A hiatus

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Ahoy!

I will be taking a hiatus from this website. I like this site, however I have too much going on to dedicate posting here.

Do you want to be a forex millionaire trader? Or even better, why not be a millionaire trader? That is more skillful. For those who are looking for the Holy Grail system of trading to reach that figure, well, simply put you are the Holy Grail of trading – let that sink in for a bit, and then repeat it to yourself again. Once you understand that you’ll become pretty much or less unstoppable (And that applies to any endeavor in your life).

For those who are unprofitable traders, stop system hopping. And really understand WHY are you taking a trade.

You can really make bank in this game (Go read this Can you live off forex trading?). I do it, and I know many others who do it as well. To add, don’t limit yourself just to forex, a good trader will be able to trade any financial market, whether it be commodities, stocks, cryptocurrencies (the new hot buzz word) etc. (A side note: Admittedly when I started I was narrow minded and only focussed on forex, until a fellow trader asked me “Why was I limiting myself? When there is an abundance of opportunites and markets to trade on” – sometimes it’s the seemingly obvious things in life.) A chart is a chart, the market auction and order flow is all there for the trading.

You can still contact me, and I will respond – the only question is when! 😛

Have a wonderful December and year end!

To our success!

Robin

P.S. Hope you aren’t having Bitcoin Fomo – it’s just under $10,000 USD. Where will it go next? Who knows! 😛

Bitcoin Wealth Distribution

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Following on my Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency & FOMO post. This seemed very approriate. I stumbled on this whilst doing some cyrpto reading. Bitcoin Wealth Distribution conducted by Howmuch.net (https://howmuch.net/articles/bitcoin-wealth-distribution). Assuming their calcutions are correct, it represents a very interesting side of the (bit)“coin”. Obviously the Author puts disclaimers on data accuracy etc. However, I do believe it is food for thought, especially comparing with the original concept of Bitcoin. Even if you take it at a loose 5% of addresses own 90%, it’s eye opening.

 

Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency & FOMO

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I love the markets. The volatility and the endless opportunity. I rarely read the news, I do get sent a great deal of information from fellow traders, friends and business associates. Right now, it’s all about Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, ICO (Initial Coint Offerings) and Alt Coins. I see a lot of people suffering and jumping in the markets due to Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency & FOMO. For those who don’t know what FOMO is, it stands for fear of missing out. A new age term (as Google put’s it: anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on social media.).

It’s quite fascinating to see, the mental dynamics. No doubt there are many people who have made millions from Bitcoin and other Cryptos. Just have a gander at the Bitcoin chart. If you bought some at the start of the year, and gotten in at about the $800 mark, you would then now be sitting on over 9 fold that (9x! / 900%) call that for yield. It is just under $8000 and who know’s where it will go next.

There are many who have been holding Bitcoin sub $50. You’d be an extremely happy person, if you happened to be one of them. Or even when it first started and the super nerds & geeks jumped on the bitcoin bandwagon, without caring about the price, they purely liked the technology (note the buzz word of the moment – blockchain) and ideology behind it. That’s the reason why it was created – a distributed open ledger, not for investment speculation.

My word of advice to those who want to get into this game are:

  1. Don’t trade Bitcoin, Crypto’s (or any investment for that matter), out of FOMO. You’re investing with your emotions and out of fear (that’s a killer, right there).. and chasing a trade. Don’t be a Bitcoin FOMO trader.
  2. If you do opt to trade these, make sure you have damn well done your research and understand what you are getting into (and more importantly how to get out unscathed, if it doesn’t go to plan). Understand the concepts, the workings of these ‘coins’ before trading anything.
  3. If you are looking at ICOs.. be extremely careful. There are many scams, and if you look at the charts, they have a similarity to “pump & dump” / penny stocks / some IPOs. Don’t get caught on the wrong side.
  4. For coin storage, please use a ‘Cold Wallet’ / offline wallet and don’t leave it on the Coin Exchange / Online Wallet. Many of these have vanished over night or have been hacked.
  5. Understand the risks –  this is an unregulated market after all.

Happy Trading,

Robin

Paul Tudor Jones – Swing Trader Rules

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I forgot who sent me this. It’s been sitting on my desktop, waiting for me to post it to the site. I really like it. It’s apparently some of the rules / philosophies of Paul Tudor Jones, the famous swing trader and hedge fund manager.

