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8THE
THINGS
8 THINGS
THEYNOBODY
DONT TELL
TELLS
YOU
YOU
ABOUT FOREX TRADING
I wrote this to introduce you to the Forex trading
culture, the motivating factors, and many of the
pitfalls that are avoidable. It is my further intent
to caution you that impatience and wishful
thinking are everywhere in this market. This
happens frequently when opportunity is
perceived to be innovative. Even the most
intelligent are led astray, thinking that somehow,
this new thing changes the rules. The rules
never change.

THE HIGH RATE OF FAILURE IS

A REFLECTION OF POOR
STRATEGY, NOT LEVEL OF
DIFFICULTY.

Why? Because there is something VERY wrong,

and Im curious to look and see. How do I know
something is very wrong?

As in all things I write, I submit them to you with a

humble spirit, claiming it only to be my opinions
and observations, based in real life experience. I
hope you enjoy this little report and welcome any
feedback and criticisms. There is still much room
for improvement in what I write.

I know because numbers are consistent in

everything in our world. You see the same
numbers over and over again. Take any decent
weight loss program, and find 100 people who
say they want to lose weight. If you give them
the program to follow on their own, 80 will remain
the same weight or gain more. 15 will lose some
weight, and 5 will reach their targeted goal.

#1 Less Than 1% of the Traders in This Market

Have the Skill to Make a Consistent Profit

Its called the 80/20 rule, and whether you like it

or not, it repeats in business, in weight loss, in
job performance in pretty much everything.

Before you lose enthusiasm, let me assure you

that this number in no way reflects how easy or
difficult Forex trading actually is.
I was
approached with Day Trading stocks in the 90s.
I heard only 2% were successful, and this
information made the opportunity seem much
less attractive to me. In any given business in
general, 15% make some money. 3-4% does
really well, and the top 1-2% does extraordinarily
well.
Today, if someone tells me that only 2% are
succeeding at something, I get very interested.

So if you tell me that only 2% or 1% are able to

see any positive results, then I know there is no
reasonable strategy in place for winning.
Because if there were, 15% would be achieving
something, 5% would be doing great.
In my experience, generally everything in life
works the same way. If you can allow me to
operate with this premise, we might be able to
see very quickly what is the same about weight
loss and business, and what is different about
Forex traders. In other words, why do 20% get
results in business and weight loss, but only 1%
in Forex?

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In business or weight loss, standards have

been established. There are always going to be
people who buy pills to lose weight, or buy
business opportunities that are too good to be
true, but this is simply because they are impatient
and want a quick fix. The top 20% are going to
be those who are looking for the right product
with the right timing, a good market share,
something that is competitive, and something
that is not difficult to sell, to list a few examples.
The top 5% have it down. They not only
understand the basics of business, they have a
do whatever it takes attitude.
The remaining 15% that do get results are still
building their skills or mindset.
What about weight loss? Is there any doubt in
your mind or anyone elses that in order to lose
weight you have to burn more calories than you
consume? There are standards we know. We
can eat better, exercise more, and stop eating
when we are no longer hungry. Its not really a
question of how to lose weight or even what to do
to lose weight. It just comes down to either a
strong determination or a strategy for developing
discipline over time.
Is there any standard in Forex trading? Can
anyone really define what you need to do in such
a way that if you are determined, you will achieve
your result? If they do, how can you feel
confident that what they are saying is correct?
If you were wondering why 80% get nothing or
lose in just about anything, you already know the
answer: We do things when we are ready -when
we get serious. When what we want to achieve
is more important than how we feel in the

moment. I had great opportunities early in life. I

just wasnt ready.
People really dont talk about the rate of failure in
Forex trading. Because they dont talk about it,
they dont look for the solutions. Because they
dont look for solutions, nothing changes.

