FX BOOK REVIEW
FXTM Why did you decide to write a currency trading diary and disclose your trading method?
SJR I felt that, despite the huge number of books in circulation that cover the currency markets, none actually showed another trader placing trades. More oſten than not, they would tell you how, but what works for one trader might not work for another. So newer traders would go and try to emulate what they’d read, and fail. Tey would get disheartened and give up. I wanted to show it can be done, and it’s not all that difficult; it just requires some core competencies.
FXTM You first started as a stock trader. What brought you to Forex trading?
SJR In all honesty, leverage. My account size was small back then, and I believed I could make money faster in the forex markets. Naïve, I know. But there you have it. Also, I had studied economics at university and I felt that offered me some edge in the currency markets that I did not have in the stock markets.
FXTM What is your professional background as a trader, which companies did you work for?
66 FX TRADER MAGAZINE April - June 2014
SJR I
started life in the insurance
industry, working in an actuarial role for Swinton Insurance. From there I moved to Carrington Dean, a money management company based in Edinburgh but with offices in Manchester (where I was based at the time). I was not a trader, I was a trainee analyst. I had a small personal account in which I would speculate, but I have never placed a trade on behalf of anybody else. I basically spent three and a half years living off nothing and saving my monthly wage, with the goal of funding an account. Tis I did, and
Elaine Kub, and it is fascinating. I have not traded actively yet, but I would like to soon. To answer your question, I dot really use the same strategy as in my forex account. Forex is my bread and butter so to speak, and my strategy is reliable and consistent. My trading elsewhere is more of a hobby.
FXTM In the book you describe your trades during the first three months of 2012, which generated impressive
results.
Was your strategy performing in the same way before that, and how has it been doing since then?
SJR
“Forex is my bread and butter so to speak, and my strategy is reliable and consistent.”
here I am. I just did not know at the time I would be using those funds to buy and sell currencies.
FXTM Do you still trade stocks? Have you been applying your method to other instruments than currencies?
SJR I have a small portion of my capital allocated to what I deem risky stocks. Biotechs and the likes. My forex market strategy affords me a fair amount of free time, and I like to spend some of that time trawling through clinical trials to see if there is anything of interest. I am also just getting into the grain markets. I recently read a book, “Mastering Te Grain Markets” by
Tose three months were p ar t i c u lar l y i m p r es siv e months, and it
was nothing more than a stroke of luck that they were the months I decided to cover. Having said this, odd as it may seem, I wouldn’t have minded a losing month in there. Not because I like to lose money, but because I worry it comes across to newer traders like every month is a winner. To give you an idea, I generally take profit on anywhere between 30-65% of my trades over a month. Tis translates to about a 60-70% profitable month rate. Of course my risk management leverages these numbers, in the sense that my winning months are generally larger than my losing months.
FXTM Your trading method is clear and simple. It seems suitable for people
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92