Proud to be named Britain's stingiest woman: JANE FRYER meets the penny-pincher

Proud to be named Britain's stingiest woman: JANE FRYER meets the penny-pincher who asks visitors to bring their own teabags, thinks heating's for softies and can make a bottle of washing-up liquid last a YEAR

THIS has been a big few days for a 66-year-old Ilona Richards, a retired HGV driver from Scunthorpe who has been named ‘Britain’s most frugal woman’.

She has been on TV and radio, sharing her money-saving tips on how to make a bottle of washing-up liquid last a year, why you should insist that visitors bring their own teabags and why, once you get accustomed to the ‘extra padding’ at the front, men’s pants are cheaper and comfier for women than ladies’ flimsy panties.

We have also learned that you can save ink by making your handwriting smaller; evenings are the best time to scour supermarkets for discounted food; and a zillion ways to save water, including limiting yourself to a weekly bath and the occasional strip-wash in the kitchen (‘You can have a perfectly good wash-down with two kettles of water’) — and only flushing the loo once a day, ideally with old bathwater.

She is proud, committed and, in a world filled with waste and excess, shows us how to live simply, frugally and well within her £10,000-a-year state pension.

So, it’s a bit of a thrill that she has agreed to meet me at her semi-detached home to give me a masterclass in how she does it. Particularly as hospitality is not her thing.

‘Don’t encourage visitors!’ is one of her many mantras. ‘My house is too cold for most people, so they don’t come and that saves money.’

She’s not joking. It is so cold the photographer’s flash doesn’t work, and I can’t dial a number on my phone because my fingers are frozen sti

llona, however, is blissfully unaware. When I arrive, armed with cut-price teabags, she has just made a vat of stew from out-of-date vegetables and is washing her hair in Aldi shampoo at the kitchen sink — ‘That’ll last a good week’.

Just a few minutes in her impossibly frugal company — she will happily eat the same vegetable stew every day for a month — is enough to make you realise how profligate most of us are.

I bathe every day, am forever washing my hair and edging the thermostat up, and live on takeaway coffees — which, as far as Ilona is concerned, might as well be the work of the devil. ‘Never ever buy coffee in a cardboard takeaway cup. I laugh at those people!’ she says.

I also, whisper it, have a new tumble dryer.

‘A tumble dryer!’ She looks appalled. ‘Oh God, no. I wouldn’t have one of them. Good grief, that’d cost a fortune. There’s a perfectly good wind out there!’

Before we come to blows — or die of cold — we remember the money-saving masterclass.

We KICK off in the kitchen, where, break-ing a habit of a lifetime, Ilona pops the kettle on for tea.

‘I usually heat my cup of water in the microwave — it takes two cups to cover the kettle element and I only need one, so why waste it?’

Why, indeed?

Similarly, why get the oven fixed if, like Ilona, you can’t remember the last time you used it? Or splash out on a telly when you can watch BBC iPlayer on a computer?

Ilona is amazed at how so many others live.

‘People don’t seem to know the difference between want and need,’ she says. ‘They might think, “Ooh, I need a new phone”, but I’d say: “If your old one works, then you don’t need a new one

 

Her hairdryer is more than 30 years old, her microwave is at least 20 and her stair carpet is patched with silver gaffer tape.

Next comes a tour of her fridge.

It contains two 10p cauliflowers a week past their sell-by dates (‘They’ll do another week at least’), a packet of yellowing broccoli (10p), six tomatoes (10p), three yoghurts for 35p, some sweaty-looking stir-fry mix, a pack of browning mushrooms and some nice-looking ham for her dog and three cats. Ilona is a vegetarian (‘Much cheaper’).

‘I do regular inspections of what’s in my fridge,’ she says. ‘I see if it looks fine. I sniff it — does it smell? I feel it — is it squishy? I just eat things when they need eating and I love the food I make.’

She also insists she has never had an upset tummy and eats very well, indeed: lots of fresh(ish) fruit and vegetables, a special ice cream she makes by whizzing up frozen banana slices, the occasional can of cider or bottle of wine for a treat, and no processed food.

Her larder contains six giant bottles of low-fat mayonnaise, which she picked up for 20p each

Jose Mourinho: We've won nothing yet, we still need two more wins

Chelsea moved to the brink of winning the title with a 1-0 win over Manchester United on Saturday, but Jose Mourinho says the race is not over yet.

Eden Hazard scored the only goal at Stamford Bridge to move the league leaders within two wins of being crowned champions.