#2 Your Funds in the Brokerage Account are

not Insured
I am placing this in the number two position only
to get it out of the way. Forex is big business.
So there is big money, and some of the best
salespeople and sales material I have seen are
in this market. I had a good friend argue with
me (continually) that the broker I use primarily,
charges way too much for spreads, and that we
are getting ripped off. In spite of my best efforts
to explain this to him, he would tell me about
what he had learned from all of the other brokers
(salespeople).
For those of you who are new, the spread is the
difference between the buy and sell price. It is
how most brokers make their profit. So to keep
this very simple, if I buy the Euro at 1.3000, I
start out in that trade -3. That means the market
must move up three points (PIPs) for me to break
even in the trade. If I am risking 40 points, and I
want to get $1 for each $1 I risk, that means price
must move 43 points to get to my target and
close the trade in a profit. Am I concerned about
an extra pip or two? Not in the bigger picture,
and here is why:

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In 2005, I and our team of traders had deposits in

a Forex brokers account. Their name is Refco.
You can look it up. When brokers argue that
they have better spreads and they are the
biggest in the world, just remember I told you
about Refco. They WERE the biggest in the
world. They went bankrupt in just a couple of
days. Between me and my network of traders,
the loss was about $300,000 on deposit.
It used to be that we had 400:1 leverage. We
could keep 75% of our deposits in our FDIC
insured bank, 25% in the brokerage account, and
trade our accounts as though 100% of the money
was in the brokerage account. This is because so
little margin was required. Recently changes in
US law limited our leverage to 50:1 that caused
us to keep most of our money in the brokerage
account.
What Im saying is that you cannot base your
decision on the broker because of the low price
of the spreads or even the size of their assets.
Refco had massive assets. They were the
biggest in the world. In fact, at that time, it was
called the fourth largest bankruptcy in American
history.
I offer three things on this subject 1. Do not
make your decision on which broker to use
because they have low spreads and large assets
alone. 2. What you are really doing is placing
your trust in the management of that company.
3. You have plenty of time to learn more about
this subject prior to opening a live account or
risking any meaningful money.

#3 Forex Brokers make the Majority of their

Money from Unskilled Traders
I was told by a broker in late 2004 that 90% of
the traders who open live accounts lose all of
their money within 90 days. By that time I was
already holding training sessions, and I saw right
away that traders were trading live accounts
before they were ready. So I emphasized at all
times that traders should trade with practice
accounts and truly demonstrate consistent
success before opening a live account; when
they do open a live account, open small live
accounts. At the time, I did not know that many
of the trainers at the company were sharing in a
special profit center.
By July of 2005, our trading team had grown to
around 800 traders, about 10% of the company.
I was recognized for having the highest retention
rate of clients: 89%. They asked me to create
the next generation of training programs for the
then largest training company in the world.
What was that 89% based on? It was the
number of traders who were still actively trading
after one year. But I thought that most traders
lose their money in 90 days? They do: just not
our traders.
The fact that brokers make their money primarily
from unskilled traders is not really a dirty little
secret. I dont think of it that way at all. In fact,
without the tools and services brokers offer, you
and I would not be able to trade. If we just take
the business on face value, they are not really
doing anything wrong. They certainly are not
looking out for you, and nor do they claim to be.
The National Futures Association (NFA) is doing

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things to look out for you, but its not what you
need to know, as I explain in Forex Art of War.
Ultimately, I believe that if you are presented with
the freedom to make a choice, and you are
warned about the danger, it is your responsibility
to look out for yourself. In business we call this
due diligence.
If the brokers make their money primarily from
new, unskilled traders, what are they going to
do? They are going to do what any business
does. They are going to target those potential
clients. So they are in the business of supplying
you the tools to trade with, but they make most of
their money from the new, unskilled traders. If
you pause and think about it for a moment, they
cannot be in the training business. If they were
in the training business, they would need to
focus, as part of that business on protecting their
clients. To protect their clients, they would need
to do a great deal more to caution them to start
with practice accounts, start small when they do
trade live, and so on. If they did that, rest
assured their revenues would drop off sharply.
How would they explain that to their
shareholders?
They cant really think about protecting you.
They do just the opposite. Instead, they send out
emails with offers of a matching bonus. As an
example, a newer trader called to tell me that he
had put in $20,000 to get a matching $2000
bonus. It seemed like a windfall to him. He
assured me that he would not trade the account
until the time was right. Shortly after that, human
nature being what it is, he did trade the account,
and not long after that, it was all gone.

I was talking to another broker just a few days

ago, as I intend to expand our suggestions for
brokers. I told him: if possible, I would like our
group not to receive emails about matching
bonuses, but understood if thats not something
he could accommodate. His reply: most of our
IBs love the matching bonus because it
motivates people to open live accounts.
most of our IBs love the matching bonus.
From his mouth to my ears, to your free report,
that brings us to #4.

