I've waited about six years to make this public announcement, so here goes.
This is a personal story of success for certain, but equally as important, this is a story about never allowing your dreams to die. This is a story of triumph, no doubt. However, this is equally a story of perseverance and the power of prayer. This is about happiness and at the very same time, about pain and sacrifice.
I am 41 years young/old. I began "trading" (if you can call it that, when I was 35 years old, about 1 year after I first started playing golf. When I first began playing golf at the age of 34, after having played 12 years of football, several years of baseball, track, basketball and even a dip into downhill skiing and tennis, I thought to my self, "hmmmm, how difficult can this game called golf really be anyway?" I went out and purchased my first set of cheap golf clubs for less than $200 and drove out to the driving range for the first time in my life, thinking that hitting a golf ball like Tiger Woods, would be a breeze and getting ready for the PGA would take no more than 16 months worth of work - of course, having been an athlete prior. The baseball moves at me at 90+ mph, so certainly, hitting a little golf ball sitting on the ground, had to be the easiest thing in the world - right? LOL!
Never having the need for ANY coaching in ANY sport that I've ever played at high levels in the past, most definitely made me feel confident about being able to learn how to hit a golf ball. So, I bought my first "large bucket," walked over to the range, dropped my first ball and took my first swing. Having missed the ball completely, spinning around almost 360-degrees and nearly falling on my butt, I knew right then and there, that I would never learn how to hit a golf ball properly, without first learning the basics called Swing Mechanics. I promptly signed-up for the next lesson on my PGA Instructor's calendar - ego bruised but dignity firmly intact.
With trading the international currency markets, the lessons learned in getting up to speed in golf, are surprising similar in concept. There are fundamentals (mechanics) to learn and then there is the developmental process of tweaking your own swing, such that it is consistently repeatable under all course conditions - similar to being able to trade under all market conditions. Tiger Woods, is just about the only player on the PGA Tour, that has come close to mastering this most difficult process, but it took him more than 10,000 hours to get his approach to the sport, down pat. That's like working 8 hours per day, every day, 365 days a years, for 3.424 years, non-stop. Or, working the equivalent of 3.47 years at 12 hrs per day - or an average of 6 hours per day for 6.94 years (excluding weekends). It has been said that regardless of the profession, it takes an average individual approximately 10,000 hours to become Expert at his/her field of study. How many newbie traders are told this reality, before they open up their Micro Account!
I lost my job, but little did I know six years ago that I also lost my current career that same day. I searched and searched but never got any traction control over any new job that would replace the one I lost. Back then, the economy was surging downward and the industry that I worked in only does well when the economy is strong - so I was let go. I made $110k -$130k per year, so those kinds of positions are some of the first to go when the economy turns south. I always thought that "investing" in stocks would be far too difficult to ever learn how to do correctly, so I resisted the temptation to purchase one of the many "stock seminars" on "T.V." - in favor of more resume selling and job hunting. Eventually, something snapped and I took the plunge. I laid down some of my severance pay ($3,500) on a flashy Green, Yellow and Red stock trading program that many of you have most likely seen or heard of before in the past.
I opened up an Ameritrade Account, purchased a stock options training course and began to lose money at an alarming rate of speed - trading naked options. However, every once in a while, one of my options contracts would run up from 15 cents all the way to 50 cents in a single day. These kinds of profits were rare, but they kept me searching for answers about how to make them happen on a more consistent basis.
My problem was the same problem that many newbie traders have and that is the inability to fully understand the importance of properly controlling risk. I was all about the profit side of trading, without any clue about risk reduction. So, I continued to lose money, thousands, regardless of what the little Red, Yellow and Green lights were saying. So, I began buying books on trading and economics, thinking that they would help me find the answers. I bought the book that all "traders" buy - right - called: Security Analysis (LOL!). I bought books on Technical Analysis, etc. I spending 8 hours a day, trying to learn what caused price to behave the way it did. My job search turned into a part-time job search and eventually I stopped searching for a job and ended up studying the markets and market data for 8, 12, 18 to 20 and sometimes even 24 hours a day. But, still, I lost money.
Soon, 2 months without a job turned into 6, then 8, then 10, 12, 16 and still, I lost money - still, with no job. Did I say that I was also married!!! The Wife did not take this very well and I really did have some explaining to do. More than a year with no job and no profits to show for all my hard work "learning the markets." I had a few more of those 15 cent option contracts turn into 50, 65 and 95 cents! So, I could see the potential available in the business, but I had nowhere near the level of consistency or skill to make it happen routinely.
16 months became 24 and that became 36 and soon, I had become a professional market researcher who was STILL flat broke, busted and disgusted, with only a few, sporadic booming trades to my name. Then it hit me. Up until that time, I had been studying the same materials that everyone else was studying and the statistics were showing that 90% of all so-called "traders" failed to reach a level of professional success in the business long-term. That's when I began to break-out my research into an entirely distinct and new direction. Doing so, allowed me to develop my own Technical Analysis Tools. Tools that nobody else had anywhere in the world. Tools that I could keep under wraps. Tools that enabled me to see things that nobody was able to see.......... and I still lost money. Wow!
Frustrated, tired and refusing to quit, 36 months turned into 48 - into 60 into 72 - still with no job. Now, hurting physically from all the stress, marriage seriously suffering, financial debt mounting to the highest level ever in my life, having moved not once, not twice, but 7 TIMES in the process - then having a Mother turn very ill with no one to support her but me (having three older brothers who could care less) - the stress was unimaginable and mounting daily. Having thought seriously twice about remaining on this planet, thinking that my Wife would be better off without me - somehow, by the Grace of God, something within me told me to keep pushing for answers, yet not found.
So, I continued to press forward.
