Simon’s Mindset Around Money Management and Strategy Lead Him to Success in 2 Years (2024)

March 17, 2022 | 4:27 pm | Successful Traders

March 17, 2022 | 4:27 pm
Successful Traders

• Tell us a little bit about you.
  I live in Australia and I trade part-time. I still have a full-time job so I use trading as a second income source and wealth-building strategy. I have a family with 4 children so I live a busy life.

• How long have you been trading?
  I have been trading for 5 years, and I am a swing Trader.

• Briefly describe your Trading Plan and how it contributes to your success.
  My plan is based on the weekly trend. I’ll only take trades in the direction of the weekly trend, which I determine every Saturday.
  I trade a 4hr system and use a trailing stop. I try to minimize active screen time, so I’ll check for signals before the close of the NY session and the open of the London session.

• Share with us a challenge you faced in your trading career and how you overcame it?
  System hopping was my biggest challenge early on. I didn’t give the system the chance to find itself and found myself stopping and starting new systems before they became profitable.
  This was even after I proved its effectiveness from back testing. I overcame this by committing to letting the system run for 6 months and using minimal trading capital. It hit a minor drawdown early, but eventually, it became profitable before the 6 months ended.

• How did you adjust risk management to your trading personality?
  I scale-out and move positions to break even fairly quickly. I find that this can often minimise whipsaws which we see in forex. I also keep my position size less than 0.5% and ensure that correlation is kept to a minimum. This keeps the equity curve fairly smooth

• Describe a key moment in your trading career.
  A key moment when was when I stopped feeling the need to check trades before the close of the candle. I realised that this was a key point in my psychology. I check them twice a day now and understand that any activity that occurs before the close of the candle is merely noise while my edge is playing out. It took a long time to realise this.

• How long it took for you to become a consistent trader, and what aspects did you change that helped you to become consistent?
  It took about 2 years once I felt confident that the system was able to take care of itself. The two main aspects that I changed were to always choose a path of least resistance: go with the trend. Also I realised that I needed to build experience and have a track record.

• What is your mental/psychological strength, and how did you develop it?
  My strength is to consider myself to be a risk manager rather than a trader. I find that if I focus on being the best loser, then the profits will take care of themselves. Survival is the key. The longer you survive, the more opportunity you have to make money, and the more money you make, the longer you’ll survive.

• What was your strategy to successfully pass The5%ers’ First Level?
  Money management was the key. I was mindful of the drawdown limit and kept my position size to a suitable level.

• How is trading for the5ers different from trading by yourself?
  I trade with slightly larger position size and allow for a larger maximum drawdown. I did like the parameters set from the 5ers. The longer evaluation period was good too. I believe it’s a better indicator of a consistent trader. It demonstrates how a trader can withstand various market conditions over a longer period.

• What would you recommend to someone who is just starting with us?
  Be mindful of your position sizing and risk management. Don’t rush. Portfolio management is about ensuring a client’s money remains as safe as possible while taking advantage of calculated opportunities. It’s not about seeing who can drive the fastest.

• Share online resources that were/are significant in your trading development. Name and links are appreciated.
  Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas. No Nonsense Forex videos on Youtube. Talking Trading, Chat With Traders, Desire to Trade, and Trading Nut podcasts

• Would you like to share anything else with us?
  Thank you for the opportunity 5ers. I’ve enjoyed the experience

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