#4 The Driving Force of Marketing and

Training Programs are Kickbacks from
Brokers
He said, IBs. What are IBs? IB stands for
Introducing Broker. An Introducing Broker gets
kickbacks that are called rebates. It is true, I
use the word kickback for impact, but it is a
kickback. Before I tell you how it works, let me
give you an idea of how much money is involved
in these rebates. When I was at that large
training company, and they asked me to write
their new educational programs, thats when I
was given access to information I didnt have
prior to that time. I found out that the Introducing
Broker could see all of your trades, and they
were getting a piece of every trade you take.
How much? The piece varies somewhat on the
broker and the strength of the IB, but in this case,
I can tell you that there were 500 active traders
with live accounts. From those 500 traders, the
company was receiving as much as $200,000
per month in additional revenue (rebates). You

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might have to read that again. It was then that I

found out that the trainers were getting a piece,
and a few things that had confused me started to
make a lot more sense.
As I wrote in my book Forex Art of War, at that
time, I was trading longer term charts, while most
of the company was trading 1 minute, 5 minute,
and 15 minute charts. If you are new, this wont
make total sense yet, but I can tell you this
clearly: the shorter the time frame on the chart,
the more skill it requires to succeed. I think I
could call this a formula for disaster. The new
traders WANT fast results. The trainers want to
help them get fast results, and probably even
believe they can. The trainers get rebates from
the brokers when traders trade their live
accounts. You can see it shaping up here. If a
trader takes two trades a day, the IB makes ten
times the amount they would make off of
someone trading once a week. Twenty times
that of a person who trades once every two
weeks.
Im not saying there was any bad intent at work
there. I really didnt see any, and I was in a
position to see quite a bit. My experience tells
me this: to have success, you must create the
right conditions for success. As an example, the
trainer would need a direct incentive for their
student to become successful. Here they are
getting paid regardless of the outcome. So they
are there to share what they know, not to do
whatever it takes to make progress and find
solutions to the difficulties faced by traders. So I
dont fault them. I think most I saw were
innocent. What was taking place was just the
product of the structure (conditions).

Brokers have this IB relationship with marketers

and training companies to bring in new business.
As you have seen, it is incredibly lucrative. Prior
to October of 2010, anyone could be an IB.
There was no regulation at all. It was then that
congress put into law requirements such as
significant cash deposits, FBI background check,
and a Series 34 license. What did this cause?
The smaller IBs who didnt want to be hassled
lost their accounts. I cant really see that
anything enacted did anything to change the
culture. The big IBs got bigger and the smaller
ones
disappeared,
or
made
special
arrangements (legal as far as I know) to benefit
from the larger IBs.
Ive been talking about my experience. But there
is a whole world of Forex out there. You need to
know that the advertisers, the analyst websites,
the news websites, the small forums, the big
forums, the small training companies and the big
training companies are making BIG money from
these rebates. Im not saying they do a bad job
because of it. Im just saying you need to aware
of it, and factor it into your thinking. Always keep
in mind that as you look around out there in the
market place, it is only natural to want faster
results.
But do not attempt to defy good logic. My book
explains the sound logic behind good trading
methodology. While some will not want to hear
it, it is much easier to achieve success if you are
trading in the direction the market at large is
moving. When you drop down to shorter time
frames, the lower the time frame, the more
difficult it becomes. So if you want fast, THEY
will give you fast, because fast means more

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trades, and more trades means more rebates.

But lets explore this further. How long does it
take to achieve success?

#5 The Mainstream Market Does Not Have a

Good Strategy
By good strategy, as you will see in this section,
Im referring to a complete, well thought out
strategy. The reason why nobody will tell you
this is because nobody seems to know. No one I
have met yet, anyhow, which would explain why I
was working on it.
From 2004-2006, I was part of the Forex culture
at large. From January 2006 forward, I have
ignored just about everything anyone else was
doing. It was just always more of the same.
About a year ago, I paused to visit about 50
different sites to see what, (if anything) had
changed. I found the same techniques, the same
analysis, the same business models, the same
forums, and the same new people focused on the
same old things.
I assumed this was the case, but I felt I needed
to check before I built this new model, with an
entirely different strategy for winning.
Assumptions can be a major liability. So here is
my message to you:
There are great people, great trainers, and great
companies. In fact, almost everything you find
out there has some value, if not great value.
None of what I write here or in my book is
intended to disparage others directly or indirectly.