John Terry led the celebrations on the field at full-time, with his team clear in the knowledge that they are almost there in the hunt for a first title in five years.

Wins in their next two games against Arsenal at the Emirates and against Leicester City would wrap up the Barclays Premier League crown with room to spare.

But Mourinho shot down any talk of celebration and has said he will not allow his players to believe they have crossed the finish line until the maths say so.

‘In football is not about if it's not about almost, it's about mathematics,' Mourinho said.

‘When mathematically it's done, we celebrate. Until that moment we need two victories to be champions.

‘We need to win matches. What we can say is that we play nine points at home. We can be champions just at home with the matches we play at home. Obviously if we can get points away, it's better.

‘I am too old on this. I think I will be ready to work again next week and to make the players feel that there is still a long way to go.’

Chelsea were forced to defend on the edge of their own penalty area for much of the game as United took the initiative with 70 per cent of the possession.

Centre back Kurt Zouma was paired with Nemanja Matic in midfield as Mourinho sought to stop Louis van Gaal’s side who have been in rampant form of late.

The Portuguese coach had nothing but praise for his entire team for the way they fought to keep the visitors at bay. 

The team was fantastic,’ he said. ‘I'm the one that knows how fantastic it was. The game was exactly what we want. When we manage to play the game we want to play, the game was fantastic.

‘Eden had that magic that the top ones have, especially in big matches. Obviously it was fundamental for us, but I think (Gary) Cahill made an amazing block on a (Radamel) Falcao shot. JT was amazing. The keeper was great.

‘(Cesar) Azpilicueta was, for me, the best player on the pitch. (Nemanja) Matic worked like an animal. (Kurt) Zouma put (Marouane) Fellaini outside the game. The number 11 (Didier Drogba) was another animal fighting against two kids with age to be his son.

‘Oscar worked fantastically well, Ramires came in and gave what we need, even (John Obi) Mikel came in and he holds the ball. And Willian was in bed for two days and comes here directly from his house and put himself available to give a little help. It’s fantastic.’

Eden-Hazard-one-three-best-players-world-beams-Chelsea-manager-Jose-Mourinho-Manchester-United-win.

Jose Mourinho claims Eden Hazard has joined Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as one of the best three players in world football.

Hazard scored Chelsea's 38th minute winner against Manchester United and is widely expected to be named PFA player of the year on Sunday.

Mourinho said: 'He's a kid, but he knows that he is one of the three best players in the world - he is coping with that responsibility.

'I had lots of stars. Hopefully in every club I worked I had stars. But he is the humble star, yes. He is the humble star.

'He's getting strong. Physically, mentally he's getting very, very strong. He understands his role. 'The day before the game I told him: 'This game we will never lose. Never.'

'But we needed to win. He understands clearly that especially in a moment where the team doesn't have all its power, he understands when the game becomes strategically. 

'He understands that his talent is fundamental for the team. He was there for us and almost a second goal when he hit the post.' Hazard also believes he is having the best season of his career as Chelsea close in on the Barclays Premier League title.

The Chelsea winger said: 'I'm playing my best season ever. With my experience, I succeed to manage the strong and weak moments in a game better. 

'Last year I played a good season, but I disappeared in some games. 

'This season I can't really remind a game where I really wasn't into. It's impossible to be top in 40 or 50 games in a season, but I've been the best player of the team for several times. 

'My stats? People are talking more about me, but what pleases me the most, is that I'm doing better than last season.' 

Tom Cleverley lauds Tim Sherwood's Aston Villa impact and backs them for victory in 'one-off match' vs. Arsenal in FA Cup final

Tom Cleverley has hailed Tim Sherwood's style and insists Aston Villa's attacking gambles are paying off.

The midfielder helped Villa reach the FA Cup final after their 2-1 last-four victory over Liverpool on Sunday.

Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph scored to cancel out Philippe Coutinho's opener as Villa booked a final showdown with Arsenal on May 30.

Tom Cleverley has hailed Tim Sherwood's style and insists Aston Villa's attacking gambles are paying off.

The midfielder helped Villa reach the FA Cup final after their 2-1 last-four victory over Liverpool on Sunday.

Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph scored to cancel out Philippe Coutinho's opener as Villa booked a final showdown with Arsenal on May 30.

'I think The FA Cup final is a one-off day. Hull nearly managed to do it against them last year and we'll be going into the match in full confidence,' the 25-year-old told TheFA.com

'When we have played Arsenal this year we have been in bad spells, but hopefully come Saturday, May 30, we will be right on form.

