PLANNING IS JUST AS VITAL AS PROPER EXECUTION...

There are too many instances when people did question me about the planning that I have or currently doing. Yes although they have a point in saying that there is no point of good planning if we can never execute it as per plan, but still planning is still everything in any single thing that I do in a day.

Without doubt, I believe most will not argue on this point.

Just in case those who questioned me do read this article by accident or purpose, let me re-iterate the importance of having a plan in anything that you do, no matter what.

1. Every single minute spent on planning will save you 10 minutes in terms of execution. Have heard this before? Yes, I really believe in this phrase.

2. You are like committing suicide when you embark or adventure into something without first knowing at what you're playing with and without proper entry or exit plan.

3. Fail to plan and you are planning to fail. Sounds common too...

4. Planning will provide you with a benchmark whether everything is on track or otherwise.

5, Planning will give you better chances of success.

6. If you read Sun Tzu's Art of War... it is all about planning on how the Chinese Ancients are preparing themselve for Wars... and even applicable to today's business world.

7. You jump I jump... No such thing man... I must know where you are planning to jump first... So, planning to me... is almost everything.

If I have 10 hours of getting the jobs done, I would spend at least 6 hours on the planning works...

Even in your marriage and relationship with others... you need to plan what are the things that you are going to embark and achieve together.

Trading forex? Of course... I would spend hours and days on the planning side.

So much to write indeed but I decided to cut it short coz the point is... Start planning now! It is something that you should enjoy doing at the same time because it's give you a vivid image of the futures...

Even in golf I need to plan every shot before making one... Whether the execution is 100% according to plan or not, that is different story...

THINGS ARE HAPPENING... I SUPPOSED...

Having a glance on the forex market today, I have a bad feeling that things are falling apart, indeed. The worries that we read, watched and listened from previous years are turning into reality, NOW rather than sooner or later.

Gooossshhhh... It's like a big tsunami is on its way... Where is Captain America? WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE US DOLLAR?

Will it collapse as per what everybody is saying? The consequences of printing money at will...

Even the Americans are losing confidence on its own currency. Then what about us?

Let's look at gold prices and precious metals for instance. No one is dare enough to hold the dollar any longer, well at least from a laymen point of view.

Well, my view doesn't really matter indeed at this point as what matters are what is happening next?

What I knew for sure is that the biggest holder of US bonds and treasuries are liquidating their assets in US Dollar in stages... meaning getting away from the dollar as soon as they could...

The NIA (National Inflation Association) of the United States are sending alerts for Americans to be prepared and ready for hyper-inflation and how they correctly predicted the rise of metal price almost perfectly...

I am scared indeed. The video that I watched a few months back was telling the truth...

IT IS HAPPENING GUYS!

Could this be the collapse of the world financial system or would it be the United States alone? In due time, we shall see...

For now, take care of your money and don't keep it in your savings account... Buy properties, lands, metals or whatever investment mechanisms that you could trust since the paper money is losing its value... faster that you could imagine.

But of course, you need to keep some for your roti canai and groceries... ;)

Have A Nice Day.

UNDERSTANDING THE MARKET'S PSYCHOLOGY...

It's been 3 months without a single article updated in this blog. I had been very busy and occupied with my day job (as well as golfing) that I had even forget that I have a blog to update.

From an oil refinery, project, operation and maintenance nature to a new environment where technical skills are pre-dominantly vital, I believed I need more time to settle in and to re-awake my technical strength in engineering in order to survive with this new assignment.

For now, I am working in KL and no longer in Melaka for good. From Oil Business to Corporate and I'd probably be joining one of the nation's mega project soon in Johor.

Anyway, still the same as before, my key interest is still here with forex trading, a game of probability where 90% of traders lose money. In fact I am still analysing the market on daily basis and open positions accordingly with my demo account. I am still passionate and enjoy the thrill of forecasting the market, though I could and would be wrong on certain cases.

With my live account perhaps only one or two trades per week as I am not really watching the market as closely as before due to time and location constraint.

Perhaps the best tip that I could share with my colleagues adn followers out there who may be asking where were me for the past 3 months is... focus on your timing and risk management regardless of what technical indicators that you may be using.

The deeper you explore this market, the simpler it becomes. Trust me you will know it once you are there. It's just a matter of whether you survive... or give up. You choose.

The best thing is you don't really have to guess where the market is going in this money-makingandlosing-game. You just have to understand on how to read the market properly accordingly to the trend, signs and patterns that were left behind. What the crowd is doing & could be doing has always been my first question whenever I open up my trading charts. The reason I put could is because no one knows exactly... so anyone could be wrong inclusive me.

Though the question may sound fundamental, it is indeed technical as it will be followed by technical analysis on the statistic probabilities.

Keep in mind that guessing blindly is just like gambling. So be wise with your trading decision... and be yet wiser. Don't chase the market... instead let it come to you.

