Honorary Member Q&A: TheLastBear

Community The Honorary Members’ Club
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[B]TheLastBear[/B]

###1. Tell us little bit about yourself. Where are you from? What are your hobbies?

I am from New Zealand and besides trading I love to travel and enjoy the good life a successful trader is able to live.

2.When/why did you start trading forex? What resources did you use to learn how to trade (websites, books, apps, mentors, etc.)?

I started trading forex about three years ago, but I have been trading other asset classes for over 15 years.

###3. What do your friends and family think about you trading currencies?

I trade for a living and they treat it as they would treat any other high-skilled profession.

###4. What were your first strategies in forex trading? How are they different from your strategies today?

As I said I entered forex with a background in trading and instead of learning from scratch I was able to modify my strategies which stood the test of time. I needed to make adjustments of course in order to modify them for forex trading.

###5. Describe your current daily or weekly trading routine. What do you do before you trade?

Before I trade I head to the gym and get my workout in, then have good breakfast as I get caught up with current events.

###6. What are some of your most unforgettable trades and trading moments?

Calling the crash in 2008 and setting up my portfolio to take advantage of the stupidity displayed by the mainstream. We are due for a repeat and I look forward to it.

###7. Did you ever have trouble using common chart indicators? Which do you think were easiest to use and which ones did you need help with?

No, I did not. I took the time to learn how indicators work as I was learning the basics. After that I decided that price action is the way I prefer to trade and I usually don’t use indicators at all.

###8. Complete the sentence: “If I hadn’t learned about forex trading, I would probably _______.”

…come across it sooner or later as I decided to trade for a living and don’t believe in Plan B’s.

###9. What non-trading activities are you into when you’re not trading?

Sports, traveling, spending time with people I care for and meeting new people all over the world.

###10.What do you think is the biggest mistake that newbies out there are currently making?

The biggest mistake is that new traders think they learn how to trade in demo accounts which is one reason why they end up failing. It is like thinking you can become a pro-golf player while playing a golf simulation in your living room on your favorite gaming console by yourself. You may master the video game, but you are not one inch closer to being a golf player and as soon as you hit the golf course you will fail as expected.

###11. Forex trading is not an easy business. What motivates you to continue trading when in a trading slump?

I have been trading for over 15 years and can trust my strategy, understand how trading works. It comes with time and may be one of the hardest things to master. I trust my strategy, I trade without emotions.

###12. Do you have any advice for trading newbies out there?

Those few who want to succeed need to stop doing what everyone else does. Forex trading may be one of the hardest professions to master and there is only so much room at the top. Being a successful trader, forex or any other asset class, means you are part of a very small and elite minority so you need to follow what the minority does, regardless if it is not popular with what you read. Don’t trust others, including myself, as there are no freebies.

Trading is not social. Out of 1,000 traders one or two will make it so keep on following what is popular (trade demo accounts, leverage is bad, etc.) and you can join the 998 traders sooner or later. Every guru you have access to is nothing more than a retail trader who made a few bucks along the way and hardly an expert when it comes to trading which you can clearly judge by their responses.

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Loved the interview with TheLastBear.
Just one question: Since he has told us what not to do what does he advise we do as Newbies. I agree with the fact of not doing what the majority does because it obviously doesn’t work if the fail rate is 99%(or whatever). I’ve always believed in figuring something out for myself, not trying to use someone else’s system as a shortcut to the good stuff but to study and understand all aspects to minimize risk and reap the rewards of your hard work. I am also very good at keeping my emotions out of it (one of my motto’s in life is: when emotions are high, intellect is low).
So now I have studied the basics (Baby pips school), tried a few systems on demo account and realised Price action is also the way for me without indicators (they tend to make you miss whats right in front of you) so how do I - someone who doesn’t have 15 years of asset trading background - become super successful? We’re not suppose to take advice from so called successful traders. Do I find a willing mentor in my area? do I trade live and fine tune my skills? what size leverage do you suggest -just a guideline or what I should base my leverage size decision on. (In know everyone is different). Spare me the diplomacy and give me the crux of what you actually do. How did you go about finetuning your system? Who do I pay to guide me through this process? (don’t expect freebies) Doing a Forex local course is pointless as they all teach the same or less of what I have learnt from babypips school.

Thank you for the interview.
Pulsepip greetings

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I’m from NZ as well, and new to forex. Its great to see New Zealand woman making their mark on the largest market in the world. I would love to hear more from Ananais and what she thinks new traders, hoping to one day become professional, need to learn.
Cheers, Paul NZ

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Thanks for the insight. Can you help explain in more detail why using lower leverage would set someone up to fail? It seems you said that people who think “leverage is bad” will fail. How so? Leverage will just increase your profits or losses but it isn’t a factor in whether you profit or lose. Would like to understand this more as I stick to 20/1 but if there’s a compelling reason to go higher I’d like to know.

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Agree with Last Bear, specially with No. 10
I also advice the newbie to start live trade as soon as possible even with $20 with a 0.01 lot

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I hope everyone is doing well.

I like your answers TheLastBear. I have found that indicators are only useful in entering or exiting a trade, and even then they aren’t that great. Simple price action along with support and resistance lines work best for me. However, one has to do their homework before trading. I believe demo trading is only useful in learning how to place trades. Anyone can make money with fake money. Making money with real money is far from the pressure-less mind set of demo trading. Your psychological mind set is much different. If I had to recommend demo trading to someone, I wouldn’t. I would recommend a small account after you educate yourself about Forex. BabyPips is a great place for someone new in Forex to begin.

Also, all these guru’s that tell you they can teach you to make large amounts of money in short periods of time - that’s all hogwash, they can’t. You’ll lose in the long run. Everyone is going to lose more than they win. The key is to cut your losses early and let your profits run.

Be your own trader, find your own strategy that fits your personality and believe in your strategy. If it works for you, stick with it - you’ll make money. I believe starting out with small leverage is a good idea, 1:1, 10:1 is fine until you are your experienced. As far as risk, I think you have to take risks, this is a system that runs on odds. Your job is to find the trades where the odds are in your favor.

Any way, good subject. Many thanks for allowing me to reply.
Happy Trading!

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F word yeah!!! DOn’t listen to anyone.

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Very well said Mad
Have you joined price action threads in this forum?
I would like to add here that the signals and forecasts given by some threads actually works less than 50% times which is enough to blow a beginner. We may see what the guying are signalling but decision should be based on our own idea and to build it, time have to be passed in front of charts…

Cheers

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Interesting that so many 1 post members have their first post on TheLastBears thread.