'It hasn't sunk in yet that we will be playing for a major trophy in a massive final - it's (a) hugely proud moment.'

fayose-assembles-okada-riders-nurtw-against-impeachment-bid

There appears to be no end in sight to the current face-off between the 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in the Ekiti State House of Assembly and Ekiti state Governor, Ayodele Fayose READ MORE: 

 

Twenty minutes after leaving a church service where the clergyman advised the governor to embrace peace by reconciling with APC lawmakers, Gov. Fayose made a live broadcast on the Ekiti State Radio and Television (ESRT) where he told Ekiti people to defend their mandate from the APC lawmakers, who he claimed were coming to invade the state to impeach him today Vanguard reports.
But the lawmakers are insisting on going ahead with the removal of Fayose and his deputy, Dr Kolapo Olusola.
This is coming barely 48 hours after Fayose promised to dialogue with the aggrieved lawmakers.

To ensure that the APC lawmakers would not achieve their motive, the Okada riders association and the commercial transport workers operating in the state are toeing the path of the governor by telling their members to converge on the premises of the state House of Assembly today at 6 a.m and defend the mandate freely given to Fayose and his deputy during the June 21, 2014 governorship election.  

During the governor’s live broadcast, he told the people to defend their mandate from the invading APC lawmakers and defend him against the alleged impeachment.
He urged drivers and Okada riders in particular to move out en-masse to defend his mandate, saying, “My mandate is your mandate and you must defend it.”
Barely 10 minutes after, two statements emerged on the state radio as public announcements that were being broadcast intermittently.
Below are the transcripts of the two statements from the drivers union and Okada riders association:
“All Okada riders in Ekiti State are enjoined to be on the look-out for strange faces in the state from tomorrow. This is because it has been gathered that APC lawmakers working with Dr Adewale Omirin are planning to truncate the peace of the state by invading the state with armed thugs.

 

WHY FEAR

Jose Mourinho has hit back at claims from his title rivals that Chelsea's proposed sale of Juan Mata to Manchester United was 'unfair'.

Mata's ﾣ37million transfer inched closer on Friday night as United agreed the deal subject to a medical and Chelsea closed in on his replacement Mohamed Salah after agreeing an ﾣ11m fee with Basle.

Unhappy: Arsene Wenger hinted that Chelsea sold Juan Mata to Man United in a bid to scupper title rivals+4
Unhappy: Arsene Wenger hinted that Chelsea sold Juan Mata to Man United in a bid to scupper title rivals

The delay did not stop Mourinho lashing out at Arsene Wenger and Manuel Pellegrini - and said they could have signed Mata for the same price if they wanted him.

'Wenger complaining is normal because he always does,' said Mourinho. 'It's in his nature. If it was Arsenal or City or Liverpool and Juan desired to go, we would do the same.

'A team can only play with 11 players, not 12.

Big move: Man United have agreed a club record fee for Juan Mata+4
Big move: Man United have agreed a club record fee for Juan Mata

Upbeat: Manager Mourinho defended Chelsea's decision to sell Mata to Man United+4
Upbeat: Manager Mourinho defended Chelsea's decision to sell Mata to Man United

'City, Arsenal and United are full of top players, so if Juan plays for them  it means somebody else is not playing. So why not? Wenger is a very intelligent man who always has an opinion and likes to share it. We have to accept the way he is. But when he says this is not fair, I think what is not fair is that his team always has the best day to play. Always, always.'

This was a reference to Arsenal's FA Cup tie against Coventry last night. Chelsea play Stoke on Sunday before a full midweek list of Barclays Premier League fixtures.

'In the Capital One Cup we had to play 24 hours after, they had 72 hours. That's not fair. This week, who plays Friday? Who plays Sunday? It's never fair because they always get to rest.'

Middle man: Mourinho also took a swipe at Manuel Pellegrini, who was busy helping launch Man City women's side on Friday+4
Middle man: Mourinho also took a swipe at Manuel Pellegrini, who was busy helping launch Man City women's side on Friday

Wenger hinted that Chelsea were keen to sell Mata because they have played United twice with Arsenal, City, Liverpool and Everton to play again.

Uncharacteristically, Pellegrini chipped into the verbal skirmish, saying: 'Maybe Arsene Wenger had a correct reason, but my argument is more general. I feel that if a player has made more than five or six appearances for his club, he cannot join another one in the same league at this stage.'

