i've been in this bizniz for nearly 9 years, march2001... i remember i was in the office for a night shift when 9/11 tragedy happened, i started as dealing staff, picking phone calls from clients (online trading wasnt this famous as today)
most of my experience spent in dealing department ...i made my move as price-maker, my duty is to give quotes (still that old outcry trading way)
from there i saw people making money,loosing money...i can feel greed,anxiety,fear (you name it,i saw them all!!)
2006 i started to learn...basically everything that crossed my mind that days was guess work
...
i can feel the market...the tone, but there was no 'compass' for me---i don't have anything i can rely on
crazy thing is...i gave trading advise for two clients in my company(something contrary to the company policy) somehow they listen to me...i didnt 'kill' their account (i can't claim myself to be succesful,but i'm not that stupid either)
2007, i read and learn tons and tons of useful material (forex related ofcoz)... i start to gain more confidence regarding my trading skill
end of 2007...i trade all by myself, time to test everything
my first account was totalling $6000... i didnt trade forex, i play something more lunatics...stock index futures( a place where everything seems very psychological....perfect picture of greed and fear)
my first trade was...sell 1 lot of hangseng index, in just about 10 minutes...price rocketting above by 260points (i loss about $1300)...leaving me speechless, where have all my confidence gone?
i can't think, can't eat, can't do anything right after that
i even think about stop trading for the rest of my life
it was end of the year,market was closed for holiday...giving me time to recover mentally, i pushed my self to learn again...make my trading checklist(a set of rules/what i have to do before entering market)
i switched to kospi (less volatile than hangseng)...thanks to steve nison's candlestick literature, it helps me regained some of my equity and stay much longer in the arena
after about 3months of equity ups and down... i decided to gave up ( i loss about 55% percent of my initial margin)
thats the story from my very first trading account, which is unfortunately...not a forex account (but the psychological aspect remain exactly the same)
from there, my trading journey continue...studying evertyhing is the dominant part of it
till now, i never really blew my account....never experienced 10 or 20% automatic cut...yes i experienced a drawdown ofcoz, now i trade with confidence...counting on knowledge and skill(thanks a billion thanks to this website...edward revy and his team for their genuine kindness,something very uncommon in this selfist/egocentric world)
10% growth is my initial target
all these keeps me alive in this endless battle call forex
one key is...i dont trade very often....i pick only the best situation ( i'm a big fan of 123setups,divergence,most of my trade based on breakout while the rest is indicator based and pattern recognition system)
i'm afraid to loose the trade, call me coward if you want to (i swear i won't be angry
)
hope my story will make a positive impact on all of you my fellow traders(thanks..i learn a lot from u too)
happy trading!! let there be fun for everyone!!
-rockrobb of jkt-