It would be unwise and a violation of principles to

do so.
Brokers provide a great service we need.
Training companies and forums are teaching you
great knowledge about the market. My focus and
my work have taught me that a different
approach is needed. One of the things that stood
out in my study of Sun Tzu and the Art of War is
his holistic approach to strategy. In other
words, we must consider all that affects your
results.
I say often that everything in life works pretty
much the same way. So if we look around, we
should be able to find an example in our world to
help us understand the problem. Consider the
health care issue. Lets be clear that there is a
difference between the health care crisis
narrative in the news, which I see to be a
financial issue, and the issue of individuals
actual health. In 2001, I began research on food.
I was living in Costa Rica at the time. I had two
motivations.
My first motivation was that I had worked out a
certain peace, spiritually speaking. I had figured
out how to have the lifestyle financially that I
wanted. But for some reason, life was not
working the way I wanted. So I decided to focus
on more human issues the body. My second
motivation: it had been brought to my attention
over and over again how much disease and
illnesses there were. When I was a boy, there
wasnt 10% of what we hear about today, so any
argument of this being genetic doesnt hold
water. At that time a little audio tape found its
way to me saying that the American Cancer
Society now expected one in two people of

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getting cancer in their lifetimes. A friend of mine

had given me a video series made by someone
who held a PHD in this field. It was all about
food. I watched them, and took a strong interest
in the subject. There were many interesting
things that I learned that I didnt know.
For example, do you know what the strongest
animal in the world is pound for pound? Its the
gorilla. Thats not the interesting part. The
interesting part is that the gorilla doesnt eat meat
except on rare occasions. What does he eat?
He eats fruits and vegetables. So much for the
traditional thought of equating meat with muscle.
Another interesting thing I never thought about
was our teeth and digestive systems. Remember
this was ten years ago. A lot of this is more
common knowledge now. Dogs, for example
have incisors. This is for tearing meat. They
have a short digestive tract because they tend to
digest things with acid. Herbivores have very
long digestive tracts in order to process
vegetables. Bears have herbivore teeth (molars)
and incisors. So they are referred to as
omnivores (can eat just about anything).
We humans eat like omnivores, but what type of
teeth and digestive tracts do we have? We much
more resemble the herbivore. I went on to learn
the building blocks of protein, which are amino
acids. So if you want to build muscle fast, you
just need the right amino acids. Im not faulting
anyone for eating meat. I eat meat. There are
other nutritional values in meat. But when it
comes to building muscle, making your body
break all of those proteins apart before they can
use them can hardly be considered efficient.

There were other things in my past: I was told

once [by a friend] when I was 21 that a man had
cancer, and was not given long to live. She had
fed him nothing but fresh, raw fruits and
vegetables out of the garden, and he recovered
quickly. I dont want to bore you with too much
detail, so Ill leave it at that.
As a result of this focus, I began a newsletter
titled Food For Thought. My idea was to build a
newsletter subscriber base on the Internet,
sharing ideas about food that most people
probably didnt know. Eating better was certainly
part of the problem, and I found that this
knowledge did help and inspire me to eat better,
and this made me feel better. I also planned to
later make and sell quality supplements that were
difficult to get in food or that were known to be
helpful with certain conditions. My first target
was raspberry seeds.
It had been found that a cup of raw raspberries
each day was reversing colon cancer. Further
research showed that this was likely the result of
something called Ellagitannin (also called Ellagic
Acid). It was considered an antioxidant. I found
out it was in the seeds, and was excited to learn
that raspberry seeds were being thrown away
by some manufacturing processes. In my quest
to find a source, I met someone who has become
a long time friend. His name is Jon Barron. In
fact, my son Lucius bears the middle name Jon,
for that reason. A small honor, but one well
deserved.
At that time (2001), Jon had been studying,
educating, and formulating for a combined 18
years. He had written a small book called
Lessons from the Miracle Doctors. Today it is

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much bigger, though the message is the same.

