What do you do when a winning trade suddenly turns against you? For this week’s featured member, that single moment of loss didn’t just sting. Rather, it changed everything. It reshaped his mindset, refined his strategy, and transformed the way he approaches charts.
Grounded and driven by an endless desire to learn, @Torchwave first stumbled into trading through binary options before discovering forex and the Babypips community. After countless hours of studying charts and learning from mistakes, he realized that trading isn’t only about market moves but also about personal growth.
Today, he trades EUR/USD with focus and confidence, using Volume Spread Analysis to uncover the story behind price action. For him, every trade, regardless of its outcome, is a step toward becoming the trader he aspires to be.
So what lessons has he carried from his early mistakes? How does he keep his mindset steady when price action gets unpredictable? He shares all of this and more in this interview!
Without further ado…
Let’s give it up for @Torchwave!
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from, and what are some of your interests outside of trading?
I am a Nigerian. I would describe myself as an easygoing and friendly person who has an insatiable appetite for learning. I am also a sports enthusiast. I love the games as well as video games. The bulk of my interests lies in the arts which include poetry reading and writing, history, music, and just plain reading.
2. How did your trading journey begin? How long have you been trading and what got you into forex in the first place?
My trading journey actually began with binary options. A cousin of mine introduced it to me. Like moth to a flame, I took an instant liking to it after I made some research on it. It was during this time I came across a manual about forex trading. It piqued my interest. I soon delved into it with the limited information I had on it. It was during this time I joined babypips. My actual forex trading journey is relatively younger than my exposure to trading itself. This is because I had little by way of mentorship that would have shortened my learning curve. Although I have been trading for about 5 years now actual trading is a little more than two years.
3. What’s one trading mistake you’ll never forget, and what lesson did it teach you?
Like every trader, I have had my fair share of mistakes in trading. One of the most notable mistakes I have made is trading during news report. I held a profitable position in AUDUSD when a red folder news was due to be released. I did not bother to be informed the moment of the data release. As a result, price went against my position, took out my profits and stoploss. I licked my wound, and made a firm decision to never have any open trades when a red folder news is due to be released.
4. Among the currencies, you seem to trade EUR/USD most often. What makes it your favorite pair, and how would you describe your approach to trading it?
The EURUSD, aka the Fiber, is my favourite trading pair by miles because it is liquid, has helped me understand the markets better, and I have developed an understanding of its movements better than I do with other pairs. Nothing in the markets is set in stone, but trading the Fiber is the decision that has helped me become better at trading. As a daytrader, my approach to trading the EURUSD begins with viewing it from the higher time frame perspective. I have found that the direction of the EU pair is usually dictated by the higher time frames such as the D1 and H4 charts. I would be trading blind if I knew nothing about the market structure in this time frames. I also check out the monthly and weekly charts on occasion to be sure there is trend alignment of time frames.
5. If you could give one piece of risk management advice to new traders, what would it be?
Hmm. A piece of risk management advice I would give to new traders is that they should not always aim for homeruns. The markets can be very brutal – taking back what they have given, sometimes without warning. This can have the effect of wilting their budding confidence. They should aim for at least 2:1 or 1:1 reward to risk ratio, build their confidence, and learn the ropes before they can set their sights on the bigger waves (bigger profits).
6. Can you share a turning point in your trading journey where something finally clicked for you?
Trading has been a seemingly endless journey of learning and unlearning. As many of the community members know by now, I trade using volume spread analysis (VSA). The journey has not been smooth as I would have loved but the path has been lit with moments of inspiration that served as turning points in my trading. One of such moments was when I was studying the charts in my spare time, EURUSD, and suddenly made a connection with the charts. It was as though price jumped out of the screen to grab my attention. I backtested it and traded it on a live account and it proved genuine. It was a discovery of mine I still use to this day. That moment was pivotal to my trading.
7. What do you think separates traders who last in the markets from those who quit early?
I think what separates traders who last in the markets from those who don’t are patience and discipline. Many traders are in the habit of pursuing the elusive holy grail when all they need is just the patience to stalk a trading setup, and the discipline to stick to their trading plan with the trading knowledge they have already acquired. I know a trader who trades using just divergence at the daily highs and lows with entry off an orderblock. Might be simple and dull compared to other shiny trading concepts paraded online with mouth-watering reward to risk ratios but this trader has been successful with it and that is all that matters.
8. Looking ahead, what are your goals for your trading journey in the next few years?
My primary trading goal is working towards my future version to be a much better trader than my present version. I also want to be so proficient at trading that seven-figures lotsizes will be the new normal. There are people who may want to float an hedge fund in the future, but that does not reflect who I am. I want to lead a quiet trading life while helping new traders navigate the tortuous terrain of trading with my experience. Lastly, I don’t know if there will come a time I will pull the plug on trading, but I plan to keep trading till I can’t. I would also plan towards the use of trading to fund my dream of being an anonymous philanthropist.
9. Let’s step away from trading for a bit! Please describe your dream vacation. Where would you go? What will you do?
My dream vacation would take the form of a short trip to Canada. I want to experience the sights, the diversity of races, have a sip of their culture, bury my feet in the sands of the beach, experience the sensation of Canada’s social life. I love the quiet and serene life of the country which is what has influenced my choice of Canada as a top destination for vacation. Second on my list as another place I would love to visit is South Korea.
10. If someone gave you a million dollars today, what would you do with it?
While there are many things I can do with a million dollars, the most logical thing, in my opinion, is to invest 60% of the money in trading and use the profits from the investment to take care of family. This is in addition to helping with feeding the starving kids of Africa and war-ravaged nations in the world through anonymous donations to the cause. The 40% would be used to purchase long-term government bonds. The idea is to multiply the million dollars so that I am able to do more with it.
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Thank youuuu 
I didn’t know much about you although we interact quite often here. 
I didn’t know you started with binary options. Have you ever considered revisiting it? 
. When I left binary options it was for good. The odds of success in binary options are much slimmer in my opinion when compared to forex trading.