I Baron, when I asked you, "Did any particular events lead up to you forming Elite Trader?" You indicated that you were trading for a living from your home and quickly found out such an environment is an isolating experience, hence, from this, you created Elite Trader for traders to be able to interact with each other. This reminds me of the founder of eBay, almost exactly. A site established on a very simple yet powerful principle, that really took off and grew! You are right about traffic. The reason all of the millions of websites fail is because they fail to generate attention. Yet, you have separated yourself from among all of them, even those more specific sites that deal with traders and trading. That, in itself, is quite a feat! Well, thanks, Baron. Have a nice life. No, just kidding! Actually, I have additional questions for you, and I am sure our (reading) audience also have questions. As I indicated, this interview will need to be conducted over a time period due to the posting/answer/follow-up nature.
Update though the contest was officially cancelled, I'm posting a snapshot of my platform for those interested in tracking my progress.... I'm still trading the competition demo account. as you can see, the Balance increased to $3619.25. Unrealized P/L decreased to $1516.23. Margin Used also decreased. I am narrowing the gap between the UP/L and the Margin Used. the Net Asset Value represents a general account increase of over 2%. sKaLpZ <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=808563>
Tonight when I logged into this account I noticed that the numbers reached my goal of effectively beating the (forex) market. I'll explain... As written earlier when I started this contest, the structure was to beat the market by putting my Balance above the Margin Used, AND above the Unrealized P&L. This is what happened recently. Now I need to keep my Balance above both those items and in time this should allow me to take a substantial chunk out of the currency market once I close the overall trade. The risk in this structure is very low, as long as my Balance floats above the Margin Used and the Unrealized P/L, and increases. I could click the overall trade closed at any time and walk out a winner. This is essentially the environment you want to try to stabilize and maintain while having your money exposed to the forex, that is extremely risky territory by nature. It took me since 05-25-05 to achieve this status - almost 90-days. The sweet science of trading forex. I added NZD/USD to the group of pairs. sKaLpZ <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=821392>
here's an update on my forex trading demo account. The trading account has turned over 5% gross. The British pound entries are finally dropping into a deep hole some - now over 9-cents down. You'll notice, though, even being over 900-points in the hole with cable, my Unrealized P/L is still less than -$1400. My cash drawdown is also less than half of what I am sitting Net Profit booked in the account seen in the Realized P/L column ($3,145.05). Those numbers were not arrived at by error. Soon I may be able to switch strategies in the GBP/USD pair as planned should the current downward trend continue. Some profit has been able to be pulled from the AUD/JPY positions, boosting the Balance. Do keep in mind that this account is traded at best part-time because I focus most my attention trading my live accounts. Overall, I used $3,844.34 (money exposed to the market, i.e., to margin at 20:1, seen in the Margin Used column) to make $5,015.69. Again, that's by design. sKaLpZ <img src=http://elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=858372>
You made 3.622% in 4 and a half months of trading. No-offence but that's pretty poor for a guy who rates himself as "the best forex trader in the world".
here's a trade update. still trading on the conservative side - market never really gave me the distinct signals I was looking for to go heavier. profiting nicely with as little risk at stake as I have at 20:1 leverage. some changes were made since the last update, namely I dropped out cable (GBP/USD) and NZD/USD. Balance has shot up $5562.03 to $110,577.72. Net Asset Value also climbed to $108,905.58 from $103,622.83. Margin used has gone up a little too due to the additional AUD/JPY positions and the GBP/JPY trade that was added to the currency group since last time I posted - it's an expensive pair! USD/JPY performed nicely shooting from just under 114.00 UP to a peak of above 121.00 tail end of last year. Overall, for an ultra low-risk trading structure I'm pleased. No losses to report. sKaLpZ <IMG SRC=http://elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=969633>
For those new to Elite Trader since the last time I posted an update for this trade (back on 10-04-05), this trade (started on 05-25-05 - see beginning of this thread) it is designated to remain open for a 2-year "lock down" period. It's been open for a tad over 8-months. That means it has another 16-months to go. This is based on standard hedge fund timing. Folks, if you're new to forex trading, what you may notice is that an average of only $4315.50 was used, being put into play of the entire $100,000 account. That amount exposed to the market has earned a gross of $10,577.72, netting (at present) $8905.58. The real market risk value structure on this trade is less than you'd typically find on your common bank CD, earning you around 4% in a year (insured). And much less than the real market risk involved with a money market account (not insured). Remember, we still have 4 more months to go (to reach the one-year mark) and we're already at less than $100 away from 9% net. I point this fact out to show that unlike many think, trading currencies is only as risky as the currency operater who makes the trades. This trading model is purposely set to low-risk. The rest is done my simple manipulation of currencies back and forth as the global currency market rates shift. Although this is a demo, all trades are opened and closed on real time, live currency prices - not even a second delayed. It's a technical trading structure (no emotions involved) but not based on any of the common 'technical indicators' such as MACD, Bolinger Band, EMA, Paraboic SAR and others. Well, we'll see where we're at at the end of the full 2-year period. sKaLpZ