I really like the second one. I really set boundaries on my emotional energy. Have a read through it. There are many gems in this deceivingly simple list. I am sure some will resonate with you.

Happy Trading!

Robin

Paul Tudor Jones – Swing Trader Rules

  • Swing trader, the best money is made at the market turns. Has missed a lot of meat in the middle, but catches a lot of tops and bottoms
  • Spends his day making himself happy and relaxed. Gets out of a losing position that is making him uncomfortable. Nothing’s better than a fresh start. Key is to play great defense, not great offense.
  • Never average loses. Decreases his trading size when he is doing poorly, increase when he is trading well.
  • He has mental stops. If it hits that number, he is out no matter what. He uses not only price stops, but time stops.
  • Monitors the whole portfolio equity (risk) in real time.
  • He believes prices move first and fundamentals come second.
  • He doesn’t care about mistakes made three seconds ago, but what he is going to do from the next moment on.
  • Don’t be a hero. Don’t have an ego. Always question yourself and your ability. Don’t ever feel that you are very good. The second you do, you are dead.

Easy Order MT4 Script – Position Sizing

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I met up with a friend the other day who was asking me how do I do my positions sizing when I trade. I have always told him for years that I will risk 1-5% of my capital per trade, depending on the nuances of the trade. However my words have fallen on deaf ears, as he always asks me what risk do I take per trade – the answer has always been the same (for absolute beginners I recommend to start with 1% maximum). He always asks how I position size my trade etc.. ever since stumbling upon the Easy Order MT4 Script, whoever asks me about positions sizing, my answer is a straight up use position sizing with the Easy Order MT4 Script.

It’s one of the easiest things to do ever. Let’s call my friend, XYZ. XYZ has always been using fixed lot sizes to trade. He thinks it is rocket science to calculate your position size and allocate a percent % risk of your capital per trade. If you are trading, use a position size that is allocated with a percent % risk of your capital per trade. Ideally keep it between 1-2% to begin with, and as you gain more confidence you can increase / decrease as per your individual trade rules. It couldn’t be anymore simpler and there are now an array of position size calculators out there, and the majority of them are for free! =D

Sangmane has done a wonderful job at offering an automatically calculated position size trade calculate for free. Thank you again, sir. You can download it here (Easy Order MT4 Script) and find the instructions as well.

Happy Trading!

Robin

Don’t be an eunuch!

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This post is not about forex trading, or becoming a forex millionaire trader. However, it will help you on your journey in life. It’s about the mindset. Far more imporant is the mindset, compared to the tools/resources people have, in order to become successful. You can give 2 traders the same trading system, and their results will be completely different. This falls down to mindset.

Funny enough this post revolves around Singapore and one of it’s early key personnel’s thoughts. It was sent to me by a fellow business associated in Singapore. It sheds light on the possible future of Singapore, the importance of leadership & people, and the edge of the country/people. Oh, to top it off, don’t be an eunuch! Seriously – there are too many around =/

Former EDB Chairman Philip Yeo’s latest biography sheds light on leadership pitfalls

6-Feb-2017: http://thepeakmagazine.com.sg/interviews/former-edb-chairman-philip-yeos-latest-book-sheds-light-leadership-pitfalls

Through 10 interviews with Philip Yeo, and 40 with those who’ve worked with him or known him, readers will gain an insight into the heady days of Singapore’s early nation-building.

# 1 What is the rationale behind your firing-squad approach to managers?

Like Dr Goh (Keng Swee), I don’t believe people can change. So the best way to change an organisation is to burn it down and start afresh. That means I sack the whole lot of managers. In every organisation, there are three types of people: the emperors at the top, the workers at the bottom, and the eunuchs in the middle. The ruler says, “I want my pyramid,” and the workers are the people who build it. The eunuchs are the ones who shuffle papers. They don’t do any real work. Their objectives are to keep the emperor happy. How to do that? Keep the emperor entertained or distract him with other preoccupations. Eunuchs destroy empires. It was true in China and also in the West. The Ottoman Empire was brought down by eunuchs too. All they did was create problems between the emperors and the commanders who did real work out in the battlefields.

# 2 Who are the eunuchs in the Singapore context?

We call them “staffers”. I advise CEOs and top civil servants to go into the field, visit the companies and spend time with the workers. But many still prefer to hold meetings and presentations. They create another layer and it is a layer filled with staffers. Soon, the leader will be infected with eunuch disease.

