What attracted you to trading?

What attracted me to trading the most is how my brain is wired. I am a strong believer in anything that I do, and have never been content with an easy life, or accepted second best. I always want to be the master of my own world, and strive to better myself. Working and taking orders from someone else never made any sense to me growing up. 

Trading ticked all the boxes, as it's you against yourself. If you make a bad trade, it's on you. I like that. We can never be perfect, but we can always strive to do better. 

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We can never be perfect, but we can always strive to do better. 

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How long have you been trading and what markets have you traded over your career?

I have been trading since 2017, but I would say the first year or two, I was still very much finding my way. After the first couple of years and in the middle of the infamous crypto bear market, I moved over to trading equities. I found the cleaner PA in equities helped me gain an understanding in the markets. At that point, I had only been party to wild swings in the crypto market. My intention was always to return to crypto, but with better preparation. 

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How long did it take you to become profitable?

It took at least a couple of years for me to become profitable. My move over to the equities markets was accompanied by my only mentor and a good friend, in Trader SZ. He didn’t teach me anything that I didn’t already know from a theoretical perspective, but the application and execution of trades were key for me. 

Some of the most simple information is often the best, yet it is overlooked because it is so simple. Establishing a higher time frame context is the starting point, yet traders can often skip ahead looking for a secret that isn’t there (usually looking for something to match their bias).

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Who did you look up to when you first started trading?

I wouldn’t say that I’ve necessarily looked up to anyone in trading, I’ve always just tried to control what I can control and try to do my best. 

I think in the crypto space, in particular, people put others on a pedestal, and it’s usually unwarranted. You’ll be surprised how many have no idea what they are doing and rely on deal flow to survive.

That aside, I am grateful SZ took the time to mentor me, as he wasn’t under any obligation to do so but did it to help. 

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I’ve always just tried to control what I can control and try to do my best. 

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Tell us about your most memorable trade

I’ve never really placed any importance on one single trade and just try to improve my performance over time. The rest should look after itself.

That being said, I remember executing a great short on USD/JPY in the early days, and it reaffirming my belief that success is up to you and how you perform. 

In crypto, I’ve had various decent multipliers from early investments and bull market pumps that many others have also experienced. KSM was a good trade that I can recall from the previous bull market. 

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What’s the best trading advice you’ve been given?

The first would be when entering a new trade; you must first establish where you are wrong. Defining your risk is of utmost importance. 

The second point would be, “Plan - Waiting (This is where you fuck up) - Trigger”. This highlights the importance of patience in trading and where most fall foul of their own doing.  

Both were taught to me by Trader SZ, and both have been at the forefront of my mind ever since. 

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What drives you to keep trading?

First and foremost, I love trading. If I weren’t interested in it, I simply wouldn’t do it. I’ve done it for long enough now, that it’s just part of my life. Just like my love for fitness, I do it as part of my lifestyle and will continue to do so.

In addition to the above, it's my job. I provide for my family through trading, and it’s a life skill. Once you can trade, you have an opportunity to be able to do it for life. There’s always a market moving somewhere!

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What does ‘making it’ look like to you?

I don’t believe “making it” is really a thing. Sure, you see on social media a few shallow influencers posting some useless material item and claiming to have made it, but it’s not something that I believe in. Maybe it’s because I’m older and was raised in a different era!

I believe in continuous improvement. Hit a target, cool. Time to set new targets and keep pushing.

Above all else, I’m a father and a husband. My family comes first before anything. If everything is good at home, life is good. There’s an old saying, “happy wife, happy life”.

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I believe in continuous improvement. Hit a target, cool. Time to set new targets and keep pushing.

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Trading:

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What's the most important quality in a trader and why?

Discipline, patience and consistency. Respect the markets and do not be impulsive or act on emotion. Make your plan, wait and execute. A consequence of acting impulsively is usually risk management is totally neglected. 

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How would you describe the way you trade?

My trading style is very simple, and it all comes down to the execution. I am a price action trader, first and foremost. Understanding price action is the most important part of looking at a chart, and new traders should clear all indicators off until they can understand price. Nothing beats screen time watching how price behaves at specific levels, in different market hours and environments. 

I like to establish higher time frame key levels that act as a magnet for price then zoom in and establish lower time frame ranges. My “bread and butter” trades are usually trading the extremities of ranges, where risk is easy to define and reward has probabilities tipped in your favour. I like to use moving averages as confluence to an idea that I have already formed from the above.

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Nothing beats screen time.

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‍Has the way you trade changed over time?

I would say the process has remained the same, but the execution has been refined over time, in that I have learnt and improved along the way. 

Having a family has never really changed the way that I trade because I had my family first. I had to accept as part of my trading that I will miss trades due to family commitments. There is always another trade, so I don’t measure this as a concession of any kind.

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Why do you think you have success trading?

For a few simple reasons, 1) I stuck around, 2) I took losses on the chin and tried to learn from them, and 3) I didn’t blow my entire net worth when I did lose, so I could always have a platform to build on. Don’t ever put all your eggs in one basket!

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What's the worst thing about trading?

Trading is a part of my life, but it definitely doesn’t define it or is prioritised above other aspects. I like getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night and living a balanced life. It can be a bit of a pain if the markets are flat during London and New York, and all the action is in Asia hours when I’d usually be sleeping.

It’s very important to be able to switch off from the markets, as it can be a risk of mental fatigue if you become overly obsessed. 

Trading can be unhealthy if you’re sitting at screens all day everyday. Ensure you get outside, get moving and enjoy life with a smile. Balance is everything. 

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get outside, get moving and enjoy life with a smile. Balance is everything. 

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What's something you've learned in the last 6 months that has made you a better trader?

The big changes in the global markets as a consequence of large countries funding 2-year lockdowns in their states, resulting in massive inflation and subsequent interest rate hiking. 

This caused massive trends in both directions. Firstly, up only, where a massive amount of capital entered the markets. This eventually came to an end, as markets distributed and pulled back, perma-bulls became complacent even though the charts indicated a massive sell off with lower highs and lower lows. Don’t fight against trends and go with what markets are telling you. Sometimes it is better to sit out and wait, if you don’t feel comfortable.

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What's the mistake you find hardest to avoid when trading?

Some of the mistakes that I have made are when I have entered a trade when I’m either tired, or something more important is going on in my life that is taking my focus away from the charts. This can result in trades being poorly executed by not letting your mind rest.

It's important to remember that life isn't a race, and there's always another trade. 

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It's important to remember that life isn't a race, and there's always another trade. 

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If you could give someone starting trading tomorrow one piece of advice what would it be?

Take it slow! Many new traders have nothing in mind but how much they can potentially make, which is completely the wrong attitude. You need respect for the markets and the process. In time, you’ll learn capital preservation and risk management are everything. Most of the time, traders are playing defence with their portfolio and only risk-on for small periods of time. 

Although I’ve had my fair share of bad losses and stiff learning opportunities in my time, I have thankfully never totally blown myself up. Don’t ever put yourself in a position where this can happen. 

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Most of the time, traders are playing defence with their portfolio and only risk-on for small periods of time. 

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How would you describe your attitude towards risk?

I’d say the longer that I’ve been trading, the more risk-averse I have become. My best trades are high probability 2-3R trades. I try to keep stacking high-probability trades with pre-defined risk. Do this, and you’ll always be in the game.

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Fill in the blanks

• Most traders would be better off waiting.

• What separates the pros from the rest is execution.

• A good trader should never dwell on a poor trade. 

• The biggest misconception about trading is that trading is easy. Most will fail. 

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