This week’s column marks the 13th edition of Pipsqueaks. I’m rather fond of the number 13 and I like to think of myself as not being superstitious, although I still have this mirror sitting in my backyard for two years that I need to discard but can’t quite bring myself to break it because of all the years of bad luck I might accrue. Mind you, breaking a mirror is chump change when I think about the run of bad luck I had when I first started trading. Back then, it seemed that nothing I did went right. I would place a trade, and immediately price action went against me, saddling me with yet another losing position. Reading books, scouring the internet for advice and rubbing my forehead for luck seemed to accomplish little, except to diminish the size of my brokerage account. There was a time when I was ready to throw in the towel. In retrospect, I am pleased as punch (or, as our friends across the pond would say, I’m chuffed to bits) that I stuck it out. So I thought I’d share some thoughts on the subject of “toughing it out” in Forex trading.
Looking back it amazes me to think about the many, many, many, things I did wrong as a fledgling Forex trader. How can I have been that dumb? Well, I needn’t be so hard on myself, after all none of us were born with the skill of trading currency markets. One thing that makes currency trading difficult for the newcomer is the fact that apart from placing a losing trade being a mistake, there is the emotional anxiety of losing your hard-earned money in the process of being wrong, which just makes the situation tougher. One of the things that helped me hang on during this time was the realization that pretty much every Forex trader had their “story”. One trader told of how early on he was margin called three times. Once is bad enough but three times? Wow, that’s pretty bad. Another related a story how three months of profit were wiped out overnight, completely shattering confidence in his newfound trading skills. The realization that we are not alone and that our situation is not unique is a helpful first step in realizing that one can be successful in this trading business.
So okay, fine, so I’m not in a unique position, but I still want to make this work and I want to make some money too. So I joined a trade group; they’ll give me signals as well as some mentoring, and I can quickly make some money even though I don’t really understand what I’m doing yet, right? So I joined this group (let’s call them Forex Razzmatazz). Yes indeed, for $200 month you get everything you need to make it in the Forex business, except that, as a member of Forex Razzmatazz I was $200 a month poorer not counting the losses incurred on my brokerage account due to exaggerated claims of signals performance. Not to mention the fact that I didn’t learn a darn thing as a member there, except that I should have avoided that group like the plague. So much for Forex Razzmatazz.
Not to worry, there are other groups out there and I’m sure that cost wise I’ll get what I pay for. Next up was, let’s call them Forex Gangbusters. This gang should have been busted a long time ago, and not allowed to scam people out of $300 a month for crummy signals and little to no support. By this time I was in a pretty discouraged frame of mind and seriously considering throwing in the towel. But I didn’t. I was bound and determined to make this work (read stubborn). At the end of the day I realized that this is no get rich quick scheme, but the beginning of a long and involved journey, one that was going to require effort and patience on my part to be successful. One thing that really motivated me was the realization that many people can and actually do make their living Forex trading. And I wanted to be one of them!
In part two, I will share several reasons why you should tough it out in this business, as well as several other bizarre experiences with trading groups. Until then, see you next time!
In case you missed my last Pipsqueaks article – CLICK HERE to access!