Mourinho shrugged it off, saying: 'If Wenger sells Mesut Ozil to Man United, I will be happy because he's selling a very important player. He should be happy that Chelsea sold a player like Juan Mata.'


More...

DON’T EXPECT FX VOLATILITY TO SUBSIDE NEXT WEEK

January 24th, 2014

Don’t Expect FX Volatility to Subside Next Week
GBP: Hit By Dovish Comments from BoE Carney
EUR: Supported by Optimism from ECB Draghi
USD/CAD Retraces, Ignoring Drop in CPI
AUD: RBA Policymaker wants A$ at 80 Cents
NZD: Gold and Oil Unchanged
JPY: Hit Hard by Risk Aversion

Don’t Expect FX Volatility to Subside Next Week

At the beginning of the week, we warned our readers not to become complacent because of the lack of U.S. economic data. The abundance of key economic reports from other parts of the world along with the earnings season meant there could still be big moves in currencies. While data from China, Canada, Europe and Australia played a role in this week’s breakout in FX, today’s volatility was triggered by something we did not expect to occur this week – which was the massive liquidation out of emerging market assets. If investors continue to dump emerging market currencies in the coming week, the majors could be vulnerable to steeper losses. In addition to the moves in emerging markets, there’s also a heavy economic calendar to keep forex traders busy. The most important event risk of the week is the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement. Ben Bernanke will have to decide at the final FOMC meeting of his career whether or not asset purchases should be cut by another $10 billion. He expected to do so back in December but that was before the shockingly weak non-farm payrolls report and mixed consumer spending numbers. We will spend a lot more time talking about what to expect from the FOMC next week but right now what is important for forex traders to realize is that the Fed policy uncertainty means continued volatility for currencies. With a RBNZ meeting on the calendar along with fourth quarter GDP numbers from U.S. and U.K., the IFO report, unemployment numbers and retail sales figures expected from Germany, it should be an active and exciting week in currencies. This means that we will be watching the key levels in EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY and NZD/USD closely for breakouts.

We’ve got a major crisis of confidence in emerging market currencies and when that happens, the liquidation can last longer than most expect. There’s a reasonable possibility for another 5% move lower in EM currencies before everything stabilizes. In our 2014 outlook, we talked about how this will be the year of DM (developed markets) versus EM because slower growth in China will encourage investors to move money out of emerging market assets, particularly money that is parked in countries heavily reliant on Chinese growth like Brazil and South Africa who supply raw materials to China. Countries with massive current account deficits like Turkey are particularly vulnerable. With Chinese growth expected to slow for the next 5 years, emerging market currencies could underperform for some time to come. For the major currencies, an additional sell-off in global markets would lead to more risk aversion, which means a deeper sell-off in pairs such as USD/JPY, AUD/USD and GBP/USD ahead of next Wednesday’s FOMC rate decision. If the U.S. central bank decides to provide a bit more support to the U.S. and the global economy by keeping asset purchases unchanged this month, we could see a relief rally in EM and DM currencies but the chance is slim.     KATHY LIEN

Goal Based Trading

In life if you really want to achieve something you need to set a goal. Most people start out the New Year by resolving to lose weight or do more exercise. And most people fail miserably at those tasks. If on the other hand, everyone resolved to lose 5 pounds or walk briskly for 20 minutes twice each week, many of those resolutions would be kept.
In order to make goals viable and achievable they have to concrete and realistic. As human beings we are very bad at abstract targets, but set a hard number in front of us and we will go after it like bloodhound on a hunt.
Yet when it comes to trading, many gurus will tell you NOT to set goals. The markets are utterly unpredictable, they’ll say. You can’t set hard targets on a daily basis, like a car salesman or donut store owner. Financial speculation just does not lend itself to consistency, so its not advisable to set targets.
It is true that trading is not like any other business. Unless you are a dealer and have a reliable customer flow against which you can trade, financial speculation is as consistent as a bowl of unset jello. Some days every trade turns to gold and other days you do nothing but bleed money. In that environment expecting to make a steady daily paycheck is woefully unrealistic.
Yet that does not mean that as traders we should not set hard target goals. It simply means that those goals should be measured on a longer time frame than 24 hours. If you are trading a high frequency system, one of the best ways to measure your performance is to compare the actual results with the baktested results on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis.
By having at least 100 trades in your records, you will be able to avoid most of the outliers and the let the law of large numbers tell you if the system is performing within its risk parameters or not. Looking at your trading from a longer term perspective eliminates most of the day to day angst of our profession and allows the trader to examine his performance in a rational, quantifiable way. It also creates the single most important aspect of goal setting -- realistic expectations.
Just as no normal person would resolve to lose 200 pounds in a month, so too no real trader would expect to earn 100% in a year. Setting realistic against the backdrop of backtested results is the much more professional way of approaching the trading business. I recommend you give it a try