When we met, he suggested I read it. I
downloaded it free from the Internet, printed it,
and carried it with me on walks on the beach.
Reading, I saw that Jon had already spent many
years examining the problem and arriving at the
best solutions, going far beyond anything I had
yet considered.
After reading, I felt like I understood the real
problem, as well as the best STRATEGY for
achieving optimal health and preventing or even
reversing catastrophic conditions. While I didnt
have much knowledge or interest in the Art of
War back then, looking back, I can see it is a
great application of the principles I have used to
solve the problems in trading. It is a holistic
approach. This is really important. If it were not
so serious, you might chuckle when you first
see the common sense in the solution.
Raspberries work for some with colon cancer.
For others it doesnt. Heres what Jon did years
before I even thought about health. Traveling
and speaking with alternative medical doctors, he
found that a natural substance worked for 9% of
the people for a particular condition. Then he
found another substance worked for 12%. This
led him to from what is called the Baseline of
Health. Your body is comprised of many different
systems, all connected to one another. If the
health of one system (i.e. your immune system)
is compromised to a certain point, it begins to
affect another system in your body. If your lymph
system becomes polluted with toxins either from
too many toxins or not enough physical
movement (or both), that begins to affect other
systems, and cause pain. So there are many

systems, and you are only as strong as your

weakest link.
Im not making this stuff up. So the best strategy
would be to know all of the systems and support
all of those systems as best as you can. You
begin there. You start with the idea in mind that
you need a complete strategy in order to have
the best chance of achieving the result you want.
What does this have to do with trading?
Everything, because: If you dont understand
the problem, you wont recognize the
solution!
You will find my favorite Einstein quote in many
things I write, No problem can be solved on the
level of consciousness that created it. He also
said the definition of insanity is repeating the
same thing, and expecting a different result. He
definitely understood the human condition.
Now our comparison: What is the strategy of
most of the world right now in achieving good
health? Who is the authority on health in most
peoples minds?
Most people (not everyone) trust their doctor and
the FDA. What are doctors trained to do?
Doctors are trained to perform surgery and to
treat symptoms. Just the fact that there is a
quest for a cure for cancer and diabetes shouts
from the mountain tops that this is all a mystery
to them. Granted, in the last ten years, the data
has so overwhelmed them from the alternative
health field, they are coming around to ideas
about diet and alternative treatments.
But I can tell you in 2003, the medical community
still treated any form of alternative treatments as

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quackery. Some facts they just wont accept yet.

For example, mercury is one of the most toxic
things to man on Earth, but they are still putting it
in childrens teeth, arguing that there are safe
levels.
Fluorine (natural), not Fluoride
(synthetic/patented/profitable) is good for your
teeth. The study on aspartame was done for six
weeks before gaining approval to be sold.
Whatever you do, dont eat that stuff.
In case you dont know, you get cancer in your
body every day. And if you are healthy, your
body deals with it, usually with ease. Dont take
my word for it, look it up.
So where am I going with all of this? Im talking
about STRATEGY. When you want to achieve a
goal, you need a good strategy. Who do you
think you should listen to: The person who is
showing you how your body works, or the person
who has been trained to treat symptoms with
pills?
Before I move on, I want to say that without
doctors, we would be in a great deal of trouble. I
would not go to a herbalist or take a supplement
for a broken arm. If I was in an accident and
injured, I would need a doctor, and they save
lives every day. In addition, if a person is taking
prescription drugs, they will want to be careful
about supplements they do take. For example,
someone taking medication to thin blood will
want to avoid natural proteolytic enzymes, as
they will also thin the blood. Taking both
together without medical consultation could result
in dangerous blood pressure levels.
But see if you can envision this entire
establishment:
The giant pharmaceutical

companies, the FDA regulators, and the

American Medical Association. Are they not
considered by most to be the authorities on
health? Less and less, to be sure, but I can still
make my point.
It doesnt matter how impressive something
looks, how big it is, or how many people in
positions of power or intelligence subscribe. I
know we are busy living our lives. Most people
work very hard just to keep up. Just the thought
of having to learn all about that and practice a
better lifestyle probably sounds far from
appealing.
My purpose is not to promote your health, but to
promote that position at a higher level of
consciousness Einstein spoke of.
Im not saying the doctors are wrong. Im saying
that we need to grow out of that modern medical
paradigm. If the government really cares about
the health of people, let some leader step
forward and explain how health really works.
Why does that not take center stage in the
debate? Theres no money in it.
Fortunately a poor strategy eventually will
bankrupt any enterprise. That time is nearing. In
the meantime, people are learning by the
thousands how to take their health back.
So in the Forex market, you enter, you see the
NFA, the big brokers, the mighty forums, the
crack analysis, the people with threads with
thousands of posts. It is only natural to assume
that this is the best strategy. After all, a lot of
powerful people here, powerful technology, big
money, and big intelligence.

