rayder trader's profile

I've had an interest in the FX market since November 2005. I've had experience through spread betting, various market maker FX brokers, and ECN brokers. I’ve paid for courses, worked with training companies and read numerous books on the subject of trading. Some of these were useful, many abysmal.
 
I've blown real money and demo accounts, and of course struggled with the demons of bad discipline and poor money management. There has of course been the issue of bad execution from brokers, but ultimately that had come second to my inability to interpret the market properly.

My expectations of what I want from FX have changed over the years. It took me a long time to realise that the capital needed to actually make a living out of trading was far in excess to what I had access to. And, as with most business pursuits, undercapitalization is a surefire way to set one’s self up for failure.

So while I work to build up an adequate trading stake again (through the day job), I continue to demo trade and fine-tune my understanding of the market using low leverage (<2:1) and (what I consider) low risk.

For me, the beauty of Forex is its scalability; the process of placing a micro lot is exactly the same as the process of placing 10 lots. Some may argue that point (e.g. fills may be different depending on the trade size). However, that doesn’t concern me because my trading is not centered around pip-perfect entries or scalping, rather it’s more about entering and exiting at an approximate trade level rather than a specific price. I feel more focused knowing that if I can successfully fine-tune my ability to trade with small stakes and apply principles of low gearing and relatively low risk, then it’s the same process when I have access to bigger funds. There are very few businesses which can scale in that way!

My strategy is based around technical analysis. My entries and exits are crafted around my observation of support and resistance areas, candlestick analysis, and Fibonacci retracements and extensions. I predominately use 4 timeframes in my chart setup: hourly, weekly, daily and monthly.

Chart indicators play a very small part in my decision making process, but I do use RSI and ATR on the daily chart. I do however use various sentiment indicators to get an idea of a currency pair’s intentions and how the other market participants have positioned themselves. These indicators include Open Position Ratios, Speculative Sentiment Index, as well as more manually processes (such as looking for skew in pricing from Binary Option Brokers).

My entry to a trade is typically manual, and exits can be either automated or manual. The maximum leverage I would have on any one trading idea would be no more than 2:1.

I have spent a lot of time looking exclusively at the EURUSD, but have now diversified into other majors.