The Most Underrated Part of Trading Well

Yes yes, of course the key to long term successful trading is to be able to pick winning ideas -- a task by the way that is much harder to achieve then it seems. But I think many traders miss the other key aspect to long term positive performance -- not losing. Not losing is not the same thing as winning. Not losing is the art of avoiding bad ideas -- which is a skill wholly separate yet no less important than the ability to find winning trades.
    
Warren Buffett when asked what was his number one rule for investing said, “Don’t lose money.” When asked for number 2 he replied, “See rule number 1.” That philosophy served him well over the past twenty years as he was able to navigate financial crises much better than most investors. In 2000 and 2001 when the S&P was down by -20% each year, Buffett was only down by -3%. When equities rebounded, other investors needed to see a 40% jump before just getting to break even, Buffett on the other hand was profitable the very same year stocks turned positive. Therein lies the power of not losing.
Not losing should not be confused with not trading. After all of us can simply sit in cash all the time, but that means we will never see any returns. Risk assumption is the essence of trading and if you get involved with the financial markets you WILL lose money. The key however is to constantly evaluate and assess the quality of your risk.
To do that well, it helps to think like an insurance company. Insurance is the very definition of a risk business, but insurance companies go out of their way to minimize their risk as much as possible. How do they do that? A few ways.
First and foremost insurance companies rely on the law of large numbers and spread their bets as wide as possible. No life insurance company will write a life policy of 1 Billion dollars for one man, but they would all be happy to write 1 Billion dollars worth of policy for a million men.
Secondly, insurance companies do a lot of research before they underwrite you. They want to know if you smoke, if you ride motorcycle, if you bungee jump, if you ever had cancer -- so on and so on. In short insurance companies are looking for a thousand reasons to say no so that they avoid an unnecessary loss. As traders we should follow the same formula. When looking at trades we are always focused on all the reasons to make them -- all the reasons to say yes. By thinking like insurance underwriters we could become a lot more disciplined and selective in our approach and hopefully learn how to lose less -- the most underrated part of trading well.
                                          got this from Boris Schlossberg of bkforex

Mandela Lessons for Traders

The last few hours have seen an unprecedented outpouring of support and mourning over the death of Nelson Mandela. There is no doubt that he will go down as one of the seminal figures in history, a man who -- as one analyst said -- embodied the idea that you must become the change that you seek. However since our weekly focus is the filthy lucre of the markets I would like to leave the soaring rhetoric to others and concentrate instead on the more pragmatic aspects of Mandela’s nature.
Almost every story about Mandela talks about his amazing ability to forgive the white minority of South Africa for the horrors of apartheid rule. And that indeed is one of the greatest historical examples of human graciousness that all of us should admire and appreciate. However, beneath the supremely moral nature of Mandela’s actions I believe there lurks a pragmatic impulse that is even more impressive.
Mandela understood very well that the white minority of South Africa was absolutely essential to the future success of the country. He understood with crystal clear precision that there could be no freedom without prosperity, no freedom without peace and no freedom without collaboration. In short Mandela, more than any other late twentieth century leader kept his eye on the prize and never allowed personal grievances to get in the way of the greater goal.
Think about that as he endured the brutal incarceration on a bone chilling speck of an island, cut off from society for 26 years, performing the mindless back breaking work of splintering rocks into two.
It is not only that our day to day grievances of missed trades, crooked dealers, and capricious markets all pale in comparison to the hardships endured by the man. It is perhaps the much greater lesson that despite all the obstacles, despite all the challenges, despite all the years of struggle and humiliation Mandela never lost sight of how to win.
Not only did he never give up, but he never allowed to corrosive, corruptive maddeningly frustrating environment around him, to influence his actions or to lose his discipline. He stayed true to his goals and that is perhaps his greatest legacy of all.
                                  by Boris Schlossberg of bkforex

i find this article applicable to many forex trader......... including my self.. LOL

