What the FAQs

Disclaimer : The post you are about to read is my personal opinion and may not necessarily represent the truth of others. I am a high risk trader that loves volatility. This is my truth and you are free to disagree with me. 

1. What are your top trading tools and indicators?

In ZFT, we only use Moving Averages (MAs), Darvas Box Method, Fibonacci and the RSI (Relative Strength Index). Many might be surprised how we only have these four in our arsenal. 

"So you telling me, yan lang? Wala bang secret indicator?"

"Well, Wala!"

I'm not saying other indicators aren't going to make you money. I'm saying mastery is key. A person who has an understanding and can use 10% potential of 10 different martial arts will never match up to a person who has a 100% mastery over one technique.

2. How do you buy and what time of the day is it best to buy stocks?

Whatever the setup or play, I always buy in tranches - 3 tranches to be exact : Before, During, and After breakout point. The volume for all three can be equal or different depending on your risk appetite. The tranches can be done in weeks, several days or all in one day.

Here are some related posts to this topic

http://zeefreaks.blogspot.com/p/the-trend-followers-guide-to-money.html

http://zeefreaks.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-trend-following-astronaut.html

http://zeefreaks.blogspot.com/2016/04/bodega-and-law-of-equivalent-exchange.html

This is a good risk management strategy as it can minimize potential losses in case of a fake-out. This would also maximize your time and lessen your opportunity loss when your current stock hasn't broken out yet with your initial tranche while other stocks are moving. Wouldn't it be such a shame if you were fully committed on a stock that isn't moving and suddenly a super play appears?

As for when is the best time to buy, that would depend on your risk appetite. 

If you are a risk-taker, have the time, then buy during the intraday breakout and cross your fingers the trade won't explode. If the breakout happened in the morning session, expect a lot of price fluctuation and get ready to cut loss when necessary. If the breakout happened in the afternoon, there's a good chance momentum will continue until market close. 

The safest to buy is during the matching or run-off at 3:15-3:20 PM since at that point, the possibility of a whipsaw is close to none. Only problem is if prices have already gone beyond your levels of comfort. If that happens, then just say NO to that trade.

I personally buy sets of my tranches between 2:30 - 3:20 PM since this is the time where prices would likely show their true intentions - whether they would like to break-out, break-down or stay boringly put.


3. What is the difference between cutting losses and executing trail stops? How and when do you set these?

In a nutshell, trail stops are there to preserve your gains while cut points are there to protect your capital.

If you owned this port, what would you do?

Read more by clicking on this link.

If you have Questions that aren't in this post (click here), feel free to post it on the comments.

Personal Notes Series 007 : Dreams of A High Risk Trader

The game that is the Stock Market is all about following rules and playing the game better than anyone else.

I remember deciding not to pursue the corporate life and just trade my way out of the rat race. I was confident and I worked hard for it. I knew this was my calling.

Started with 160k late 2010. Borrowed 2M in 2012. Then Another 2M in 2013. Lost 2.4M in the process. I knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. If it were, it would be like Jurassic Park. 

But I kept going. I Made friends along the way. Made enemies.  Burned bridges. Found my identity as a trader. Found the system that was right for me. Paid off my investors. Bought them out of my funds. And the rest was history.

To my friends, students,  and all who follow my blog, http://zeefreaks.blogspot.com/ Do not pray that you will gain hundreds, thousands or millions looking for a jackpot stock. Pray for wisdom, discipline and the ability to endure hardships. Pray that God will mold you to become a living testimony of His goodness. And pray extra hard that you won't be trapped by the Love of Money.

Today, my trading port just reached a figure I was only dreaming about years ago. The rest of my story how I started, the lessons I've learned, the technical notes, up to the present is all here in my blog for everyone to read. Inspired? Share it. Because if I was able to make it, why can't you? 

"Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."

A High Risk Trader's Thoughts on Mentorship

Should a Mentor charge a fee or should a Mentor have it free?

After the Green Stickman Scandal popped up, it got me thinking about how mentoring should be done.

Sidenote : Other than my port screenshot showing up in an invitation for a NON ZFT mentoring program, I have nothing against the man. I saw his posts before and I like that he actively enlightens people on finances and trading.

