My story may be non-traditional. I used to work as an assistant at a large investment bank in London. My Boss was one of the senior traders on the G10 option currency floor of the bank.
I was always fascinated by the way the floor would erupt when there was some financial announcement. The traders would scream across the floor as they tried to make the most of the volatile markets.
Yet, as an assistant, I had to merely sit in awe wondering if I could ever have the opportunity to trade on the financial markets like these guys.
I didn’t have any experience or education in trading Forex and I felt slightly helpless in my circumstance. Moreover, my Boss was a typical trader and was constantly chauvinistic. When I asked him where I could learn about trading he told me I was better “answering the phones” and “looking pretty”.
It was these comments that drove me to achieve what I deserved and make my way trading options.
The Education Phase
I knew that with no education in finance or economics, I needed to at least learn the basics. I needed to cram as much as was possible in order to give myself an understanding of the fundamentals.
I read as much as I could about the fundamentals of Macro and Micro Economics. I wanted to understand how central bank decisions drove the exchange rate. I wanted to know how factors like supply and demand would impact on my trading decisions.
Although I had no background in the subjects, it was not too hard for me to understand these concepts. They at first did seem quite complicated but after a bit more reading it started to fall into place.
After about 1 month of my crash course in Economics, I understood enough to trade Forex. Yet, I wanted to learn about options and Binary Options. I wanted to jump right in and trade the products that the traders traded on the floor.
I then decided that I needed to understand how options were priced and how the various factors drove their valuation. At first, it looked quite complicated. I had no idea what all the option terminology meant. Yet using resources like Binary Options education courses and online webinars, it all started to make sense.
Strategy Formulation
Although I knew enough about some of the fundamentals of economics and options, I needed to have a binary options strategy in place if I actually wanted to trade the assets.
Therefore, I needed to learn as much as I could about fundamental and technical analysis. I wanted to give myself the tools needed in order to place the trades at the right time and exit at the right time.
The fundamental analysis was going to help me when it came to price action trading when there was economic announcements. I wanted to understand how binary option prices adjusted to these factors.
The technical analysis studies helped me learn about how previous prices were going to impact on my current trading. I needed to look up trends and indicators such that I could trade these options on a daily basis and keep it risk controlled.
Once I had a long laundry list of strategies ready to use, I needed to move onto one of the most important steps, putting it all into practice.
Practice Made Perfect
I was firmly of the view that no one could do anything in life without a certain degree of practice. This was true in my assistant job and the various barista jobs I carried prior to that.
When it comes to trading binary options, it was indeed just as similar. I needed to take the time to become comfortable entering the trades, exiting them and using the strategies and knowledge that I had gained.
I needed to also find a broker platform that would allow me the opportunity to trade for free while I practised. This was indeed quite hard to come by. There were a number of brokers who demanded a fee for joining their platform.
That was until I read this IQ Option Broker review when I found a platform that really offered me this opportunity. I traded on the IQ option platform for a number of weeks and slowly improved my profitability.
I felt I had come so far and that it was finally time for me to embark on the final step towards realising my goals. Trading on a live account.
Trading Live
Once I was done practising on IQ option, I was ready to take on the real trading market with actual money. I decided to open a live account with IQ Option. They only required a £10 deposit but I invested £1,000.
At first, it was indeed tough. It is always a weird feeling one has when they decide to place their own money on the line. However, after using some well thought out option money management strategies I was right on my way. I did not allow my emotions to get the better of me and I thought analytically about each trade.
After at least 6 months, I had grown my investment into a pretty impressive amount of money. It was not easy, there were some times when I had a large daily drawdown. Yet, in the end persistence pushed me through.
I kept on trading and adapted my strategies for the new conditions. I never got complacent and always kept things in perspective. If something was not working I was more than willing to adapt it.
Where am I now
It was a little over 5 years ago that I decided to take the big step and leave my assistant job to embark on trading options. Although the road was quite hard and often fraught with difficulty, I can finally say that I managed to make it in the end.
I am making a comfortable income that is actually just as much as my previous boss was earning in the investment bank. This is done every day from the comfort of my own home without having to take any directions from an employer.
Speaking of my old boss, I ran into him the other day in the supermarket. He was down and out because he was made redundant. I told him about my long journey along the trading path and how successful I had become. In that moment, I am sure that he felt extremely guilty for his comments that he made when I was working for him.
What this demonstrates is that with the right determination, drive and temperament, anyone can be a trader. They just need to avoid the shortcuts and invest the time required to gather the skills needed.