# 3 What is eunuch disease?

It is when a leader surrounds himself with staffers and he becomes increasingly isolated. It is a common cancer in pyramidal organisations. The best organisation structure is flat. If I’m the emperor, I would want to see the generals myself. Increasingly, the emperors in Singapore do not see their generals because there are so many layers.

# 4 How did Singapore get to this stage? Is it because as society becomes more developed, it requires a more complex governance structure?

No, it’s how the leadership has evolved. There are so many papers which need to be submitted, and then summarised for the management. Why can’t the leader read the paper himself? Dr Goh used to demand that a paper be no longer than one page and it must be written in simple English. He always said: short and sharp. If you cannot tell me in one page or in five minutes, it means you have no clarity of thought. I have no patience because a damn idiot wants to write his grandmother’s story.

# 5 Is this a result of how talent is recruited?

The organisation wants stability. There must be a balance with some turmoil. If it is all stability, it gets really boring and a maverick won’t want it. He will run away. You will get people who are honest and respectable, but you won’t get mavericks. These are the people who follow rules – “Yes, Sir, I will do this.” They are your obedient kids in schools and teachers like them. They grow up to be good eunuchs. They sit down and don’t move around. They are better than the guy who cannot sit still, the kind who has an itchy backside and will get into trouble. I used to get into trouble in school. I finished my work fast and I made noise in class. The teacher made me stand at the blackboard. I’m happy to stand. Better than sitting in the stupid chair.

# 6 How much of this increasing bureaucratisation is seen in Singapore today?

The management is too involved in day-to-day matters. They become administrators rather than leaders. Let me tell you a story. When Lee Kuan Yew was in charge, he called me to Istana one day. He was still Prime Minister and I was EDB chairman. I sat down. It was just the two of us. “Can you bring investments to Woodlands?” he asked me. “Can you put an MRT station there?” I replied. Finished. I walked out. Our conversation lasted less than a minute. I knew he called the Minister of Communications right away and said that Woodlands must get an MRT station. I quickly got TECH (Texas Instruments, EDB, Canon and Hewlett-Packard – Semiconductors) to get set up in Woodlands, way before the MRT station was even up. I pushed for projects to go to Woodlands. I didn’t write a memo. I didn’t have to answer him on how we were going to do it. He took my word and I took his word. He wanted something and I delivered.

Today, ministers overwork – doing everything and appearing everywhere. When there were issues with CPF, the minister answered. Where was the CPF chairman? When the trains broke down, the minister answered. Where was the SMRT chairman? In the past, the civil servants would take charge. Now, the Admin Officers are quiet. That is a sad thing. In my time, permanent secretaries were permanent in their postings. Today, we should call them “temporary secretaries” because they get rotated every few years. There’s no reservoir of experience
 they are constantly rotated and they have no depth.

# 7 How does this contrast with the Old Guard leaders?

The Old Guards were politicians. They built a nation from next to nothing. They didn’t care about the nitty gritty. Just get the bloody job done. Bring in investments, create jobs, build up an army. They didn’t have time to discuss with you “on the one hand and on the other hand”. They sketched the big picture, they told you what they wanted and they left you alone to do it. It’s based on trust.

# 8 Do you think Singapore can remain exceptional?

It depends on exceptional people who’re willing to serve. It’s up to the present leadership and the future generation. I’m concerned about Singapore’s economy. What’s the next engine of our growth? Is it tourism? But do you create good jobs with tourism? You don’t need highly qualified people. All you need is a tour guide. Look at Formula One. For a few days, all the chauffeured cars and the hotels are occupied. It’s like the Singapore Airshow. It’s a one-week event and the tourists leave after that. These are not sustainable, everyday industries. These are icing on the cake. So far, I haven’t seen anything new that can create good and sustainable jobs. After biomedical sciences, what’s next? Space? What are we selling to our young people? What’s the new dream? It is a harder job today for EDB. But we must keep trying.

# 9 How do you think you will be remembered in Singapore?

Not my problem.

Forex System Hopping

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Don’t do this. Forex System Hopping is the kiss of death for any trader. It’s the never ending search for the Coveted Forex Holy Grail System. I try and limit my time with those who I consider time wasters / energy vampires / askholes. (I quite like Urban Dictionary’s definition of time wasters: A person who either consciously or unconsciously tries to engage you in a fruitless investment of your energy, time, money or attention.) However this past week, I admittedly gave in to meet a mutual friend, who is also a trader. I have been putting off meeting this person the past several months. The reason being is that every time we meet it’s the same story over and over again. He is a serious forex system hopper (and hoper!).

