Whiskey, Knives, and Forex: Get to know more about Bradley’s perfect combination!

Community Member Spotlight
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Whiskey, Knives, and Forex? What an odd mix, right? Well, today’s featured member is certainly a unique combination himself…

@bradley79

Bradley is a lot of things: a father, husband, gamer, tank driver, and so much more. But today, we get to know more about how far he’s come in his trading journey.

He became part of the growing BabyPips community earlier this year, and has been a helpful contributor since! With the knowledge and experience he gathered from working for a brokerage firm, Bradley tries to give practical tips and tricks to the beginners on our forums. But, that’s not to say he doesn’t know how to have fun and relax. In fact, his thread, Are you gaming?, has become quite a hit among our forum members!

Without further ado, we give you @bradley79!

1. Tell us something about yourself. Where are you from? What are your hobbies?

Nothing much to say. Nearly 30 years old bloke. Married. Have a 1-year old son. My hobbies… where should I start? I’ve got a huge list - whisk(e)y, knives (and all other cutting tools), spearfishing, DIY stuff and projects, tinkering on the car, lockpicking (for fun, nothing illegal), and probably the most recent one, apart from the whiskeys is Forex and Crypto. Why do I consider FX and CC hobbies? It’s simple - anything that you sink money and time in and the investment is bigger than the payout is considered a hobby in my book.

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

I’ve started trading (on a demo) just recently. I’ve worked for a brokerage in the past and had some information, also some good insight on how different brokers work but haven’t had the guts to try and make it a source of income. The majority of my knowledge came from my employment. Other than that - the BP Forex academy (still haven’t finished it) and some other forex communities have been a lot of help.

3. You seem to be very active in discussions about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. How were you first introduced to this currency?

I was an SEO for a big company (back in 2013) and my colleagues started to talk about it. My one regret is that I did not invest a 100$ back then. Was too scared because I didn’t know much about it and seemed like a scam due to that lack of knowledge. Ever since 2014-5 I’ve started following the cryptos and got into some faucets.

4. In your experience, how is trading forex different from trading cryptocurrencies? Which do you prefer?

Cryptos - you can only trade one way (buy low, sell high) and you buy the whole crypto, whereas with FX it’s mostly CFDs - I like the leverage, the ability to trade both directions (long & short) but really dislike the swap fee. However, for the time being I’d stick with FX (for now) because I don’t have the time to follow the cryptos daily.

5. There have been articles saying that “Bitcoin is a bubble about to burst.” What are your thoughts about this?

Is it overpriced? Yes. Is it for the bigger part worthless? Yes. Is it a bubble - yes and no. It’s inflated but it’s far from being a bubble. There are too many people invested in BTC for it to be a bubble. However, until the Bitcoin gets adopted and can have a real life (everyday) application it will stay a proof of concept/work in my book. Slow transactions, not much adoption due to volatility and lack of purpose will hamper the development of BTC.

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

If I hadn’t learned about forex trading, I would probably have missed on finding BP and all of you magnificent bas****s (the ones watching the Whiskey Vault and Whiskey Tribe episodes on YT will get the reference).

7-8. How did you discover BabyPips.com? What was your first impression of the community?

Was looking for a free FX course. First impression - “well, this is interesting… The different forum layout and design had me intrigued. Then started reading.”

9. What is the most important thing you’ve learned from spending time on the forums?

Ever since my employment as an SEO (5 years) I’ve had a good dose of skepticism for anything posted on a forum or community. Call it paranoia, but I’m always suspicious of new members and people who recommend anything. Too many hidden agendas. I’ve been there and done the same kind of spam, covert advertisement and reputation management, so yeah. What I’ve learned?

  • Do your own research
  • Check and verify
  • People have opinions, it’s ok for them to be different than yours.

10. Non-trading related question! If someone gave you a million dollars today, what would you do with it?

Real estate - 50%
Stocks - 15%
FX - 10%
Crypto - 5%
Savings account - 10%
The last 10% I`ll spend on a car, flat, my son and the villa.

11. Describe your typical Friday night.

It used to be out and about but since the little one came in - home with the wife and kid, watching a film, playing a game and having a dram of whisk(e)y.

9 Likes
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Good stuff! Favorite whiskey?

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Nice interview here! Thanks for sharing! :slight_smile:

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All whiskeys are great. Depending on the mood I’d go with either a high peat, high smoke one like Ardbeg, Bowmore, Caol Ila
or something sweet and friendlier like a bourbon (Bulleit Classic or Rye).
Also, last week I tried Jameson Black barrel - the taste was light wood (bitter) and lots of mint. It was an interesting experience.
The rules are:

  1. There is no wrong way to drink a whiskey.
  2. The best whiskey is the one you like, the way you like it.

But to answer your question, currently - Ardbeg 10(Islay scotch), Bushmills Blackbush (Irish), Bulleit (Rye and classic bourbon) and Jack Daniel’s (Tenesse Whiskey).

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I’m a newbie when it comes to whiskey. But I am a fan of Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey!

I’ll have to give some of the others a shot!

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Technically, the JD Honey can’t be called a whiskey because it’s less than 40% Alc content.
I’d recommend you start with bourbons. They are sweet due to the high corn content.
A few brands you can try:
Knob creek, Bulleit, Wild Turkey, Jim Beam Devil’s Cut, Angel’s Envy, Basil Hayden, Maker’s Mark, Blanton’s, Eagle Rare, Four Roses Single Barrel

A few fun facts:
Whiskey and whisky are both correct.
In general it’s related to the geographical location of the distiller. In the USA whiskey is the word.
In Scotland - whisky.
It all depends on the location and what the locals decided the correct word is.

  • Scotch is only whiskey made in Scotland. You can make the same in USA, but you can’t call it Scotch.
  • Bourbon - has to be >51% corn and aged in new oak casks.
  • Another interesting fact - the age statements on the bottles do not tell you how old is the whiskey inside. It tells you how old is the Youngest of all whiskeys put into that bottle/cask.
    For example, if you have a bottle of Ardbeg 10 - this tells you that out of all the distilations used to create that flavour profile the youngest one was 10 years old. Meaning sometimes you can have 12-18-24 year old whiskys in a bottle with a label that says “10 years old”.
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Wow, thanks for the quick intro. Yup, I imagine the Tennessee Honey is delicious because of the sweetness. I’ve heard of Wild Turkey, Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark, and actually tried Maker’s Mark.

I’ll pick one or two and give those a try. Thanks!