Through his thread “The Return of Alphahavoc,” we’ve come to know about alphahavoc as a discretionary trader, and more.
Proud to be hailing from the beautiful garden city of Singapore, his trading progress and updates come along with glimpses of the life in the amazing city. However, it’s not just all sunshines and rainbows. In fact, it rarely is.
In the couple of years that he’s been with the BabyPips community, we have seen him face numerous trading challenges and obstacles. He has had his fair share of losses and disappointments. Still, it’s truly admirable how he always lands on his feet! He possesses the spirit and determination to rise above the ashes and emerge as a better trader. This is the “Never Give Up” energy he continuously brings to forums!
Wanna know where he gets this motivation? Well, today, we will discover what fuels his fire!
Without further ado, we give you @alphahavoc!
1. Tell us something more about yourself. What are your hobbies and interests, etc.?
Hi everyone, my real name is Loo Swee Tian ( 吕瑞展 ), Loo (吕) is my family surname, my friends call me Swee Tian (瑞展). I converse with my friends in mandarin most of the time. I was born in Singapore in 1977, a 3rd generation Chinese, My grandfather was a ferryman, and I’m the son of a Taxi Driver which i’m proud of. My parents don’t have much, but I know they have given me the best things in life they could give to me. I’m married celebrating 13 years together with my beautiful wife and have three sons.
Singapore is an archipelago, right at the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia. Singapore was one of the 14 states of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965. On 9th August 1965, Singapore officially left Malaysia to become the independent Republic of Singapore.
I am a Radiographer by profession. My hobbies include playing the classical guitar, bowling and Chinese Chess.
2. When/why did you start trading forex? What resources did you use to learn how to trade (websites, books, apps, mentors, etc.)?
Why I started trading forex was actually a sad story. I started learning about Forex around March 2012. Slightly back track a bit, from 2010 to 2011, I frequented Singapore’s Casino and racked up a huge gambling debt. Somehow, on my own accord, I managed to step on the brakes in 2011, and sought Credit Counselling Singapore for advice. I got all of my bank loans restructured, and was placed under a debt management programme.
I was this close to bankruptcy. I have to pay $1870 SGD per month to all the ten banks for 8 years. I’m currently into my 6th years of loan repayment programme, and have about 2 years and 3 months left till full repayment.
Okay, enough of sob opera. I will move on to how I started.
I was introduced to forex trading in March 2012 by one of my Chinese chess friend. He was also my mentor who laid the foundation for me in learning forex. I don’t really know much of his background, as he kept a tight lip on it, all I know about him was that he used to be an institutional trader for 20 odd years and was a very successful one. He was very kind and generous to impart me his knowledge on forex. I am really grateful for that. I didn’t have to pay a single cent for my Forex education. I was really fortunate, and I’m thankful for that.
Since then, I started my journey into the world of forex trading. I worked extremely hard. I mean really really hard. On a personal note, I do not believe there could be anyone in the world that is able to replicate my effort in learning and my continuous research into forex strategy. Scalping, position trading, hedging etc.
Even though I have an Arsenal full of trading methodologies, success seem so close and yet so far. I have an inherent personality flaw. I can be the most sane, stable and compose person on Earth, but when I hit my stress threshold, my destructive streak can be quite devastating.
However, I’m not complaining, my destructive streak gave me the chance to see and FEEL 1st hand what it is like to trade aggressively and wildly. It gave me the opportunity to push myself to the limits, as a result, I developed immense willpower and self-control. If I can have total control over myself, I feel that I can accomplish anything in life.
My resources include one huge box filled with 30 over books on forex trading from my mentor, websites include Babypips, ForexFactory, Google search and Youtube videos.
3. What were your first trading strategies in forex trading? How have they changed through the years?
My 1st trading strategy was a multi time frame analysis using Stochastic oscillator taught to me by my mentor. When 1min, 5min,15min and 1hour time frame trend direction aligns, enter trade. This is a trend following system. At present, I’m working on a predictive model, improvising on Dennis’s strong weak pairing from Babypips.
4. In your thread, The Return of Alphahavoc, you share with us your trades and very interesting glimpses of your life. What motivates you to continuously share your trading experiences with the BabyPips community?
The Return of Alphahavoc thread serve as a trade diary for me to document my thoughts and do self-reflection on the trades that I have made. My primary motivation stems from my determination to demonstrate to the WORLD, that I will become a very very very extremely successful Forex trader one day. I’m seeking redemption from the mistakes that I have committed from 2010 – 2011. I want my family to be proud of me.
5. When would you say a trader is “successful”? Do you consider yourself one? Why or why not?
I would consider a trader successful when he/she is able to double up a live account three times in a row. As of now, I do not consider myself as one, for I have yet to achieve that. I did, on many occasion got to the point of more than quadrupled on demo account, but it always somehow crashes at some point in time thereafter. My highest record in terms of ROI in a live account so far were about 80% gains, but greed always got the better of me, and the rest is history.
My breakthrough in forex trading came in 2017. That was when I managed to attain a 5th and 6th position twice in a forex contest of about 1000 participant. I began to see the light. However, managing a contest account is very different from a live account. In a contest, we are aiming for the top spot, when we lose, there is always the next month. So it doesn’t matter if the account crash. For a live account, how much money can we lose? There is no reset button.
6. What are the 3 traits a forex trader should NOT have in order to succeed?
1st trait that I would name is Faintheartedness. Forex trading has a very steep learning curve, it requires a trader to develop grit and indomitable spirit to sustain such an endeavour.
2nd trait and 3rd trait would be Fear and Greed. With Fear, the trader will often be overwhelmed with paralysis during trading and almost always miss the boat. With Greed, the trader becomes trigger happy, and add positions like infestation of zombies from the movie World war Z.
Be that as it may, I would like to point out that without fear and greed, a trader may lack vigilance and drive to continue down the path of forex trading. Quite paradoxical isn’t it.
“ The ship can swim with the tide, and sink with the tide. “
7. If you could go back in time and meet yourself back when you were still a trading newbie, what advice would you give him?
“ If you are in a hurry, you will never get there. Forex trading should be pursued in a progressive manner for haste does not bring success. “
8. What is one important lesson you’ve learned from your stay in the BabyPips community?
HUMILITY, I have learned to eat the humble pie. There is always something valuable to learn from everybody else. Everybody have their own fair shares of hard knocks in life, and much can be gained from the trials and errors of others.
9. Could you share with us one of the most unforgettable days of your life so far? What made it special?
I used to be an avid Chinese chess player. In 2008, I obtained a 4th position in Singapore individual Chinese chess “A” division tournament and was selected to represent Singapore in the 1st World Mindsport games in Beijing. That was not the most interesting part. The strange thing was that, I was actually mentally hoping to match up against the Number ONE player in the world, XU YIN CHUAN. And it happened, I draw the lot, my 1st match-up was up against XU YIN CHUAN.
It was a dream came true for me.
Needless to say I obviously lost the match, but that would be one of the most unforgettable day of my life.
10. What are you proud of, but never have an excuse to talk about?
I’m proud to have a father and mother who raised me up in the best way they could.
I’m proud to have a wife who did not leave me after the atrocities that I have committed in 2010 and 2011.
I’m proud to be a father that is able to provide for my three sons.
I’m proud to have friends that remained as friends with me, even though I’m literally broke.
