Trader's experience - 6 years. He worked in brokerage companies as a teacher, trader and analyst. Trades currencies on the Forex market, futures on the Dow Jones index, shares on the MICEX.
Physical education teacher, waiter, entrepreneur are in the past. Now Sergey Golubev is a trader. Trades several assets at once: futures, currencies and stocks. He is very good at playing in different markets.
Dossier
Sergey Viktorovich Golubev, 45 years old. Lives in Yaroslavl. By education - a teacher of physical education. He was engaged in the restaurant business. Trader's experience - 6 years. He worked in brokerage companies as a teacher, trader and analyst. Trades currencies on the Forex market, futures on the Dow Jones index, shares on the MICEX. An adherent of technical analysis. Uses medium-term strategies. The main rule is "discipline, discipline and more discipline." He tries not to carry out risky transactions
Sergey, you trade in three different markets, but which one did you start with?
- On Forex (international over-the-counter currency market. - "LB"). It all happened by accident. In 2004, I had a small cafe, I often had to visit the bank, and on one of these visits I saw an invitation to courses on Forex trading. I am an enthusiastic person - I got interested, decided to try to figure it out and signed up for distance courses. After three months of study using textbooks and videos, I passed the exam and started trading. In a couple of months I successfully leaked my training account for $ 100. But I liked trading. I felt the adrenaline rush, the excitement appeared. But I realized that I had to study further, and went on to full-time courses, began to read special literature.
Weren't you embarrassed by the ambiguous reputation of Forex in Russia? After all, we do not even have such a concept in the legislation, and practically all companies providing access to Forex are registered offshore?
- Not only in Russia, practically all over the world Forex is not legally formalized in any way. God had mercy on me, for the entire time of trading there were no problems. The main thing is to choose the right company. It must be large and have been on the market for a long time. It is not profitable for such dealing centers to spoil their reputation, because the more clients they have and the longer they trade, the higher their profits. By and large, a broker does not even have to indulge in any tricks: according to statistics, only three out of ten traders manage to earn money. This is explained by ordinary greed, uncontrollable passion and lack of discipline in trading. Dealing centers provide clients with huge leverage, sometimes not even 1: 100 (lending to an operation by a broker, which allows a transaction to be completed in an amount 100 times higher than the client has - "LB"), but 1: 500! And the more shoulder you take, the more chances you have of losing - it's just a matter of time.
But, on the other hand, no one forces you to resort to leverage - do not be greedy, trade without them! Basically, the foreign exchange market is much less risky than the stock market. The price of a share per day can fluctuate by 25-30%, or even more. Currencies almost never move by more than 3%. Central banks control the situation in the foreign exchange market, they do not need 25% jumps per day.
How did your relationship with leverage develop?
- Like everyone else, trying to make more money, I traded with the traditional Forex leverage of 1: 100. The experience turned out to be negative. After I once lost $ 4000 in a day, I realized an elementary trading truth: big leverage is a big risk. I have been trading without leverage for three years now. For the "extreme" I have a special trading account for $ 500, and that's where I'm hanging out. When my hands itch and I want adrenaline, I trade with a leverage of 1: 100, "intraday" (I conduct a large number of transactions during the day. - "LB") - in general, I take risks. After that, the account often has to be replenished (laughs). Many of my friends have such small deposits to trade solely for pleasure, for the sake of getting emotions. Someone goes to a casino, but they play on Forex.
What currency pairs do you trade?
- As a rule, it is euro / dollar. The overwhelming majority of transactions on Forex are carried out on this pair. And the more liquid the instrument is, the better technical analysis works on it. I am a "techie" (a trader who makes decisions based on technical analysis - studying the charts of the movement of quotations. - "LB"), for me it is very important. Sometimes I deal with the dollar / yen pair. The Japanese currency is not easy, it has its own specifics, you need to get used to it. I tried to work with the pound / dollar pair, but it turned out to be very volatile (with large price fluctuations. - "LB"), this increases the risks. And I believe that it is better to earn little than to lose a lot.
You are still trading Dow Jones futures and Russian stocks. What's your favorite stock instrument?
- I mainly trade the Dow Jones index futures - I spend about 60% of my transactions with it. Forex accounts for about 30%, shares on the MICEX - 10%. It's simple here: The Dow Jones is the world's leading stock market index. All other indices - both European and Russian - in fact, only repeat its movement. The same thing happens with the most liquid Russian stocks. When trading, for example, Gazprom securities, you are actually adjusting to the American index, because the dynamics of securities quotes rarely differs from the Dow Jones index. There is also a relationship between this index and the euro / dollar pair. As a rule, when the Dow Jones index rises, the euro rises in price, when it falls, the dollar rises in price.
In addition, the Dow Jones index futures are perhaps the most liquid financial instrument in the world, they are traded by most of the speculators in the US, so it lends itself very well to technical analysis. Technical signals are triggered more often on Dow Jones charts than on any other asset charts. This index is more predictable and easier to understand. In general, I believe that it is necessary to learn to trade on the Dow Jones index futures. For me, this is the most convenient tool, and there are more successful deals on it.