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Not so fast, as my first teacher in Forex was

fond of saying. The market has great tools
available and great education. But are tools and
market knowledge all you need to succeed?
From my perspective, most traders do not have
one or three years of experience as a trader if
they arent making consistent profits. They have
3-6 months of experience they keep repeating.

prior to October of 2009, I thought/believed the

same thing. I was in a position to see great
trainers, great traders, and 1000s of aspiring
traders. So we could teach them about basic
logic, the language, the tools, and methods.
None of this was difficult. It only requires a few
months of practicing the right things to become
proficient.

In conclusion, good strategy easily solves

problems that most people think are difficult or
impossible to solve. In life, the rules never
change. Technology does not change the rules
in health or in Forex trading.

So there was a psychological component. I took

it so seriously that I required each of my students
to read what I felt was the best book on trading
psychology: Trading in the Zone, by Mark
Douglas. It is a very insightful book, and as the
trader trades, they see themselves having the
experience Mark describes. It makes them fully
aware that there is a component in trading
success that must be worked out by the
individual and cannot be taught to them.
Working with traders, I went to great lengths. I
not only teach, but also test them on each
important subject matter to make sure they got
it. There are no grades. I just want to know
they got it. I write down their strengths and have
them practice more on the weaknesses I
observe.

#6 How Success is Achieved is a Mystery in

the Mainstream Market
This is really an extension of the last section. Of
course all things related are connected in some
way. I want to emphasize something in this
section. In the medical field, they are actively
searching for cures to some conditions and
spending billions on research to discover
something many laymen (the folks) already
know. To me, this is a clear admission that there
are some obvious things they dont know.
The same is true in the Forex market. There is
something that top trainers and traders in the
world are saying that clearly reveals what they
dont know. If you train long enough, or trade
long enough, you come to see that there is
something going on in the head of the individual
trader that affects their ability to succeed. The
most common phrase used to describe it is
trading is a personal journey. I know because

I still do all of that in my online school. However,

from that point forward, what I do is very different
now. What I did at that point back then is use
their strengths and interests to recommend a
methodology. Then I worked with them on their
rules, and told them that they would just need to
continue to trade their method over and over
again, pay their dues, get the chart time, and
work out those psychological issues. I even
shared that I found that I grew faster in my skill
when I focused on my own personal values such

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as health, family, relationships, and career. That

I believed that ultimately the conditions you
create are the most important for the growth to
occur.

can consciously go through that process. So

there is an example of me relying on intuition
when taking risks.
But that comes from
experience. It is not something that is taught.

I was looking at a problem on the level of

consciousness it was created. None of us were
actually trying to solve the problem. Why would
we? How can we know WHY you do what you
do? So while I believed I could teach a person to
trade successfully, the meaning of that, as it is for
most all trainers and traders who teach is that
we can only take you so far. From there, you
must continue forward on your own, even if
supported by a team. But no one claimed that
they could show you exactly how profits are
made. Well maybe some people made the
claim. But Im being really specific here. No
one could say, When you do exactly what I show
you, you will understand exactly how consistent
profits are made, and you will be able to see
clear, measurable progress towards that end.

What changed in October of 2009? I began my

study of Sun Tzus Art of War. I then studied
how it had been applied to other industries and
markets. From this study and my own life
experience, I was able to extract the principles
that created winning strategy. When I applied
the principles to Forex trading, I was able to see
something I had never seen before. I could see
where the psychological obstacles were, and I
could see that the answer was not to address the
psychology, but to go around it. But more than
that, I saw that addressing the psychology was a
waste of time. Remember: No problem can be
solved on the level of consciousness it was
created. This is a catch 22. You see the
problem, it keeps you from the success, but you
cannot see the solution.
The danger is
concluding, as we all did: there must be no
solution.

No one would say that because that is not the

standard. The standard is quality education and
logic, good tools, and the fortitude to somehow
develop the discipline to do it.
You will hear of successful traders who have
done it for so long, they can trade almost
intuitively. I have witnessed this. But they
cannot teach HOW they trade intuitively. Trading
intuitively or doing anything intuitively requires
real experience doing the same thing over and
over again. As I write in Forex Art of War, I have
been riding motorcycles on the street since I was
15. I not only use intuition when I ride, I rely on it
to keep me safer. My unconscious can see
dangers, process them and react faster than I