This is a personal story of success for certain, but equally as important, this is a story about never allowing your dreams to die. This is a story of triumph, no doubt. However, this is equally a story of perseverance and the power of prayer. This is about happiness and at the very same time, about pain and sacrifice.
I am 41 years young/old. I began "trading" (if you can call it that, when I was 35 years old, about 1 year after I first started playing golf. When I first began playing golf at the age of 34, after having played 12 years of football, several years of baseball, track, basketball and even a dip into downhill skiing and tennis, I thought to my self, "hmmmm, how difficult can this game called golf really be anyway?" I went out and purchased my first set of cheap golf clubs for less than $200 and drove out to the driving range for the first time in my life, thinking that hitting a golf ball like Tiger Woods, would be a breeze and getting ready for the PGA would take no more than 16 months worth of work - of course, having been an athlete prior. The baseball moves at me at 90+ mph, so certainly, hitting a little golf ball sitting on the ground, had to be the easiest thing in the world - right? LOL!
Never having the need for ANY coaching in ANY sport that I've ever played at high levels in the past, most definitely made me feel confident about being able to learn how to hit a golf ball. So, I bought my first "large bucket," walked over to the range, dropped my first ball and took my first swing. Having missed the ball completely, spinning around almost 360-degrees and nearly falling on my butt, I knew right then and there, that I would never learn how to hit a golf ball properly, without first learning the basics called Swing Mechanics. I promptly signed-up for the next lesson on my PGA Instructor's calendar - ego bruised but dignity firmly intact.
With trading the international currency markets, the lessons learned in getting up to speed in golf, are surprising similar in concept. There are fundamentals (mechanics) to learn and then there is the developmental process of tweaking your own swing, such that it is consistently repeatable under all course conditions - similar to being able to trade under all market conditions. Tiger Woods, is just about the only player on the PGA Tour, that has come close to mastering this most difficult process, but it took him more than 10,000 hours to get his approach to the sport, down pat. That's like working 8 hours per day, every day, 365 days a years, for 3.424 years, non-stop. Or, working the equivalent of 3.47 years at 12 hrs per day - or an average of 6 hours per day for 6.94 years (excluding weekends). It has been said that regardless of the profession, it takes an average individual approximately 10,000 hours to become Expert at his/her field of study. How many newbie traders are told this reality, before they open up their Micro Account!
I lost my job, but little did I know six years ago that I also lost my current career that same day. I searched and searched but never got any traction control over any new job that would replace the one I lost. Back then, the economy was surging downward and the industry that I worked in only does well when the economy is strong - so I was let go. I made $110k -$130k per year, so those kinds of positions are some of the first to go when the economy turns south. I always thought that "investing" in stocks would be far too difficult to ever learn how to do correctly, so I resisted the temptation to purchase one of the many "stock seminars" on "T.V." - in favor of more resume selling and job hunting. Eventually, something snapped and I took the plunge. I laid down some of my severance pay ($3,500) on a flashy Green, Yellow and Red stock trading program that many of you have most likely seen or heard of before in the past.
I opened up an Ameritrade Account, purchased a stock options training course and began to lose money at an alarming rate of speed - trading naked options. However, every once in a while, one of my options contracts would run up from 15 cents all the way to 50 cents in a single day. These kinds of profits were rare, but they kept me searching for answers about how to make them happen on a more consistent basis.
My problem was the same problem that many newbie traders have and that is the inability to fully understand the importance of properly controlling risk. I was all about the profit side of trading, without any clue about risk reduction. So, I continued to lose money, thousands, regardless of what the little Red, Yellow and Green lights were saying. So, I began buying books on trading and economics, thinking that they would help me find the answers. I bought the book that all "traders" buy - right - called: Security Analysis (LOL!). I bought books on Technical Analysis, etc. I spending 8 hours a day, trying to learn what caused price to behave the way it did. My job search turned into a part-time job search and eventually I stopped searching for a job and ended up studying the markets and market data for 8, 12, 18 to 20 and sometimes even 24 hours a day. But, still, I lost money.
Soon, 2 months without a job turned into 6, then 8, then 10, 12, 16 and still, I lost money - still, with no job. Did I say that I was also married!!! The Wife did not take this very well and I really did have some explaining to do. More than a year with no job and no profits to show for all my hard work "learning the markets." I had a few more of those 15 cent option contracts turn into 50, 65 and 95 cents! So, I could see the potential available in the business, but I had nowhere near the level of consistency or skill to make it happen routinely.
16 months became 24 and that became 36 and soon, I had become a professional market researcher who was STILL flat broke, busted and disgusted, with only a few, sporadic booming trades to my name. Then it hit me. Up until that time, I had been studying the same materials that everyone else was studying and the statistics were showing that 90% of all so-called "traders" failed to reach a level of professional success in the business long-term. That's when I began to break-out my research into an entirely distinct and new direction. Doing so, allowed me to develop my own Technical Analysis Tools. Tools that nobody else had anywhere in the world. Tools that I could keep under wraps. Tools that enabled me to see things that nobody was able to see.......... and I still lost money. Wow!
Frustrated, tired and refusing to quit, 36 months turned into 48 - into 60 into 72 - still with no job. Now, hurting physically from all the stress, marriage seriously suffering, financial debt mounting to the highest level ever in my life, having moved not once, not twice, but 7 TIMES in the process - then having a Mother turn very ill with no one to support her but me (having three older brothers who could care less) - the stress was unimaginable and mounting daily. Having thought seriously twice about remaining on this planet, thinking that my Wife would be better off without me - somehow, by the Grace of God, something within me told me to keep pushing for answers, yet not found.
So, I continued to press forward.
enjoy it while you can, you only live once right?