One thing that dissapoint me is that most new traders who were seeking my advice are hardly listening to the advice given until they crashed their account. Perhaps this is normal huh... but what can I say. This could be the nature that brokers want to maintain in order to attract more losers into the market. So be it...

Anyway in short, all I want to say is I am still here and will keep on updating this blog whenever I have the time and ideas on what to write. As mentioned earlier in my first year as a blogger, I am not really looking into becoming a celebrity in this blogging world, instead it is a journal of my own where sharing is the key word apart from keeping them as my own personal referrence.

For those aspiring forex traders out there who just started and wish to make millions from this arena - please take my advice - stick with your dreams but make sure you learn the fundamentals.

If you have 10k for examples to start your trading, spend at least 30% of it on your trading education. It's worth it since even if you lose the rest 70%, chances are you will improve from your 30% investment in education for your next deposit.

Otherwise, you are no better than a pure gambler. You'd never learn and always remain on the bottom 90% who loose 100% of the time. Brokers would love it though...

Have A Nice Day... ;)

A DIRECT EQUATION INDEED...

The longer I stay and watch the market without doing anything, the more I realized and agreed on what trading is all about, regardless of what system or indicators that I am using.

I come to a conclusion that it's always the basic principles that prevail. This is just a game of probability and proper risk management.

The bare candlesticks of  the weekly, daily, 4 hourly and hourly movement are always the best things to study and analyse, plus some Fibonacci levels to watch, moving averages, market volume as well as RSI and Stochastics (and some others as you wish to use) that really serve as road signs on where are the likelihood of these bulls and bears could be running.

Initially, back in January 2008, I thought trading was indeed simple. I can always make money simply by using a 97 dollar robot or system that later proven to be otherwise.

Then I made it into a complicated beast by really studying every single thing that I could, buying every forex book available at amazon.com, reading every single article that I could find from google, and participate in forums that I thought could give me some edge with my trading decision. In the end, I still lose money along the way, as 90% of traders always do. Sounds common and pathetic right?

So, where is this going? I knew by heart that most (if not all) traders felt the same way as I did and 90% of them either keep on losing money or totally pull themselves out of this trading arena.

To me, the key is always about learning. Learning is a must and a continuous process. But not many, and I mean most traders forget about the basic principle of achieving success in whatever they do.

It's all about hard work and perseverance on top of their learning efforts. Nothing comes easy guys...

Something that I learned from golf, life is full of hazards and risk that you have to face. It's always there. It's either you embrace them or stay away from them. You have the options and you got to take it accordingly to your capability rather than emotional basis.

So when I look back at trading, I always see the hazards and risk involved whenever I start planning to open a position in the market. It is a direct equation of my own action and decision.

What I meant by direct equation is really simple...

1. BIG RISK = BIG REWARD
2. SMALL RISK = SMALL REWARD
3. CALCULATED RISK = LONG TERM REWARD

So, which one do you prefer? For No 1, you all knew the consequences. The aftermath of such risk taking attitude is normally, short and painful.

So, stay out from No 1.

For No 2, small risk could result in long term survival but chances are, you may not make it to the top. Base on research and analysis, small businesses could only prosper if and only if you have the consistent volumes. In this case, unless you have a 100,000 dollar account, then keeping your position small would not be very wise as it could take 100 years for you to build up a strong account. Even that, if you keep on losing on small risk, the final numbers would still be big and equivalent to No 1, considering that you keep on losing, which to me, could and had happened occasionally.

So, use No 2 only on highly uncertain situations. Or best still, don't take risk at all in such condition.

Hence, now it comes No 3 which is calculated risk. This is the risk that you have to embrace accordingly to your capability and calculative skills. The big question is on when and how to take calculated risk accordingly.

This is the secret that i wish to share with you guys... it works very well...

1. Stay out from the market as long as possible... don't even bother to watch... pretend that you are not interested... just do something else...

2. Watch the market without any interest and make your own analysis base on the movement that had happened... treat yourself as a currency analyst and produce an opinion...

3. Factorised both the technical and fundamental aspect of the market and emphatized on what is really going on... still... stay out...

4. Read action forex, check the economic calendar and browse through bloomberg in order to see whether there is any key geo-political news that you may miss out (ie tsunami and nucklear issue of Japan).

5. Last but not least, look at the charts and ask yourself whether is there any reason for you not to enter the market at this point of time? If yes, stay out and wait for the next day...

Those written above may sound conservative at first... but trust me guys... try it and you'll see... Base on the 5 elements, then take risk accordingly to your account size... perhaps 3% to 5% of your account size should be good enough. Sometimes, I do risk up to 10% when the situation is really favorable.

So, in conclusion, risk accordingly and embrace them... you can't get it right all the time anyway. But one thing for sure, if you're wrong... just get out and raise the white flag... don't ever fight the market force.