The solution was simple, and we all have

experience at it already. I said simple, not
easy. The emotions that cause the failure are
still there. But in the strategy, you ignore them.
You understand where the psychological barriers
are, and you learn much of the psychological
issues are the result of our resistance to change.
So when we break a psychological barrier in
spite of how we feel, by carrying out an
achievable objective, we break into a new level.
From that vantage point, we can look back and
see that the emotions were just created by the

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circumstances. Not to be examined or explored,

but to be accepted for a little while.
Want an example? Simple: In my book I explain
how I had 20 annoying pounds I could not get rid
of for two years. In January of 2010, three
months prior to releasing the Forex Art of War
strategy to a few people, I decided to test the
principles on weight loss. It took me only
minutes to get my initial strategy. I made some
adjustments from week to week, and eight weeks
later, the weight was gone. Did I feel emotions
and discomfort that would usually derail my
efforts? Of course, but less than usual, and
because of the strategy, I succeeded.
In the end, there is no boogie man in the closet.
When you get up, go open the closet door and
turn on the light, he is never there. So what Im
sharing with you is a real breakthrough in
training. I wouldnt have been able to say that a
year ago, no matter how much I believed it
possible. But today, I can say that each and
every person who has followed the strategy sees
very quickly how profits are really made and their
forward progress can easily be measured. Once
they see how to make profits, they still have a
ways to go, but it is not the unknown it used to
be.
Will it take longer than they would like it to take?
Probably, but not YEARS as it does doing what
the mainstream market is doing. I know the
claim is strong. You can read My Story on the
site, and from the Forex Art of War book, see
how it all works. Very time efficient and cost
effective compared to what others do. One of my
friends took nine years and spent around
$50,000. Hes one of the brightest people I

know. He also contributed a real diamond to our

strategy from that wealth of experience. Its an
idea I reserve for those who have chosen a path
in trading. Its in the book in Section 4.
How success is achieved is not a mystery.

#7 Making Profit has Little to do With Market

Knowledge
Once you understand the Forex Art of War
strategy, this will be totally clear to you. The
mainstream market is preoccupied with pips
(market movement), analysis, techniques, tools,
methods, gurus, etc. etc. They seem to never
get enough market knowledge. If their method is
not working, the general conclusion is there must
be something more they need to learn about the
market or the information the market is giving
them. If you are new, you might be surprised at
how much this goes on. If you have been at this
a while, you already know. I have two sections in
the book on market Language, Tools, and
Techniques. In terms of market knowledge, its
pretty much all you will ever need to know.
I left thousands of (unnecessary) things out. You
can search the net and learn more about
anything you like for free. I even give you some
things you can look up and learn more about if
you like. The point is that market knowledge
plays a small role in making profits. The truth is
that any method based in good logic is going to
work just fine. In our strategy we cover all of the
logic. If you are already a trader, but having
trouble making profits, you will be able to
examine the logic and compare it to what you are

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doing and see how your method compares. How

so? As an analogy, if I tell you, it is safer to get
gas in the inner city at 11AM then it is at 11PM.
Further, if you are out at 2AM, it is even more
dangerous because thats when the bars close
and the most really drunk drivers are likely to be
on the road.
So you can look at your situation and how you
trade and see if you are following good logic. Ill
give you something specific to think about, for
those of you who have been at this for a while.
As you know, with any method, there is a period
where you can have a series of losses called a
draw down.
The higher your win ratio (i.e. 70% wins), the
fewer the number of losses you will have to
endure (emotionally) in a draw down. Draw
downs are a part of any trading method. They
are a series of losses that can and will occur.
The problem for the individual psychologically is
this: The higher the win/loss ratio, the fewer the
trading opportunities you will get. The mistake
that most traders make is they are impatient.
They want results faster, so then ignore good
logic and take more risk to get more trades.
When they do this, they have a lower win/loss
ratio. A lower win/loss ratio produces a greater
number of losses in a draw down. A 65% win
rate, for example can result in 8-9 losses in a
row. There arent many people in the world, who
could handle 6 psychologically, let alone 8 or 9.
Most will change something about their method
at 3-4 losses. They will change methods
altogether at 5 or 6, or quit trading. They dont

realize there is something they need to be

managing.
A trader with an effective strategy that takes all
things into account, and who is able to measure
progress can handle 4-5. Im not saying it is
painless. Im just saying they can take it once
in a while. So as I discuss in my book, we need
to balance some things. We have to add more
logic to get our win ratio higher. By doing so,
even though we have to endure the impatience,
at least we are constantly progressing to our first
goal, which is consistent profit. From my point of
view, compromise is not possible. If you dont
use enough good logic in your trading, you will
not be able to live with your method. This
creates an endless loop and quest for more
market knowledge.
The quest for more and more market knowledge
is just another effort to solve a problem on the
level of consciousness it was created.

