A TRADER'S LIFE

If you thought trading was all about support and resistance, it would seem you only have half the picture. Trader and fund manager Gavin Holmes, is big on volume and has made his analsysis of volume a real profit hunter. Once he'd backtested his strategy and was happy with the results, he went on to develop a piece of software that has helped him and his team spot set-ups with uncanny accuracy on all kinds of assets, from forex to stocks.  Listen to the full episode on here, #83.Support the showSubscribe to A Trader's Life <<A Trader's Life on Twitter. Link up with me on Li.

If you’re interested in the part volume - in particular, volume spread analsyis - has to play in picking a winning trade, this episode is for you.  Trader, mentor, author and CEO of TradeGuider, Gavin Holmes got into trading quite by chance when he met a professional trader while working in events. The two men got talking and Gavin started to gobble up everything he could on the subject of supply and demand.  Where does the smart money leave its footprints? he wanted to know. Volume. How to scan for it, how to read it? Done manually that would take forever. So he built some software to help him identify financial instruments that were getting ready to pop. What he and a coder came up with not only worked for him, it’s worked for thousands of traders around the world.   Gavin and I got together in early September 2023 to chat about his transition from police officer to salesman, from student trader and more recently fund manager. He’s a thoroughly gregarious chap and I hope you enjoy the conversation.  ==To find out more about Gavin's methodology and the tools he uses to turn over a tidy profit year after year, go here. Support the showSubscribe to A Trader's Life <<A Trader's Life on Twitter. Link up with me on Li.

One of the biggest trends in trading today is the proliferation and evolution of prop firms. They seem to be popping up everywhere. It's hardly surprising when you realize that more and more people are looking for a side hustle, but don’t have much capital to play with. They take a crack at trading, blow a lot of their savings and decide it might be less stressful trading a fund, not tied to their bank account.  For prop firms, competition is hotting up, and, on the whole, that tends to be a good thing for traders looking to get funded. In this episode I chat with Michael Buchbinder, one of the founders of the prop firm Tradiac. Before chatting, I ran some reviews on Tradiac and was very impressed by their high score on Trust Pilot Michael continues to swing trade, so we do get to talk about stocks, but for more than half this forty minute episode we talk about at the business end of prop trading. Use my coupon code to get 10% your trial with TradiacHere are 6 key benefits I noted which, as a bundle, I haven't seen matched by competitors:Highest drawdown levels versus competition  - 30% max and 15% dailyNo min trading daysNo min amount of trades, simple rules90% payouts on all accountsAll accounts are scalable up to $1mDon't lose your progress scaling with our Redemption TestsIf you want to give Tradiac a go, click the link below and use  ATraderslife10off in the coupon/discount field to get 10% off your first trial. https://go.tradiac.com/auth?ref=traderslife ==Support the showSubscribe to A Trader's Life <<A Trader's Life on Twitter. Link up with me on Li.

In Episode 81 I talk with a trader who is of the opposite sex. Wow. What a rare event. And it’s not been for want of trying, I might add. But it’s really quite a job to find women who trade. Trading is still a profession or activity where men vastly outnumber women. Will that change before AI take over? New Yorker Kimberly Sokoloff talks to me about her experiences of trading in a man’s world. From trader's assistant on the floor, executing order for stocks and options to a trader in her own right. Today she works from home and runs a mentoriship group. =Grab this 10% discount on a test to become a funded traderI wish I'd done this earlier - trading with  a prop firm. Seriously, you don't want to be risking your own salary teaching yourself trading, enduring setbacks every few weeks.So use my 10% Discount Coupon ATL10off for your 'audition' with Surge Trader prop firm. They get great reviews and have just recently allowed you to hold drawdown up to 8% of your account and over the weekends. Click the link to get started:https://www.surgetrader.com/?afmc=vd Once you pass the audition, you have access to funded accounts from $25,000 and upwards.Support the showSubscribe to A Trader's Life <<A Trader's Life on Twitter. Link up with me on Li.

In Episode 81 I talk with a trader who is of the opposite sex. Wow. What a rare event. And it’s not been for want of trying, I might add. But it’s really quite a job to find women who trade. Trading is still a profession or activity where men vastly outnumber women. Will that change before AI take over? New Yorker Kimberly Sokoloff talks to me about her experiences of trading in a man’s world. From trader's assistant on the floor, executing order for stocks and options to a trader in her own right. Today she works from home and runs a mentoriship group. Support the showSubscribe to A Trader's Life <<A Trader's Life on Twitter. Link up with me on Li.

A few weeks ago I got chatting with a Nigerian trader whom I’d come across on Twitter. Typically he trades in the early hours of the morning before catching a few hours’ sleep, then rushing out to work as a nurse. He trades synthetics, which are a kind of derivative popular among African traders. What stood out to me, as we talked, was just how passionate he is about helping people – the students in his trading group, and the patients under his care. Check out Episode 80 for the main episode. Support the showSubscribe to A Trader's Life <<A Trader's Life on Twitter. Link up with me on Li.