Fighting the market is like you alone fighting your own government... there's no way you can win.

Till then... take care and have a nice day.

ALL TRADERS MUST SEE THIS...

This video is not produced by me... but rather a reknowned economic expert whom is worth for you to pay attention to. Thanks Sanusi for pointing this out... it is scary indeed...

Just click here.

Have A Nice Day

MY LATEST RULES OF ENTRY...

I've been pretty busy lately due to some ongoing works and personal matters that need to be resolved. Anyway, just to share some of my written rules of trading that I apply personally whenever I am in front of my trading screens... it works so well for me...

1. NO MATTER WHAT... DO NOT ENTER THE MARKET BLINDLY... WE’RE SNIPING HERE SO DON’T WASTE YOUR BULLETS OR BE TRAPPED UNNECESSARILY. THE ENEMIES ARE SMART!

2. Check out Action Forex. Get the general ideas on what’s going on fundamentally.

3. Mark up the key technical levels mentioned in action fx on the trading whiteboard.

4. Check the Bloomberg for any potential breaking news.

5. Later, checkout the weekly and daily economic news release. What and when will be the high volume trading hours probability. Plan.

6. Then technically, check the Fibonacci levels on pairs that you see tradable. Check level on all timeframes from 4 hrs, Daily to Weekly.

7. Analyse the price action on each pair for the day. BULLISH, BEARISH OR SIDEWAYS?

8. What is the current direction and range so far?

9. Main pairs would be EUR/USD, GBP/USD and AUD/USD.

10. Crosses would be EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY and AUD/JPY.

11. Remaining two’s are USD/JPY and USD/CAD.

12. NOT SURE? Demo trade first and feel the market’s psychology. Watch the 15EMAs closely.

13. Generally we have equal buyers vs sellers, buyers dominance or sellers dominance.

14. LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE. See what is happening and make a choice. Mark it up on your whiteboard. Buy/Sell ONLY at these critical lines – pivot, support, resistance and MA.

15. REMINDER : Normally it is not easy for an established trend to change direction, but you must time your entry and exit accordingly.

16. DO NOT BE TOO CONFIDENT OR TOO FEAR IN TAKING DECISIONS.

17. POSITION ACCORDINGLY BASE ON CALCULATED SAFETY MEASURES.

18. HOW MUCH ARE YOU WILLING TO LOSE IN CASE IF YOU’RE WRONG? ONLY TAKE CALCULATED RISKS...

19. THINK...

20. ACCOUNT PROTECTION IS THE MAIN OBJECTIVE IN EVERY SINGLE TRADE.

21. WHEN YOU ARE WRONG, GET OUT… OR AT LEAST STICK TO THE DTR (Dollar To Risk) DECIDED EARLIER.

Have A Nice Weekend... ;)

HAVE I GRADUATED FROM THE FOREX SCHOOL?

I guess not, still plenty to learn for sure... and before I forget, Happy belated New Year 2011 to everyone who is reading this...

There's nothing much to write actually on my 1st post for 2011. But frankly speaking, I am really considering my options to either retire early or changing my careers within this coming months, though not really sure which direction is the best for now.

2010 was full of challenges and some of them are still here for me to face and manage. I am indeed in a mid-career crisis at the moment that requires deeper thinking and considerations before any major decision could be taken.

As far as my forex is concern, I do believe that I deserve a degree after doing it almost every day for the past 3 years, or perhaps at least an advance diploma. This year onwards, I am probably pursuing my master degree already and maybe in the next 5 years, perhaps I deserve a PhD by the time I could have and manage a 6 figure account.

Anyway, most importantly is to make money to survive and prosper. This is a business after all so I should cut all the nonsense and focus on what I need to do to become an even better trader.

As I always said and mentioned repeatedly, this thing requires a lot of patience and discipline in order to succeed. Nothing comes easy for sure but it does become easier as you cruise along with strong patience and believe.The key words here are continuous learning and never give up...

Making Money vs Losing Money... either way it has its own implication. When you make money, you feel like angels, getting it right most of the time, happy and a little bit greedy here and there as you never felt enough... but when you loose money, you learn to appreciate the market better, the importance of proper risk management and ways to control yourself from knocking your head to the wall.

Both have its pros and cons but of course... the consequences of losing money could be greater as not all of us have the strength to take such knocks.

Last but not least... have I graduated from the forex school? I don't think so as learning is always a continuous process. Once you feel complacent about the skills and experiences that you already gained, you will become lazy and careless in which these will be the major killers to the potential growth.

For sure I am more experienced now than 3 years ago but still... the future remains a mystery... I can plan but the rest, I have to leave it to the Creator to decide... perhaps my 1st million will come from here, or perhaps from something else that I never thought about... Either way, I don't mind as long as it comes from a Halal source...

Have a Blessing New Year Guys & Gals... ;)