My FX Failures and Successes I Want to Tell Beginners [Yuzukko]

Most investors have, to some extent, experienced failures since stepping into the market. However, traders who have achieved success have overcome those failures. I think many people are curious about what kinds of failures other traders have experienced and how they arrived at success. This time, FX trader and four-panel manga artist Yuzukko will share examples of failures and successes.

*This article is a republication and edit of an article from FX Strategy.com October 2019. Please note that the market information written in the main text may differ from current market conditions.

Yuzukko's Profile

After graduating from a private university with a law degree, I worked 1 year in school lunch services and 7 years in office work. Feeling uneasy about working full-time until retirement, I began studying FX during maternity leave. At 29, I quit my salaried job and have been active as a freelancer since April 2017. My current titles are FX trader, manga illustrator, and snack creator.

Blog：https://yuzuusagi.com/
Twitter：https://twitter.com/yuzukkofx

Getting Closer to Success Through Failures

First, I will introduce the mistakes I made as a beginner.

Failure Example ① Meaningless Trade Records

I kept records that only noted the amounts earned, which served no purpose. I would write on paper, for example, “June 1: ¥10, June 2: ¥100, June 3: ¥500…”.

Failure Example ② Trading by Feel

I traded based on the mood. I would enter right when I opened the chart, and if a little profit appeared, I would exit immediately for fear of it turning into a loss. I also searched FX terms online and, if RSI was 30% or less, I thought it was oversold and bought; if RSI was 70% or more, I thought it was overbought and sold, trading by feeling.

Failure Example ③ Only Looking for Entry Points

I was obsessed with entering trades and executed exits somewhat arbitrarily. At that time, I would exit as soon as a little profit accrued.

Failure Example ④ Traded Only When Bored

I didn’t know the characteristics of the Tokyo, London, and New York market hours. I hadn’t set a limit on the number of trades or the maximum allowable loss. I traded with a feeling like, “Today my company is closed, so I’ll trade a lot.”

Failure Example ⑤ Being Blown Around by Information

I paid attention to economic indicators and pretended to understand by watching Reuters. The US president might say something, so I stayed up at night to watch the speech, but of course it was in English, so I had no idea what was being said (laughs).

Next, I will introduce the successes.