable because I haven't been profitable. When I enter this trade I with X% risk I expect to have a winning trade!"

With the detachment mentality...there is no expectation on profits after the trade has been set. When your trade closes at breaks even, you are NOT disappointed because you came out ahead in experience. Winners are a treat when managed properly. And Losers...you have already given your money to the market both financially...but this time mentally. Losing is to trading what pain is to life: without either, it would be a bland existence. Visualizing pain in term of ultimate profits will help you move forward.

Keep trading. Build your edge.