Introduction to The Book on Forex Trading

Take a look at The Introduction to my new book "The Book on Forex Trading"

www.sm-forex.com

Preface

Success is waking up in the morning, whoever you are, wherever
you are, however old or young, and bounding out of bed because
there's something out there you love to do, that you believe in, that
you're good at — something that's bigger than you are, and you
can hardly wait to get at it again today.

–Whit Hobbs

M any people would regard me as successful. I’m fortunate to have my finan-
cial freedom and to be living my dream. I can get out of bed any time I want,
I don’t need an alarm clock any longer, and commuting to work is a thing of the
past. I choose to live my days as I like.

I once lost everything and even though the experience taught me a great deal, I
would not recommend it to anyone! However, on this journey, I did find the real
solutions to financial freedom, happiness and well-being. I call these solutions The
Wealth Codes. I’d like to share one of those with you in this book– The Forex Code.

Now I live day to day, without money worries and I thank God for my good
fortune. You, too, can achieve this with a little coaching.

That’s where I can help. My offer is to teach/coach you to have similar success;
yours if you want it badly enough. I can teach you the Forex Code, giving you the
keys to unlock the door to financial freedom. I’ve cracked the code and can teach
you to do the same. You can achieve your financial freedom if you really want to;
you just need to change the way you think. You must believe it, really believe it,
for it to come true.

What is financial freedom? It does not necessarily mean being filthy rich. I
believe financial freedom means never having to worry about the rent, grocery
money or doctor bills. It’s about going out and having steak or lobster any time

The book on Forex Trading.indd 5 6/26/2010 11:13:23 PM

vI | STEPHEN MARGISON

you feel like it. It’s about having the basic needs and even a few luxuries, without
being a wage slave or tied to a 9-5 job.

Financial freedom will buy freedom from a boring job. It will buy time to pur-
sue your own interests; freedom to travel, read, write, create, help others, play
or do your life’s work. However, be warned that when financial independence is
achieved and after that period of elation when you think your dreams have been
answered, there follows a period of emptiness, or a vacuum, with the realisation
that it is not.

Financial freedom is a worthy goal, but use it well when you get there. Once
you achieve that, a more fulfilling, meaningful goal is needed. That will usually be
associated with “giving something back” such as teaching, charity work, sponsor-
ing worthwhile causes, writing your book, pursuing your dream hobby and so on.

Live in the Present
I don’t want you to do what I (and many other successful people) have done in
our pursuit of money and that is to neglect friends, family, and your present life in
favour of possible future financial freedom and future dreams. I’ve never worried
about the future financially and neither should you. It is enough to plant the seed of
thought, I will enjoy financial independence. The trick is to live in the present. I learned
this lesson at the “school for hard knocks.” You have to live for the moment, whilst
at the same time following your passion with gusto. Take care of the present and
the future will take care of itself. Of course you should plan ahead, but you don’t
postpone today’s happiness for the promise of some future happiness. An example
would be, I’ll be happy when… (…I’m rich or …I get that promotion.) - You name it,
just fill in the blank. Many people do this (as I once did) and lead unfulfilling lives.

Be happy now. The present is the only true moment you really have. I can just
imagine some of those successful people nodding their heads in agreement as they
read this.

I know this is difficult to grasp when you’re skint, penniless and struggling to
pay the bills but remember we’ve all been there. I’ve had bills I’ve been unable
to pay, had bailiffs at the door and even had my car repossessed once. It’s not
nice, that’s for sure. However, I did something about it. I first changed the way
I thought about life, about wealth, and then I took the action required to gain my
financial freedom.

Why Did I Write This Book?
Well, I can tell you it was not for the money! Very few authors make back their
initial investment in blood, sweat, tears, time and money. I had seven years of
full-time Forex trading experience bottled up inside of me waiting to get out. I just
needed to let the genie out of the bottle.


Preface | vii

It is often said that there is a book inside each of us and I believe that to be true.
This is mine.

I used to be a schoolteacher and I know from my own experience that you learn
more about your subject by teaching it. I am better off from the experience of writ-
ing this book because it has improved my trading and the way I look at trading. So
there’s a selfish reason here, too.

Additionally, I must have read more than 40 books on trading. Many of those
books are academic theoretical and their authors have probably forgotten more
about chart patterns, candle patterns and technical indicators than I’ll ever know.
The majority of these books are good technical references. However, there are not
many books out there on how to make money trading; to execute a trade, write a
practical trading plan or how to overcome the thought processes that sabotage our
trading. This book is a practical book with a focus on how to make money trading.
It is a results-driven book.

Finally, I promised my mentor when the time was right, I would write the book
and teach the methods I learned. With this book I fulfill that promise; so it is also
a labour of love.

Trading for a living can be the most profitable career in the world but it can also
be the most expensive if not done properly. In this book I intend to coach you in
how to make money trading Forex and perhaps in time, achieve your financial
freedom. I started from nothing and you can, too. I say this not to impress you, but
to impress upon you that your dreams are within your reach and I can help you get
there. This is the first day of the rest of your life. Take the first step with me and fly.

