The5ers Proprietary Trading Fund Welcomes a New Funded Trader to our Portfolio Manager Team.

Gideon. E from South Africa has succeeded in passing the The5ers evaluation program. He gains 8.4% with only a 2.4% DrawDown. His equity growth looks pretty nice and stable. He has now become one of the The5ers-funded traders. He got a newly funded account of 52K to start, and his next goal is to gain 10% and double the account of 104K, congratulation Gideon. E, great work. In this post, we can see his trading statistics and performance and read our interview with  Gideon.

Name: Gideon. E.
Age: 31
Country: South Africa

Please describe your trading journey. How long have you been trading? When do you become consistent? What made the change for you?

• I used to work at a gym as a personal trainer (this helped me a lot with the discipline needed to be a trader). I was introduced to the South African stock market, and I started to do all my research on trading and investing. I used all my extra cash on buying stocks, I did very well because at the time South Africa was in a big bull rally. I thought I was a trading genius until the bull rally ended. I then applied all my time and energy to FX. I decided to make as many mistakes as possible within the first 12 months to gain experience. This helped a lot because I recorded a video of my trading days and re-watched the video at the end of the day and again on a Sunday afternoon. This gave me a unique insight into where I made mistakes and rash decisions. My change came when I learned Elliot’s wave theory. I believe Elliot was on to something, but he could not finish his theory and did not have the technology we have today. I think I’ve refined the basics to fit my trading style. How were you introduced to trading?

• Someone close to me used to talk about the stock market and how he was making good money as a hobby. I was very intrigued and went on to trade stocks after attending several courses. I realized FX is more volatile, so more opportunities should be available each day.

Describe your trading plan.

• I have a monthly, weekly, and daily trading plan, but in short, it goes like this:
  – Evaluate and set my risk percentage and trade size for the month.
  – Analyze the possible monthly, weekly, and daily structure with possible patterns it is likely to form.
  – Set Weekly and daily goals.
  – Mental preparation pre-trade.
  – I will have my pre-trade checklist to fill in.
  – Keep a record by posting every trade and analysis in my private journal/blog.

Tell us about your trading routine.

• First, I read through my pre-trade mentality list before each trading session to get me in the correct mindset for the trading day, and I read through this again before each trade. I try and establish what possible structure price is currently forming on the higher time frames, I look at the corrective patterns and try to identify possible moves for London Open.

How do you manage risk in your trading? Do you have a risk management Technique you can explain?

• At the beginning of every month, I calculate my risk percentage and trade size per trade and keep it the same for the rest of the month.
  I have a checklist of specific characteristics a trade setup has to have; I score it by points; if the points are lower than 7/10, I will use half my regular trade size/risk.
  I have just qualified with my evaluation account, and if you look at the most significant loss, it was $105.50. My biggest winner was $631. That is almost a risk-to-reward ratio of 1:6.

What was your biggest challenge in trading, and how did you overcome this?

• My biggest challenge was not to fight the market or try to get back at the market when things did not go my way; I believe everyone at the beginning of their trading journey thinks the market or brokers are out to get them. (In some cases, the brokers are, but that is a whole other story for another time) I had to learn not to be emotionally involved in a trade; you make irrational mistakes when emotion is involved. I had to realize that my strategy works in probabilities. I don’t have to be right every time.

What was the key moment of your trading career?

• I had to learn not to be emotionally involved in a trade; you make irrational mistakes when emotion is involved. I had to realize that my strategy works in probabilities. I don’t have to be right every time—quality over quantity.

In your opinion, what are the most important characteristics for maintaining a steady trading Career?

• Discipline, Patience, Strict Risk Management, and Discipline. Yes, discipline twice.

What is the most essential trading mental aspect, and how do you apply it in your routine?

• For me, when you have a winning streak of more than five trades in a row, it is easy to feel invincible, BUT you have to stay disciplined in your strategy, don’t let your ego get the better of you, and change a winning formula. Euphoria is a dangerous feeling in trading, as it will make you think you don’t have to follow your rules or risk management. If you think about it, what happens when you have ten winning trades in a row? You start to believe that the next trade will 100% be a win, so you take much more risk than you are supposed to. That is when you make stupid mistakes. I have a private trading journal blog, where I post my pre and post-trades with comments, but on the blog is a post I call the Pre-Trade Mentality list. Before each trade, I read through the list to prepare myself mentally and remind myself that each market opportunity is unique. I must focus on the current trade and forget all previous trades.

What is your strategy to successfully pass the5%ers evaluation account?

• I have set daily and weekly goals for myself. I have developed a tried and tested strategy that works with my personality and my way of thinking. I will use this strategy to slowly but surely reach my goals.

Please share your recommendations with online resources that were significant to your development path. Names and links are appreciated.

• Websites
  Forex4noobs.com
  elliottwave.com
  Books that can be bought online
  Discipline Equals Freedom by Jocko Willink
  The disciplined trader Mark Douglas
  Trading in the zone by Mark Douglas
  One good trade by Mike Bellafiore

Please write anything you think is important but was not asked.

• As a trader, there is only one thing you can control in the market: how much money you can lose per trade. In all other aspects, you can do nothing to influence the market or make the trade go “your way”. There are too many variables. I believe that risk management is the most important aspect of trading. I can not stress this enough. The5%ers have a winning recipe with the business model and risk management rules. I am very honored to be part of the team.

The5ers – We Fund The Top Forex Traders.

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