They actively trade in the stock and foreign exchange markets and regret that they joined traders only last year.
The husband works, the wife is a housewife, two sons are an ordinary family. But in it, to the question of how the day went, one of the spouses can answer - "she made a shortcut to Urku", and the other - "opened a position on the Australian."
Dossier
Valery and Elena Gopalov live in St. Petersburg. They are raising two sons - 19 years old and 6 years old.
Valery is 41 years old. An engineer by education, he also has an MBA diploma, head of a direction in a printing company. Trader experience 1 year, trades on Forex and MICEX.
Elena is an engineer by training, now a housewife. Trader experience 1, 5 years, trading on the MICEX.
Why did you decide to start trading?
Valeriy: Free funds appeared, and the question arose of what to do with them - put on a deposit, in a mutual fund, or use it in some other way. We have a bank branch in our house, and last summer we came across brochures advertising their brokerage division. The bank employee explained what was happening and told how she herself had made a successful investment, because then there was a period of rapid growth in the market. So we are on fire - why not try it? Lena had free time, we decided that she would trade.
E.: I'm not ready for this, I'm afraid. This is a very dynamic market for me. In addition, there are large "leverage", and this is very risky. Yes, and does not pull, to be honest. I want to master options.
Q: The woman, the keeper of the hearth, is less inclined to take risks! (Laughs) I am more adventurous, and large "shoulders" just make Forex interesting for trading.
What trading rules have you developed for yourself?
Е.: I never average (systematic re-purchase of securities, regardless of whether their price falls or not - LB), I increase only profitable positions. The second rule is to follow the trend: if the market rises, I do not try to play bearish.
V.: But I am sometimes naughty, I confess! Sometimes there is a growing trend, but I get the feeling that there will be a correction, and I start to “short” (play for a fall - LB). In addition, I average at losses, however, only if I am sure that the movement will eventually go in my direction.
I also have a rule to fix losses when draining a 5% deposit, but I often break it even at 10%, and even at 15% I can climb. (Laughs) Sometimes I cannot stop in time, and I suffer from this. But I am seriously working on this problem. "Terpelka" must be trained, clearly follow the chosen strategy. This is especially important in Forex. Unfortunately, I often exit a trade before reaching the goal I have set for myself. There is still no such confidence in their righteousness.
Е.: It's the same story with me. I can exit before the profit level that I have set for myself, but the price, as luck would have it, comes there. I set take profits (an instruction to the broker to automatically sell shares when the price rises to the set level - LB), but I lack self-control. Hands stretch on their own …
Can you call yourself profitable traders?
Q: In the few months that I have traded last year, my deposit has increased by 20%. This year, at first I lost a lot, trading in “flat” (uncertain market movement - LB) did not work out, but now I am in positive territory by 10%. I expect to receive the same amount by the end of the year. In my opinion, this is a good result. In general, for a trader in the first year of work, the main thing is not so much to earn as not to lose money. I am now in a period of gaining experience.
Е.: Last year I earned about 30%, this year - more than 30% in positive territory. Spring was not a very good period for me.
Can you name the most unsuccessful deals?
Е.: Remember, in early May, the Dow Jones index fell by 10%? As it turned out later, it was due to a "technical error" of a Citibank clerk. Then our indices collapsed. And that day I just got out of the “short” and sat, roared, seeing the quotes fall … If I had not closed short positions, my deposit would have grown by about 15%. How disappointing it was to waste such a profit!
A similar situation was with Avtovaz's securities - I held them for almost 9 months, waited for them to come out of the minus. As soon as the position became breakeven, I closed it. And at the end of summer, the wild growth of Avtovaz quotes began. But to be honest, I was not even upset, I was so tired of these papers.
Q: I learned to trade on Forex using trading signals, and paid ones. I had two accounts - for $ 5000 and $ 3000, on the first I worked on signals, on the second on my own. Two months later, nothing remained of the "signal" deposit, and the second one grew 5 times. I realized that I had to trust my own strategy more, to abstract from other people's opinions. Although it is not always possible to follow this rule, sometimes you "fall for" the opinions of reputable analysts and deviate from the chosen goal.
Do you rely on intuition?
V.: At first, I often trusted my intuition, and even now sometimes there are such moments. And you know, usually she doesn't let me down! But when I rely on intuition, I can easily get confused by some analytical prediction. When intuition says one thing, and technical analysis another, I refrain from the transaction, I prefer to be out of the market.
Е.: And I calmly trust technical analysis.
Are you nervous while trading?
Е.: Now I work calmly, but in the first six months I was very nervous, I lost 7 kg. However, now I have already typed half. (Laughs) When I'm nervous, I drink soothing tea or go for walks.
V.: At first, there were sleepless nights, I could not move away from trade. On the stock exchange, everything is calmly perceived - both profits and losses, but Forex turns me on. When I feel like I'm getting nervous, I take breaks. I can be out of the market for a month or two. You have to trade with a cool head.
Valery, how do you combine trading with your main job?
Q: Ideally, I would like to look at the terminal once a day, but I have to do this every hour. This, of course, distracts from work. We have a couple more of the same "maniacs" like me in the company, and we periodically organize trading "forums".
How long are you going to trade?
Е.: Until you get bored. The stock market is already like a drug for me, just a physical need to trade. A hobby that also brings money, what could be better? But to be honest, earnings are not in the first place for me.
V.: This allows Lena to self-actualize. I can see that her eyes are burning. Once we wanted to build a house with the money that we invest in trade. But, getting involved, we decided that we would build the house only with the earned profit.
For me, trade is a groundwork for the future. You can say that now I am training, and I would like to do it seriously already in retirement. Although I also feel the need to trade, for me it is a challenge, I want to master this business masterfully.
Have you invested all your money in trading?
Q: We do not keep anything on deposits in banks. And I don't see any particular risk in this. We do not mindlessly trade, and we will definitely not lose all the money. We try not to use leverage. Generally speaking, banks also burst, money can be lost there too.
Interviewed by Dmitry Veretennikov lbudget.ru