#8 You Cannot Trade Another Traders

Method and be Successful
To be authentic, when I say the The 8 Things
Nobody Tells You, Im taking some liberty of
creative license to make a point. Some traders
who are trainers know and do teach that you
must personalize a method. They dont tell you
how, but those few do tell you. So I ask you to
forgive my bending of words a bit. Nonetheless,
this is a BIG misconception created by
conventional logic. The thought process goes
something like this:

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Ill watch what you do, and do exactly what you

do. It will take lots of practice, Im sure, but Ill
work hard at it and get it.
No.
That doesnt work, it wont work, not even if you
sit directly behind the best trader in the world,
listen to everything he/she says, write everything
down and practice it all every day. Not even if
you do that for a year. Im not saying you cant
do it. Im saying it will take a very long time going
this route.
I fully explain this in my book, but Ill illustrate the
problem. Most of the good traders that I know
do not need any indicators on their charts to
trade well. They may still choose to use them, but
they dont need them. Why? Because of a lot of
experience, they have become really good at
reading price -that is to say reading the patterns
being created on the chart.
What ends up
happening is this: they teach their method to a
group of people. The group takes a trade and
loses, and the experienced trader does not take
that trade. So the people in the group ask why
did you not take that trade?
The trader responds: well, even though all of the
criteria were met for taking that trade, I saw that
the buyers were still showing some strength.
He/she might give an example of a pattern on the
chart. How do the newer traders respond?
Something like this: wow great! That was a
good opportunity to learn something new and
important about the method. They make notes,
and look for their next trade.

From my point of view and experience, what they

think is happening, and what is happening are
two different things. What really just happened is
that they added something to the method that
requires a more experienced eye to see. So
heres what happens next: They see another
trade, and low and behold, that pattern the other
trader pointed out! They take the trade, it loses,
and the skilled trader did not take that trade.
Hmm So again, they ask the trader, why
didnt you take that trade?
The skilled trader responds, I was asleep at that
time. The skilled trader tells them that he/she
has specific hours they trade. This is in part due
to their schedule and the best time for them to
trade based on their experience. This is what is
known in trading as the time of day factor.
The shorter the time frame being traded (i.e. 30
min chart vs. 4hr chart), the more subjectivity
there is. That is to say: the more you need to be
able read price and quickly adapt to what is
happening in real time.
In this scenario of a skilled trader teaching the
new trader, these things that the new trader
must learn to trade that method, eventually
becomes pages and pages and pages long. The
different things to look at appear endless. No
matter how much they listen and practice, they
are continually confronted with the new trader
seeing something they didnt see.
Simply stated, this is nothing more than a novice
trying to imitate an expert.
I have more than 25 years of experience riding
my motorcycle. I can see in most any situation

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where the risk is less and the risk is greater. I

could write and write about all of these different
circumstances. The new rider cannot copy the
experienced rider. The new rider needs rules for
riding that will give her a greater chance of
safety, while getting her to her destination.

By this you will know if you have a winning

strategy. You will have foresight.
I hope you will proceed forward and experience
my book, Forex Art of War. I am quite certain it
is something the Forex trading world has never
before seen.

So the aim of a new trader would be to recognize

that you cannot trade like a pro (just as you do in
other areas of your life). Your focus should be on
trading a method that you can quickly develop
the skills to trade, where the results are known.
This way, you can see what you did well and
what you did poorly, NOT what new information
you failed to see in the market.

In Summary
You are going to be successful as a Forex trader
because you are not overly impatient. You will
be a success because you have a very good
strategy. A strategy is not a trading method. A
trading method is a small part of the overall
strategy. A good strategy takes into account all
things that affect the outcome you seek. If you
are new, while some things may at first be
foreign, the strategy by which success is
achieved should not be foreign. All things work
exactly the same way in life. You already know
how to win. Hopefully, I can save you many
months and years, just as my friend Jon Barron
saved me many months and years when I began
my work helping to solve the problems people
face in health. I learned from his experience, and
saw the good logic in his conclusions. I did not
need to believe in him. I just needed to
understand the reasons behind his conclusions.

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