Who is This Book For?
There is something here for everyone. Beginners, who are just starting out on their
trading journeys, will find it easy to read and will be relieved it contains no hype.
I keep to the bare bones of what traders need to know to make money. Anything
else can be Googled.

It is also a book for traders who have lost their way a little and have become
disillusioned with Forex trading. Maybe you’ve blown a demo account, or even a
live one, and you’re feeling frustrated and about to give up. Don’t give up. Nearly
every successful trader (even the trading legends) have blown at least one live
account and lost all their initial funds. It is not only you. But they bounced back
and became successful traders. So can you.

Advanced traders will find a couple of methodologies in this book they can
begin testing today. I find that in every book I read, and in every seminar I attend,
I learn something. Even one piece of new information can turn into gold. There is
something for every trader here.


vIII | STEPHEN MARGISON

How I Met My Mentor
I’m going to tell you a brief story of what made my trading become successful
rather than amateurish. There’s an old saying, “When the student is ready the
teacher will appear.” A chance meeting with a professional trader, one of the elite,
changed everything. Until this chance meeting, I’d been dabbling at trading and
losing money. Now I’m a successful Forex trader and I enjoy what I do.

The setting was on a transatlantic plane journey, flying first class, having a cou-
ple of drinks. I began talking to the guy sitting next to me, as you do. After a
while, as more drinks were served, we began to share our life stories. This is an
abbreviated version of the conversation that took place during that unforgettable
flight.

I go through my story briefly and tell him about my limited choices as a 16-year-
old from a mining village in Yorkshire, England. The choice back then was either
to work down the “pit” (the coal mines) or go into the Army. I chose the Army.
I was sick of the poverty and lack of opportunity in our village and had to get
out. I’ll give you a couple of examples that stick in my mind. I remember on the
cold, rainy winter nights being sent out into the bleak night with an empty bucket
in order to fill it with pieces of coal that might be lying around on the streets.
Without that coal we had no fire. It was embarrassing if someone saw me and that
embarrassment burned inside me for many years.

I also remember going to school in shoes with my toes pointing out of the holes
at the top, and I remember people laughing at me. They’re not laughing now…
All these years later, I now have my financial freedom, I live my dream and quite
frankly, I only work if I want to. When I do work, it is to teach, coach and mentor
people to find their financial freedom.

I’ve been a soldier, a student, a schoolteacher and for more than 20 years, a
businessman.

Armed with the experience and knowledge I have now, and with the excep-
tional technology available these days, I know with certainty that anyone can have
their financial freedom in a third of the time and a tenth of the heartache it took
me to get it!

My new friend, (whom I’ll call him Jeff as he asked I keep his name secret) began
his tale and as the drink flowed and his tongue loosened, his story unfolded…

His background was as different to mine as chalk to cheese. Jeff came from a
family of wealthy investment bankers. He went to Harvard, married the beautiful
prom queen and was now a “big city broker and trader,” his words not mine. He
was a partner in one of the biggest firms on Wall Street. He made more money in
a year than most people could make in several lifetimes. Most people could only


Preface | ix

dream of his lifestyle. He is part of the “establishment” as he called it--and he felt
guilty about it!!

Jeff went on to say, “The stock market is really a slick aberration, a red-herring,
if you like, for the public. This distraction stops them from discovering where the
real money is made… in the biggest cash-pile on the planet!

Where’s that? I wondered.

“The Dow Jones in the United States and the Footsie stock market in London
are at just about the same levels they were in 1999, six years ago.” (As of the date
of the conversation.) “It’s no wonder many people are feeling cheated and disil-
lusioned. It has not stopped me making millions of dollars, though, on the backs
of these people.”

“In real terms, the investor masses are worse off; their pensions grow slowly, if
at all, and their returns are very poor. Let’s personalize this. I’m talking about the
little old lady and her savings, the couple starting a new family and looking to the
future wanting a good home for their money; the blue collar worker trying to save
his pension money…the small business owner working long hours, thinking quite
wrongly, that his money is really working for him. In fact Mr. and Mrs. Joe Public
are getting a raw deal. They are all being hoodwinked!”

I asked him if he felt so strongly about this, what did he intend to do about it
and quite frankly why should he care? At the same time, I thought to myself These
self-righteous big-shots are always sounding off after a beer or two, but then do nothing.

Jeff said he wanted to do something that might change people’s lives and he wanted
to give something back, but he was still part of the establishment, the elite, (and still
is). He was not sure how to do it without being found out. It had to be secret and
confidential. He was going through some changes in his life and I felt there was an
urgency there (maybe guilt who knows) to make a difference. I think anyone who
has earned their financial freedom goes through this at some stage in life.