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Mentorships exist because there are things which cannot be taught simply by reading a book.

I believe every mentor should seek to have complete independence from his or her mentee in the shortest possible time. To have the student stand on their own, strong and unwavering against whatever it is that hits him - and at some point, surpass the mentor in the chosen craft.

A mentor who seeks to have dependent, mentor-worshipping students is no mentor at all. This type of mentor is what I love to call "Guru na Ulol."

There is no such thing as free lunch.

Either you pay for it, or somebody else does.

Good mentors who don't ask their students for money or anything is a trait I admire. I have done this in days past and I still do in rare occassions and I have to say that mentoring for free isn't easy. You sacrifice your precious time to teach and mold what you know to someone - who probably won't take you seriously or use your craft against you - when you could be out somewhere in the world doing something else that you like... and for what? 

Mentoring that is free has a lot of reasons to fail. It could be that the mentor isn't equipped to handle a student - skillwise or emotionally. It could be commitment. Most of the time, It is because the student fails to see the value of the craft since they got it for FREE. I fail to comprehend the logic behind this - When some people have this mindset of taking for granted those that don't cost them anything.

The greatest tragedy of Free Mentoring is when the mentor himself is the problem. A person who is good at a craft isn't necessarily a good mentor. And a broken teacher creates broken students. The sad part of this story is that the student believes the lies as truth.

"Free Mentoring na nga, Nagrereklamo ka pa! Be quiet! Iyakin!"

If you teach a student something wrong and let him believe it is truth, should all the blame rest on the student's shoulders? I don't think so. 

So why mentor? 

This is something every "free" mentor should ponder on.

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Now, how about those who ask for money or something else in return?


Our generation has gotten used to the "Instant Culture." We want and demand things with less or no effort in a single snap of our fingers.

"I paid for it with big money. I am entitled to it. Work? What work? You do it!"

The problem with some people who go for a paid mentoring is their inability to understand how mentoring works. A mentee should seek out the mentor. Not the other way around. It's not like you can magically copy-transfer an ability from someone to another in an instant. This isn't the Matrix.

And a paid mentoring fails miserably when the mentor fails to give what they don't have but act as If they have and know it all. 

You see, people will pay for something even if it costs a lot - if they see value in it.

If you buy gold coins and get gold coins, there shouldn't be an issue. But If you bought gold coins and find out they were something else, that's where things turn sour.

I see a lot of people who say that mentors who charge for a high fee is a scam. Hypocrites. 

How much does it cost to have your kids go to a private pre-school nowadays? Did you get your degree by going to a school or university that doesn't charge you a single cent? And did you get what you paid for?

In our current batch, one Eques student paid PHP 250,000 so we could mentor him. Did we ask for this amount? No. The student paid for what he believed was our Mentorship's worth. Is he satisfied? You could ask him. Goes by the troll name Sir Lancelot. 

Those who have mastered their crafts can thrive without mentees. But would it be the same for those who are just starting out and in need of a Mentor?

Paid or Free, bottom line is this:

Success as a mentor comes when the mentee achieves mastery of the craft  and where the mentee is able to enhance his life and better his surroundings.

Personal Notes Series 004 : Life of A High Risk Trader

There are days when i wake up in the morning late, like 9AM 

and feel the want to work and dress up like a proper gentlemen 

with a suit and tie, but then i go "what the hell" 

...then end up just wearing the tie.

#buhaytrader

#nakedtrading

Trading is a craft that pays a lot when mastered.

And Full time traders are a mystery to many. Aside from being a

 fraction of a fraction in the general populace, civilians don't see

 them much, and when traders do show up in public, some 

don't talk much about their trading lives. Maybe some people do. 

I don't know.

So what's it like being a full time trader?

I am but one sample. So don't take my word for 

what you are about to read. 

Here are my top pros and cons of going full time in this industry.

(Pros) # 1 

You own your time.

No schedules. No deadlines.

Imagine all the trips! The leaves you can take. And you 

get to decide when to take a break from that break!

Bliss. You get to do what you want, when you want. 

And that is the kind of freedom almost everybody wants. 

(Pros) # 2 

You can work anywhere as long as you have 

internet and your workstation (or smartphone).