Trade Forex Like a Sniper…Not a Machine Gunner

A sniper in the military has an edge over his or her enemy; their edge is unwavering patience, mastery of their weapon, and the ability to remain consciously in control of their mind and body for long periods of time in high-stress situations. We can apply these same concepts to Forex trading…
Forex trading is very similar…you need a trading edge (weapon), you have to master this edge, you need to develop and maintain rigid self-discipline and control, and you have to execute your edge flawlessly in the face of constant temptation to over-trade and over-leverage. Now, trading is nowhere near as stressful as war, but it still requires conscious control of mind and body.
Those traders who learn to pick and choose their trades wisely, trading like a Forex “sniper”, are typically the ones who succeed long-term, whereas those traders who act like machine-gun traders by shooting at everything they see (trading too much), tend to run out of ammo (money) very quickly and fail to accomplish their goals in the market. Let’s discuss how you can learn to trade like a sniper instead of shooting at everything (taking every trade) that comes your way…
• Accept that less is more in Forex trading
One of the things that we traders can learn from a sniper in the military is that in certain situations less is indeed more. Forex trading is definitely a “situation” where less is more. However, it is very common for beginning traders to feel that more is better; more Forex indicators, more trades, more analyzing, more money on useless trading robots, etc.
What is the result of such misinformed beliefs? The result is almost always over-trading; indeed, most beginning Forex traders are like machine-gunners; spraying bullets (money) at everything they deem to be a trade and likely causing more damage to their trading accounts than good. The first step that you need to make if you want to trade more like a sniper and less like a machine-gunner, is to truly accept that less is more in Forex trading.
Just like a sniper waits patiently for his or her pre-determined target to come into view; you need to learn how to wait patiently for your pre-defined trading edge to show itself in the market. As price action traders we have a very effective trading edge that allows us great opportunity to trade the market with sniper-like precision, and the daily charts provide the best “battleground” for us to execute our edge on.

• Higher time frames
As I mentioned previously, the daily chart should be your “battleground” for developing your ability to become a Forex sniper. Why, you ask? Because it is the daily chart that gives us the “highest value” or highest-probability targets when compared to any time frame below it. Weekly charts are also accurate, but they don’t give us enough targets each month and they are less practical to trade than the daily chart.
These targets are price action setups, and you should think of them as higher-value on the higher time frames, because in reality the higher the time frame the higher-probability the setup becomes. This is the primary reason that trading higher time frames drastically increases trading success. Think about it this way; a sniper is on a pre-planned mission to take out high-value targets that can change the course of a war, and in Forex trading you should be looking for the highest-probability trade setups that can have the greatest positive impact on your track record.
Machine-gun trading the lower time frames is not going to do anything but cause you to lose all your ammo or money a lot faster than you think. There is really no sense in ever trading any time frame below the 1hr chart since the value or probability of the targets or setups decreases dramatically as you move lower in time frame. You want to stick to the high-value or high-probability setups of the daily chart as much as possible, and especially while you are still learning to trade.

• Patience
If there is one thing that a sniper in the military definitely IS, it’s patient. Patience is like the “magic” ingredient that makes everything work for a sniper in the military, and it is also the “magic” ingredient that you will need to use if you want to become a Forex sniper. Most beginning traders lose money in the markets, and most beginning traders are also anything BUT patient. See the connection here?
There is a tendency for traders to want to “force” the issue of trading by manifesting signals that aren’t really there or by jumping into a signal that has not closed out yet. When it comes to money it is human nature to be impatient, this is otherwise known as greed, but if you don’t learn to become a patient Forex trader, you will never forge the type of overall self-control that it takes to succeed as a Forex trader and become a Forex sniper.

• Mastery of strategy
A sniper will train for years to sharpen and perfect his or her shooting skills, and a sniper knows exactly what their target looks like and pulls the trigger without hesitation. Similarly, you will need to “train” with the particular Forex trading strategy you choose to employ in the markets so that you know EXACTLY what you are looking for every time you open your charts. However, you will need to do more than that; you will need to truly MASTER the Forex trading strategy that you choose, because if you don’t master it, you will never achieve your full potential as a Forex sniper.
• Developing a sniper-like Forex trading mindset
Sniper-like Forex trading breeds confidence and discipline. The more you strive to trade like a sniper and less like a machine-gunner, the more your Forex trading confidence and discipline will improve. This is because you will be rewarded for patience, and as you start to see your patience pay off over time, you will want to maintain it.
It is the initial stages of developing a sniper-like Forex trading mindset that most traders fail at, usually because they do not understand the power of patience and discipline. It tends to feel better to be a machine-gun trader because you feel powerful and “in control”. The problem with this mindset is that you can never control the market, in fact, the more you try to control the Forex market the more it will actually control you. The only thing you CAN control is yourself by learning to trade like a sniper, and if you do this you will significantly increase your chances of success as a Forex trader.
                                                         by  Nial Fuller