We fell into a long silence. I nodded off, sleeping fitfully and woke up with a
start as Jeff tugged on my arm. He was animated and said, “I’ve got a proposition
for you. I want you to teach you how to literally siphon money off the biggest cash
mountain in the world. The foreign-exchange or Forex market. “I will mentor you
and teach you everything I know about Forex trading, the real deal with nothing
held back.” He actually looked both sober and serious!

All of a sudden I was wide awake. I cleared my throat. “I’m listening,” I heard
myself say (a bit too casually, not really sure if I’d heard him straight).

He quickly went through his ideas of how the “system” would be simple to use
and learn; in layman’s terms based on getting just a few hundred dollars a day out


X | STEPHEN MARGISON

of the cash mountain. When I say “system” here, I mean a methodology to win on
a consistent basis, a way of trading. “Steve,” he said, “You would not believe how
much rubbish is taught out there today about Forex. Everyone uses (and sells)
complex, expensive systems and because of this most people lose (apart from the
people selling the complex, expensive systems, of course)! It is a standing joke in
my department. We see a new strategy and think that won’t work. We have a good
belly laugh about these. The sad thing is, people are buying these useless systems
from so-called ‘gurus’ and many of these gurus have never traded in their lives!”

“Everyone wants a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. People get greedy and lose their
discipline and thus their money. This is not one of those. I’ll teach you how to take
anything from a hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars a day from the Forex
market part-time.

“Hold on,” I said. “Slow down a bit – what’s the catch? What do you want in
return?”

“In return, when you feel confident enough and the time is right for you in your
life, I want you to pass this information on and teach others so they can benefit,
too.”

“Why me?” I asked.

“I can think of several of reasons,” he said. “One, I feel I can trust you not
to steal the system just to use for yourself because of your background and you
don’t need the money. Two, you’re a former schoolteacher and coach. You’ve run
your own property seminars in the past. You can teach and get the point across.
You could even write a book! Three, people like you, Steve, are the worst to teach
because you’re entrepreneurial, don’t follow instructions to the letter, and have
your own ideas about things. You want to re-invent the wheel and so on. If I can
teach you to succeed by following the system to the letter, then I will know for sure
that anyone can do it and change their lives for the better.”

I asked Jeff why he thought so many people failed at Forex trading. His reply
was quite interesting. “There are many reasons. They don’t have a mentor, they
don’t have a trading plan and those who do, don’t stick with it for a whole host of
reasons. Some search for the “Holy Grail” and use black-box systems that don’t
work bought from some “guru” on the Internet. Others are not taught the psy-
chology of trading and therefore continue to think as they would in the non-trad-
ing world. A whole new set of rules of thought need to be employed while trading
and that takes a little discipline. Some people just don’t learn the rules or know
where to get them. Some are too impatient.”

My eyes opened then and even though I was still groggy, my heart was ham-
mering and I realized I’d just awakened from a dream. But in that semi-sleep state,
I had been given the secret keys. I didn’t know where it came from and I really


Preface | xi

didn’t care. I just knew it was the perfectly distilled realization of how to make
all the pieces fall into place. At first it seemed too simple, too fundamental. Then
I realized that’s what made it magical. It was like Kipling said, “When you can
keep your head when those about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
you’ll be a man, my son.” Every trader out there thought he had the inside track,
that he, alone, could see the magic pattern or that he could tap into world events
enough in advance to predict how people would react. When all along, the truth
was a combination of all that, and yet none of that. The formula for success was so
blindingly simple, it was overlooked. You’ll nod your head as you read my words
and you’ll recognize the power this holds. It is hiding in the open and the question
then becomes, are you strong enough to resist the song of the sirens?

So, despite the origin of Jeff, I agreed to let his words teach me how to trade
Forex like a professional and now, as payment to my muse, I am ready to teach
others the same.

I am now ready to write my book and pass on what he taught me. My method-
ology has evolved and been added to since Jeff mentored me but the “melody of
the markets” as he called it; the natural rhythm of the market is still at the core of
my methodologies. The main things I learned from him were fractal swings, the
importance of support and resistance, the Ichimoku Cloud and how essential it is
to have a trading plan.

The most important thing he taught me, however, was the first secret of Forex
trading; there are no secrets. Please take this on board because if there are no
secrets, then by definition, there is no Holy Grail.

I’m looking forward to the journey. The time is right – it’s payback time!

(Since that conversation we have had the credit crunch and witnessed its devas-
tating effects on the financial system including major banks folding, big losses in
pension funds, the stock market and other investments. The blame lies squarely
with the banking system and its greed. However, this has not affected Forex mar-
ket apart from an increase in volatility. That’s what makes Forex trading so excit-
ing and weatherproof.)

You must now wait 24 hours before you continue to read this book. This
is my test to you as to whether or not you have what it takes to become a
successful Forex trader. Patience is very important in trading, so let’s see if
you have it. Wait 24 hours before you continue to read. If you can’t wait the
24 hours, then I fear for your success as a Forex trader.


Introduction to The Book on Forex Trading

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Introduction to The Book on Forex Trading