Work on the go? No problem! 

PD : I've traded on a public jeep, bus, van, ship, even on a 

plane! (until it took off and cut my internet signal)

#QUEHORROR

And just imagine having a peaceful, non toxic, no traffic to work

 environment. You could even swim and trade at the same time,

 just buy a waterproof smartphone so you can stupidly show off 

how flexible you can be while getting the job done. 

(Pros) # 3 

You set the pace

No constant external and annoying force telling you to finish 

something before the deadline - then adds more load to the pile. 

Of course there's that pressure from within, telling you to earn, 

and to trade. But that's a whole lot better than a naggy, 

bossy boss right?

It even gets awesome when you hit your personal profit 

quota that's good for months or even a year.

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Now for my top Cons of being a full time trader.

(Cons) # 1. 

Too much time on your hands.

Yes you've got the freedom to do whatever you want at any time. 
How is it bad you ask? Well, you get used to it and it gets boring
 after a while. At some point you'll be surprised when one day you
 find out that you actually HATE holidays and moments when the 

markets are closed for some reason.

It's like a love and hate relationship. Like when you were in 

 school and you can't wait for the sem-break. And when that break

 finally arrives, you go... "now what?" and suddenly miss school.

Your friends and family would think you've gone crazy for loving
 Mondays and hating Fridays. But that's just how it is with you. 
It's your passion. You just can't wait to trade.

(Cons) # 2. 

The Temptation of Creative Procrastination.

I've already mentioned in my previous posts how lazy I am. 
That instead of investing or doing something worthwhile, I tend to
 procrastinate. Of course, studying charts, patterns, and back testing
 are all part of my daily routine. But What else are you going to do
 with all that time that's not market related?

Being lazy in this industry can be devastating to 
one's health and lifestyle.

There were times in my trading life when I'd just sleep after 

trading hours. Maybe play one PC game I like. Browse Facebook. 

Unproductively surf the net. Watch a whole set of TV series. 

Then repeat the whole cycle next day.

And as for exercise? 

There was a season In my trading life when the time and effort I 
spent walking from my trading room to the kitchen, to the dining
 area to have my meal, then back to my room was 
my "form" of exercise. 

I wasn't just good at procrastinating. 
I took it to a whole new level.
I was a master of it. 

WAS!

Alright Alright. Sometimes it still is.

And you'll have so much wealth in your port, 

it will spill over to your body as well! 

I tried to gamify my life and at one point, i finally reached

 the "Bio-Armor" achievement - by not taking a bath for 5 days. 

Uhgr. I might say more things I'd regret... The point is, you have to

 pull yourself together and make an effort to develop 
good habits, proper time management and discipline. 

(Cons) # 3. 

Abnormal or Dead social life.

After a while, it gets lonely.

This is my main frustration as a trader. I feel like nobody 

understands me. The experience of gaining and losing in the

 market is just too hard to comprehend for the average person 

who has little to no idea on how the markets work. 

I've got no boss, so I can hardly relate anymore to civilian boss 

related rants and jokes. And if ever I pull one out, they'd just brush

 it off since they've heard it like a thousand times already. 

When I try to reach and hang out with my non-stocks buddies, It's

 different. I've got time. They don't. And this becomes a big issue. 

The trips I want to take, the length, and how I take it has become
so different, you'd instantly become the odd one out. 

I guess it's kind of better because It doesn't kill off your

 relationships the fast way like some networking "businesses" do.

#FRIENDSHIPOVER

Most people think that we create money out of thin air just by

 sitting and clicking some buttons. And that's that. No wonder most 

think it's a Scam. It's sounds too good to be true. A dream. 

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Fitting in society would be one heck of a challenge. I have learned 

not to demand from my civilian friends. Because sometimes when I

do, I get that

"Oh I'm sorry we're not like you!" card.

I believe trading the markets is one of the most strenuous things a person can do. Not only will you have to work hard burning the late night candle, but you will also have to sacrifice a lot - even some relationships. It is definitely not for the weak. But to those are brave enough to accept the consequences and challenges of taking this path. The rewards are truly fulfilling - that is, if you survive. 

How about you? What are your Pros and Cons?