 

Daily Affirmations Will Improve Your Trading

Don’t believe me? Well I am living proof that the concepts in this article work. I am not just talking about trading here, I am talking about life, happiness, success and freedom. Everything I have achieved in my life or in business can be attributed to the concepts in this article in some way. So do yourself a favor and read this article twice.
Anything  you want to achieve in this world can be attracted to you by following the core principles in this article. For those reading this who have the goal to become a better trader – please take this knowledge, practice it and harness it’s power to improve your trading and your life.
An affirmation is defined as: “The assertion that something exists or is true”. Daily affirmations are a widely practiced method for attaining success and accelerating your ability to achieve goals.
Napoleon Hill is one of my favorite authors, and in my opinion he was the best motivational coach of all-time. He became famous by interviewing many of the most successful people of his time like Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and others, and the one thing that they all seemed to have in common was that they “acted as if” what they desired most already existed before they had it. Indeed, this is the core philosophy of Hill’s work and is the main reason why daily affirmations are so important to long-term success in any field, including trading. Here’s my favorite quote from his work:
“What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve” –Napoleon Hill
This is perhaps the most famous motivational quote of all time, I have it on the wall in my trading office and I read it out loud to myself every day

 Here is a list of 17 daily trading affirmations that you can incorporate into your trading plan and that you should read out loud to yourself every day. Doing this will work to keep you motivated to practice proper trading habits and generally stay on the path to Forex trading success:

1. “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve” – Napoleon Hill

This is the most important motivational quote of all time, which is why I have it listed again. If you haven’t read Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich Book, I suggest you do so in the near future, it’s the single best piece of motivational literature ever written in my opinion, and it will likely have transformative effects on your trading and your personal life.

2. “I am a successful trader”

If you repeat to yourself everyday that you are a successful trader, it will make you a lot more likely to do the things that are necessary to become one. If you do not believe you are a successful trader, you will never become one, as with anything else in life, you have to believe in your cause or goal before you can make it a reality.

3. “I am consistently following my trading plan”

You need to approach Forex trading as a business and be strategic and logical in following your trading plan; don’t deviate. If you’ve taken the time to formulate a comprehensive trading plan based on your trading strategy, your trading will be the most effective when you follow your plan, since you were objective and clear-minded when creating it.

4. “I have a Forex trading journal and I use it”

If you have a Forex trading journal and you actually use it, you will be far ahead of most traders. It’s critical to keep a running track record of your trading performance so that you have a tangible piece of evidence that reflects your trading ability or lack thereof. A trading journal will also give you something to stay accountable too and help you remain disciplined and organized.

5. “I practice proper risk management”

It’s important to remember that trading success is defined over a large series of trades, not over one or two. This means that you should not give too much significance to any one trade, and the way to do this is by never risking more than you are comfortable with losing per trade. By that I mean, never risk an amount that keeps you up at night thinking about or watching your trades. Remember to take small losses and that you are going to have losing trades; it’s just part of doing business in the Forex market.

6. “I trade according to what the market IS doing, not what I think it ‘should’ be doing”

We want to trade what we actually see on our Forex price charts, not what we “think” should happen or what we “want” to happen. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what you want the market to do; it’s going to do what it wants, so your job is to learn how to read its price action and take advantage of it, not fight against it.

7. “I will only take trades that give me a reward which clearly outweighs my risk”

The goal of any trader or investor is to make sure that the prospective reward of a trade clearly outweighs the risk involved. You need to gauge the market structure prior to entering a trade and make sure there is a logical reason for expecting that the risk reward on the trade is at least 1:1.5 or 1:2 or better.

8. “I will find other things to do besides watching my trades after they are live”

There’s nothing wrong with checking in on the market every 4 or 8 hours, but if you are sitting there addicted to your charts like a junkie, you are going to self-sabotage your own trades and probably end up losing a lot of money in the process. We have to learn to let the market “do the work” and just forget about our trades for a while after they are live. The set and forget forex trading strategy is something that I stand by and that I implement in my own personal trading, because meddling in your trades after they are live is an emotional decision and thus it’s usually the wrong thing to do. Find anything to do except watch your charts after you enter a trade.

