Reacquaint yourself with the obvious choice

So here I am on my 2013 Europa Tour, having just visited Moscow and Prague, I'm on my way to Milan Italy.  The last time I was in Italy, in Venice to be exact was when I was 18 years young, with my father.  Now that I think about it, it was one of the best  trips.  Great weather, warm friendly people, great food, and beautiful Italian girls with smiles a young man would dream about at night.  Here I am many years later and I suddenly realize that Italy is one of those places I should have and must visit more.

 

 

      

 

The language sounds like music, and people speak with pleasant emotions.   And I dont remember an Italian ever getting mad, upset,  or being rude or disrespectful.  I'm sure those Italians exist but overall I can only recall pleasant memories of Italy.   Milan was a nice re-introduction to Italy and after a quick day of sight seeing I was off to Rome.   Great history and culture. Reminds me of my hometown, a former Roman town (Vindebona) now called Vienna.  It was sold to the Habsburgs hundreds of years ago and while uniquely Viennese and Austrian, Roman influences and history prevails in Vienna also.

But Italy... I could live here.     Warm weather, great food, friendly people.   A language that I will have to learn, perhaps next year I will stay here for a couple months in summer.

When it comes to currency trading the Forex Market you can also find yourself rediscovering a strategy or system that worked gangbusters.   Then you wonder, why didn't I do this sooner...    Lesson learnt is that sometimes you have to do a review of your tradidng progress and revisit what has an has not worked.   The best approach to more profitable trades is often to revisit ones past and learn from your mistakes and successes.  In other words, don't get stuck.  Get out there, start exploring.

A lesson to be learnt from Singapore

Singapore is a nice getaway spot for a weekend trip.  It's known for its cleanliness, order, and great living and working conditions.   A financial hub for South East Asia and as well as a hub for many airlines.

 

I had the good fortune of meeting up with a former co-worker from Toronto who has made Singapore and got a great tour of the city and insight.  It is an orderly city, you know, no chewing gum, no littering, very clean, has the death penalty for the drug trade and an interesting way to deal with car pollution and traffic.  You see a car can cost you $100,000+ for ten years.  That's right. Not only are cars about $50,000 for a basic model but you also have to pay enormous registration fees of $50,000+ for ten years.   Traffic and tolls add up also.   Needless to say there aren't any traffic problems that the average tourist can see.  They exist but again, Singapore controls rush hour traffic by imposing higher tolls during rush hour.

 

 

Is Singapore heaven on earth? Depends who you ask.  The grass is always greener on the other side.   It is a nice comfortable place.  Ask the locals and the majority will tell you they find Singapore boring and they work too much.  You can tell just by observing the locals that they are all about work, go-go-go, and aren't happy.   Ask others from outside Singapore and they want to live there.  It's funny how we are always looking for the place that we think will make us happy.

 

"Sometimes you have to leave home to find a home." is a phrase that is dear to heart.  I have been looking for a place where I can be happy and have a good life/work balance, and that place for me is Thailand.  More specifically Phuket.

There are many lessons to be learnt.  As far as the Forex Market is concerned I would say that you should analyze your trading style.  Are you happy with where you are at and how you make trades.  Are you constantly looking for a better trading style, a better way of life.  Is that place Singapore?  Is that place Thailand?  Is that place {Fill in the blank}?  

You need to find a trading style that works for you.  That fits your life style.  That gives you balance and makes you happy.

Forex Review

On Saturday I met with my latest student, Panya.  He flew in from Bangkok to meet me and we had good long conversation about the Forex Market.

One of his questions had to do with Forex Reviews.  You know, those ever so insightful Market Reviews that tell you why the Euro slid against the US Dollar or what to expect from currencies in the upcoming week.

Simply put, all those websites, articles, and newsletters with the latest Forex Analysis are like the Weather Forecast.  No matter what the weather report says, it's more often wrong.  

Take Phuket Weather, when I came here in July, the forecast called for Rain and Thunderstorms pretty much every day of the week.   Meanwhile it was sunny and hot...

Alot of Forex Forecasts are just like weather forecasts.   You know, go long above this level, short below here, bias is sell if....    Hit and Miss.   More often wrong than right.

And as for Forex Market Commentary after the fact?  It's alot of "I told you so".  Anyone can analyze the market AFTER it has moved and give you a million reasons why.   They make it look easy.  That's because it is easy to offer expert opinion after the fact.     Don't get me wrong, there are occasional interesting articles, perspectives, and insights on a market move.  Just like the weather report occasionally is right.

What's not easy is having a sense of the market, direction, and more important trade opportunities.  That gets to be a little trickier but with the right approach, strategy, and know-how, you can do quite well at Forex.