He loves to talk to me about forex trading. The issue is that he doesn’t want to hear anything I say, he only wants to hear what he is saying. When I first met him, I thought wow, he must be a pretty decent trader. He kept sending me videos and screenshots of the trades he was taking. There would be figures of $10,000-$100,000 USD in the money for the day, impressive right? He would explain to me about this new forex system he had learned and on how he was doubling, tripling his account in X months. Then, suddenly I would not hear from him and he’d vanish. But like a magician, he would reappear back and want to talk about a new different forex trading system and show his amazing results etc.

This has been going on for years. What I found out, was that the large wins that were being showcased were on a demo account and his real account was significantly smaller (5 figures under). When he was loud and sending me all his wins, it was when he was winning on his real account. Then he when he blew up his account, he would go quiet.

I have had serious conversations with him to 1, stop forex system hopping 2, stop trading the demo account and showcasing it as real wins 3, start building up real capital to trade a real forex account, instead of living in demo dream land. All of these have fallen on deaf ears. It’s a shame really, as he is a good guy.

It’s tiring, especially when the solution is so simple. Then at the end of it, he always asks me for advice. This is the askhole part. For those who don’t know what an askhole is, here is Urban Dictionary’s definition: A person who constantly ask for your advice, yet always does the opposite of what you told them.

Don’t be Forex System Hopping around, take this game seriously. There is money to be made, it require’s effort, work and dedication. If you are committed to succeeding these articles will help:

$100,000 USD in Trading Capital
Goal(s) + Self Discipline + Feedback Loop

To our success,

Robin

P.S. I made my 1 post for August, just in nick of time. 😉

P.P.S. This is definitely not a one off case. There are many out there forex system hopping around.

forex-shortcuts

Real Forex “Shortcuts”

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I see this all the time. Everyone wants forex “shortcuts”, rather than figuring things out and doing some proper work to make it in this game. They want the road to getting insanely rich quickly from learning a new system ( keyword to watch out for: “the Forex Holy Grail System”) or following trade signals from a trade “guru / pro” to become the next forex millionaire trader. However, more often than not, most of these forex newbie traders following those forex “shortcuts” end up going quiet (almost as quiet as the crickets) as the system fails or the trade signals simply don’t turn the profit as it was meant to do.

What ensues after a period of draw down / a string of losses on these systems, is great mass panic (chime in: fear & greed). And the reason is very simple. The forex newbie trader doesn’t know how the system works or even worse, he/she may not even know what the system is. Thus they lose a great deal of confidence in the trading system and then switches or goes on a new search for the Coveted Forex Holy Grail System – again.

This is not to look down on anyone selling trading systems nor trade signal providers. I am sure there are some genuinely true profitable providers out there, however unfortunately in this business there are more people out to make money from selling the forex trading system / trade signals rather than trading profitably for themselves. (On a side note: Later in my trading journey, I started to question why on earth would someone who trades profitably want to sell some course / trading system or spend time with some unknown trader. Trade signals on the other hand I can sort of see.. but that doesn’t really help the forex newbie trader themselves.)

Can you live off forex trading? You can definitely live off forex trading. The question is, are you willing to go that extra mile to give what it really takes to make it in this game.

Stop looking for forex “shortcuts”. Go read about the markets. And before you trade live, question.. WHY does this forex system work (please don’t answer it because this forex guru / pro said so… or because that’s what this forum member said..). What edge does this trade have over all of the other trades and traders. If you can’t answer these, go back to the drawing board and figure out the why, not the how.

To success!

Robin

P.S. *YAY* to me. My second post of the month! 😛

Perspective: Scalper vs Swing Trader

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Haha. I know this is an old forex meme. But it still makes me LOL. It’s a matter of perspective: scalper vs swing trader. I personally believe as a trader you have to be able to trade all styles, time frames and financial instruments. You’ll most likely hone down to a specific style, time frame and instrument of choice – which is only natural. However you need to understand other styles and need to to be flexible.

I started off scalping, trading the 1 and 5 minute charts. Now I mainly trade the dailies and at times drop down to the lower time frames for quicker trades and entries. I can take trades of 15 minute charts or even monthly time frames. I don’t call myself a swing trader or a scalper. Just a trader.

Happy Independence Day! Here’s to consistent and profitable forex trading!

Robin

Swing-trader-scalper-oil

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