A few weeks ago I got chatting with Emmanuel Joshua, a Nigerian trader, whom I’d come across on Twitter. Typically he trades in the early hours of the morning before catching a few hours’ sleep, then rushing out to work as a nurse. He trades synthetics, a kind of derivative popular among African traders, using ICT strategies. What stood out to me, as we talked, was just how passionate he is about helping people – the students in his trading group, and the patients under his care. I give you Emmanuel Joshua.You can find out more about Emmanuel's mentorship program by contacting him on Twitter @OrderFlow Godd  ==Grab this 10% discount on a test to become a funded traderI wish I'd done this earlier - trading with  a prop firm. Seriously, you don't want to be risking your own salary teaching yourself trading, enduring setbacks every few weeks.So use my 10% Discount Coupon ATL10off for your 'audition' with Surge Trader prop firm. They get great reviews and have just recently allowed you to hold drawdown up to 8% of your account and over the weekends. Click the link to get started:https://www.surgetrader.com/?afmc=vd Once you pass the audition, you have access to funded accounts from $25,000 and upwards.Support the showSubscribe to A Trader's Life <<A Trader's Life on Twitter. Link up with me on Li.

About a year ago I got to know and like a guy  who had been trading for about twenty years. I enjoyed chatting with him about trading. Then one day, he proposed trading a small fund on my behalf.  The arrangement would entail his taking a cut of the profits, if any, and while he was trading, he would happily teach me how to read the markets.  Sounded good to me. We got off to a positive start. Oh, dear, how often that happens in trading, right? The markets were turning bearish - and choppy, I should add. He was convinced the indices were about to collapse, the Yen would roar back to life and we would be, if not rich, then sitting pretty. His analysis was very convincing, well argued. It just happened to be wrong. He held on to it. Even as the indices pushed through the 200 EMA, he was telling me the bears would regain control any day now. They didn't. And so the account was reduced  from £2,000 to £2 in under three months. It was disappointing. More so that he didn't think to call me up to apologise, as you might expect, given all the talk about turning me into a successful trader.Perhaps he was embarrassed, but still. So, he just disappeared. and I licked my wounds. I felt foolish. I hadn't been scammed, I'd simply let myself be carried along by someone with experience (and audits to prove he'd been successful) and told myself, 'It'll be alright...It'll be alright...'The dangers of bias. There's a guy I work with who deals in forex. He has a client who recently blew a few million, shorting cable.  A few million. So he's a rich guy, who must be pretty smart to have made so much he has 20 million casino money, and yet, when it comes to trading, he's not so smart. This wasn't his first attempt at shorting the British pound, apparently. It would seem he had a bias against the pound, possibly something personal. There's an interesting thing about bias. It's actually a form of hubris. Deep down, guys like the two just referenced can't wait to show the world they had it right when everyone else had it wrong. They want to be George Soros shorting the pound. And I get it. Wouldn't it be nice, if we could all pull that one off?  But when you make it personal, when you refuse to revise your plan even in face of evidence to suggest you have it wrong, you aren't trading anymore, you're putting your ego out there, your hand cupped to one ear in anticipation of a collective gasp and the pop of a Champagne cork.having interviwed a lot of traders now, I'm surprised how many traders still fall prey to bias.Beware of bias. Listen to episode 79. Thank you.==Grab this 10% discount on a test to become a funded traderI wish I'd done this earlier - trading with  a prop firm. Seriously, you don't want to be risking your own salary teaching yourself trading, enduring setbacks every few weeks.So use my 10% Discount Coupon ATL10off for your 'audition' with Surge Trader prop firm. They get great reviews and have just recently allowed you to hold drawdown up to 8% of your account and over the weekends. Click the link to get started:https://www.surgetrader.com/?afmc=vd Once you pass the audition, you have access to funded accounts from $25,000 and upwards.Support the showSubscribe to A Trader's Life <<A Trader's Life on Twitter. Link up with me on Li.

My next guest studied science as a graduate. When he walked away from a Phd course that left him uninspired, he wasn’t sure what to do. Whatever it was, it had to present some sort of scientific challenge and an income that would give him plenty of freedom - with hours and locations he was in control of.  Today Thiru Nagappan is one of the founding members of Master The Markets teaching over 20,000 people around the world, consulting on trading floors and presenting live trading seminars. ==Grab this 10% discount on a test to become a funded traderI wish I'd done this earlier - trading with  a prop firm. Seriously, you don't want to be risking your own salary teaching yourself trading, enduring setbacks every few weeks.So use my 10% Discount Coupon ATL10off for your 'audition' with Surge Trader prop firm. They get great reviews and have just recently allowed you to hold drawdown up to 8% of your account and over the weekends. Click the link to get started:https://www.surgetrader.com/?afmc=vd Once you pass the audition, you have access to funded accounts from $25,000 and upwards.Support the showPlease follow A Trader's Life on Twitter. And if you're a trader with some stories you'd like to share and you'd like to be on the how, don't hesitate to reach out: nic.penrake@gmail.com.Link up with me on Li.Support the showSubscribe to A Trader's Life <<A Trader's Life on Twitter. Link up with me on Li.

My next guest studied science as a graduate. When he walked away from a Phd course that left him uninspired, he wasn’t sure what to do. Whatever it was, it had to present some sort of scientific challenge and an income that would give him plenty of freedom - with hours and locations he was in control of.  Today Thiru Nagappan is one of the founding members of Master The Markets teaching over 20,000 people around the world, consulting on trading floors and presenting live trading seminars. Support the showSubscribe to A Trader's Life <<A Trader's Life on Twitter. Link up with me on Li.