For this week’s Member Spotlight, we’re featuring another trader who knows that forex success isn’t about luck—it’s about strategy!
What started as an interest in the stock market transformed into a full-fledged trading journey when @John13 discovered Babypips and realized that forex wasn’t just for Wall Street insiders. It’s for anyone willing to put in the time and effort to learn!
Like many traders, he started with pure technical analysis, but inconsistent results forced him to rethink his approach. His breakthrough? Big banks move the markets based on fundamentals. Once he shifted his focus to economic data and market sentiment—while still incorporating technicals—he finally unlocked long-term consistency.
But John’s trading philosophy isn’t just about strategies, it’s about mindset, too! He’s a firm believer that anyone can become a trader. But success comes from patience, discipline, and treating trading like any other profession.
So, what’s his biggest piece of advice? And how does he navigate the markets with a fundamental edge? In this interview, he shares insights that transformed his trading. And they might just change the way you trade, too!
So without further ado…
Let’s give it up for @John13!
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? What are your hobbies?
I’m John, I am 45 years old, I live in the UK, in a small coastal village called Conwy in the north of Wales. I live with my partner of 10 years Michelle and our cat Darcey. In my spare time I like to play guitar, I try to go to the gym, I like watching sports, going for walks and camping with Michelle and I must confess, I probably spend far too much time watching Netflix.
2. How did your trading journey begin? How long have you been trading and what got you into forex in the first place?
I’ve always had an interest in the stock market. But I felt trading was inaccessible to the average person, it was only when I realised the advancement of the internet has made trading viable to anyone , I then started to do some research with the goal of learning how to trade. That was 9 years ago, I came across the Babypips website and that’s what piqued my interest towards trading currencies.
3. In your thread, Fundamental Analysis, you provide weekly market commentary, using economic data and news events to guide your trades. What led you to make fundamental news a core driver of your strategy?
When I started trading, I was purely focused on ‘technical analysis’. Whilst I had some success, over a long period of time my account would be ‘at best’ break even, often in a deficit. I tried to figure out why. And came to two conclusions…1: I was placing trades based on emotion. Number 2: Through research I learned ‘big bank’ traders are placing trades based on currency fundamentals and the ‘risk environment’.
4. How do you balance technical analysis with fundamental factors when making trading decisions?
In terms of percentage, I would say 60% fundamentals, 40% technical. It’s an absolute must for me to at least think I understand the fundamental reason behind currency movement. Then, on the technical side, I compare the momentum of the currencies against each other and I use ‘Bill Williams fractals’ to determine which currency trade and where to place a stop loss and profit target.
5. What advice would you give to traders who primarily rely on technical analysis but want to incorporate fundamentals?
I’ve tried purely technical based strategies before, ‘bollinger bangs’ ‘slow stochastic’ ‘macd’ ‘rsi’…ect, ect’. Although these methods did yield results at times, ultimately I’m a lot more profitable trading with fundamental knowledge. Understanding the likely reaction to an economic data release (particularly ‘red flags’) is important. Plus understanding the ‘correlations’ each currency has with the overall ‘risk environment’ is very important.
6. Who has influenced you the most in your trading journey?
Aside from learning the extremely important 'higher risk/reward ratio per trade from the ‘babypips’ website, a gentleman named Mark Boardman (forextradermark) became my ‘tutor’ and is the main reason I became consistently profitable.
7. What do you think is the biggest misconception that people have about forex trading?
Not just Forex, but trading in general, I think people believe you can make a lot of money very quickly. I think ‘chasing big gains’ is the downfall of many traders.
Regarding specifically forex, I think the biggest misconception is that it’s ‘risky’. But as long as you have a reputable broker, trade the ‘major’ currency pairs and practise proper risk management (maximum 2% risk per trade). The Forex market is the safest market to trade due to high liquidity resulting in minimal slippage.
8. Do you think anyone can become a forex trader? Why or why not?
Yes, anyone can become a successful trader. Similar to anyone can become a doctor, baker, teacher or musician. All professions have a semblance of difficulty to them. But it becomes easy once you know how.
9. Let’s step away from trading for a moment! What are some small things that make your day better?
Spending time with my niece and nephew. A nice home cooked meal, followed by a sunset walk along the beach makes me very happy.
10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
It’s probably a bit too late for me to become the Premier League’s star striker. So, I would count myself very lucky if I’m doing exactly the same as I’m doing now. Hopefully I would have contributed to a few people becoming better traders along the way.
Fundamentals have always kinda been one (among many) of my weaknesses. 
It’s challenging for me to keep up with everything happening.