- It is generally difficult for me to trade shares. Many people say that they do not understand how to work with currency, but I think that stocks are more difficult. I came to the MICEX after two years of working in Forex. I trade exclusively in blue chips, mainly in Sberbank and Gazprom, they are the most liquid, which means they are most suitable for technical analysis. Sometimes I buy securities of LUKOIL and Rosneft, very rarely VTB. I don't make a portfolio of different stocks, I trade only one security.
Have you even tried to trade anything other than blue chips?
- I tried, but I realized: it's better to do one thing well than everyone is bad. When there are a lot of tools, the eyes start to scatter, you want to try everything, and such dispersion always ends in failure.
How do you play in the three markets? Do you have a separate trading strategy for each?
- No. I have worked out a strategy on the Dow Jones index futures that I use practically unchanged in both Forex and MICEX. Therefore, I get approximately the same profit everywhere. For a month, I manage to increase my trading deposit by an average of 10%, losses are usually also limited to 10%. I make deals only on the signals provided by the technical analysis. Once I took into account so many indicators to determine entry and exit points to the market that they took half a monitor. I often had to choose which indicators to trust. But the more experienced I became, the more parameters I eliminated and eventually came to a set of only three signals. I trade with the trend (the presence of a pronounced direction of movement of quotations. - "LB"), otherwise I try not to carry out transactions. I hold the position for two or three days, a maximum of a week. Based on the support and resistance levels of the price, I determine the marks when it is necessary to fix profit or loss.
Don't you suffer from a traditional trader's disease - delaying the moment of fixing a loss?
- It was so. You sit “in the red”, you understand: you have to sell in order not to lose even more, but the toad presses, and you move the bar down. You think: well, there will definitely be a reversal from this level and everything will go up! And there is no reversal. Again you lower the bar, the decline continues, the loss increases … But I got sick of it. Now, having determined the level at which it is necessary to exit the trade, I do not change it. This is taboo. Of course, it's a shame when you fix a loss - and growth begins immediately. You start to think that you would wait a little and lose nothing. But otherwise you will never get used to discipline, and in the market, in my opinion, this is the most important thing.
What other rules of conduct in the market have you defined for yourself?
- The most important thing is to know what not to do. You do not need to engage in amateur performances, deviate from the chosen system - you need to strictly follow its signals. If there is no signal, do not enter the market, even if you really want to. If you are confident in your system, do not listen to other people's opinions, act according to your own model.
Another important factor is monitoring the calendar of economic statistics. It can significantly influence market behavior. Knowing when what data appears, you can prepare in advance, for example, to exit a deal. And you need to control emotions. If you give in to them, earnings in the market can only be accidental.
Do you deal with emotions?
- A trader who says that he does not waste his nerves when trading is either lying, or it is a robot. Everyone is nervous. I am an emotional person; when the Argentines lost to the Germans at the World Cup, I rattled my cell phone in frustration. But it never came to that when trading (laughs). I have a wrist expander, and when the trade is nervous, I begin to torment him. Sometimes I swear - this is relaxation. I used to try to relieve stress with alcohol, but "drunk trading" always leads to disastrous results. With every glass you have more courage, you start to think that you are cooler than the market … And in the morning it becomes clear who is cool. So I gave up on this business. From time to time I arrange breaks for two or three weeks - I do not follow what is happening on the market at all. Otherwise, you will not rest. You will hear something - and you will light up: you urgently need to run to buy! And an unprepared, spontaneous trade is likely to be unprofitable. If you have already decided to rest, rest.
Do you rely on intuition when trading?
- Probably, it sits latently in everyone. But such "presentiments" must be driven away: they are fraught with losses. There is a feeling that you need to buy - you buy, and the fall begins. And all because he entered a trade without a signal from his trading system. The market punished you. Some, of course, trade according to intuition. But this is not for me. I don't have any signs or rituals either. Although I was interested in the mystical side of trade. There are even studies of the dependence of market behavior on the position of stars and planets. I read several such books, even tried to find a pattern between the phases of the moon and the rate of the euro / dollar pair. But I don't make deals on this basis.
Is trading your main source of income?
- Additional, although the ratio is somewhere around 50 to 50. I am not in business now, but renting out real estate brings a stable income. In addition, I cooperate with dealing centers - I write analytical reviews for them. I would not advise anyone to rely solely on income from trading in the stock or foreign exchange market. So you can drive yourself into a rigid framework: you are obliged to regularly make a profit, and this is psychologically very pressing. You start to wind yourself up: you need to earn, you need to earn … And the deals that are made under the influence of emotions, as a rule, are unsuccessful.
You need to keep money in the market, on which your well-being does not depend, which you can afford to lose. If I lose my trading account, there will be no disaster. I believe that no more than 50% of free savings should be allowed for trading. I emphasize: they are free. If you have set aside money to buy a car, it is better to buy a car, so as not to be tormented in case of failure.
What are your trading goals?
- To be honest, none. Trading is already a part of my life. She provides additional income, communication with new people. At the end of the day, it's just fun! Even if you don't make much money, you get some knowledge, you start to understand economic processes, which is also not bad. I never wondered how much longer I would trade. I probably give it up only if there is no money to play on the market. I enjoy it. If it weren't for him, I would have left the market. Interviewed by Dmitry Veretennikov