9. “I am not emotionally affected by my profits or losses”

Both losses and profits have the ability to induce emotional reactions in us. A loss can cause us to want to take ‘revenge’ on the market and try and ‘make back’ the money we just lost. A profit can cause us to become overly-confident or even euphoric, which can cause us to deviate from our trading plan and take a trade that is lower probability than what we normally would take. Either way, you have to always be on guard against making an emotional trade immediately after a trade closes out, whether it was a winner or a loser. The best thing to do is to simply remove yourself from the markets for 12 to 24 hours after any trade.

10. “I try to trade with the dominant daily trend as much as possible”

I know you’ve heard this before, and I know it’s very cliché, but it’s also very true; the trend is your friend. I am often amazed at how many emails I get from traders telling me they are losing money in the markets and simultaneously asking me to comment on the chart they’ve attached to the email that shows a counter-trend trade on the intra-day charts. The easiest way to make money in any financial market is and has always been trading with the dominant trend. There are times when trading counter-trend is warranted, but until you’ve mastered trend-trading you should forget about counter-trend trading. Remember, don’t fight the dominant daily chart trend, instead, capitalize on it and ride the momentum until it ends.

11. “Instead of over-trading, I will be patient and let trading opportunities present themselves to me”

Don’t trade just because you feel like you have to or you want to…make sure there’s a real reason to do so and never trade when your pre-defined trading edge is not present. The downfall of most traders is over-trading, because most traders simply don’t have enough patience to trade forex like a sniper and not a machine gunner.

12. “I’m a professional trader and thus I will not engage in gambling my money in the markets”

Gamblers make random bets in casinos or elsewhere, and traders who don’t have trading plans or who don’t follow their trading edge are also gamblers. It’s really easy to click your mouse and put a trade on and hope to get lucky, kind of like pulling the arm of the slot machine at a casino. The difference is that you can actually develop and implement a high-probability trading edge like price action strategies when trading the markets. So, it’s up to you if you want to be a gambler or a trader.

13. “I will not interfere with my trades without just cause”

This one is similar to number 8, but it’s so important I wanted to touch on it again. Interfering with trades is usually an emotional reaction born out of risking too much or over-trading, both of which cause you to become overly attached to any one trade, which in turn causes you to over-analyze your trades and meddle with them once they are live. There are times when there’s just cause to interfere with your trades, such as a giant pin bar reversal that forms counter to your position, or some other opposing price action. However these instances are rare and it takes time and effort to develop your discretionary trading sense to the point where you can “effectively interfere” in your trades.

14. “News and fundamentals will not influence my trading decisions”

Traders who fall into the temptation to over-analyze the thousands of Forex news variables that occur each day, usually end up losing their trading accounts pretty quickly. All market variables are reflected via the natural price movement of the market, so by analyzing and trying to “figure out” what’s going to happen by reading economic news or watching CNBC you’re simply adding unnecessary and confusing variables to your trading approach.

15. “I am happy to take a profit and I will not be greedy”

Take your profits when your targets get hit, don’t change targets in an effort to try and get “just a little bit more” profit…These attempts to get a “little more profit” are usually in vain, and they usually lead to you letting a winning trade turn into a losing trade. Traders with smaller accounts especially need to take logical profits as they come, in order to build their accounts up and their confidence. If you get a 1 to 1.5 or 1 to 2 risk reward, there’s nothing wrong with taking the money off the table. Don’t fall into the trap of hoping that every trade you take goes on a parabolic run in your favor, the markets ebb and flow, meaning they don’t go in straight lines for very long.

16. “I invest in my trading education & myself”

Investing in your own education is paramount to success in any field. Forex trading is no different; whether it’s a book on trading psychology or the knowledge of an experienced Forex trading coach, learning something each day to make yourself a better trader will only improve your edge in the markets.

17. “I believe in my trading strategy completely and whole heartedly”

It’s critical to your trading success that you learn and trade with a strategy that’s proven and that you personally enjoy trading with. You have to follow it without deviation by remembering the fact that one loss does not negate the whole trading strategy. Don’t jump from one strategy or system to the next just because you stumble upon a few losing trades; losing trades are a natural part of any trading method. The key lies in losing trades properly and making sure you are trading with a strategy that is both simple and effective, like price action.
I trust that you’ve learned something from today’s article and I hope you write down or print out the above daily affirmations and read them out loud to yourself every day before analyzing the markets. Eventually, they will become cemented into your thinking and will thus turn into a habitual part of your trading routine. At that point, you will have transformed yourself from a losing trader to a successful and confident one.
                                                               from my mentor By Nial Fuller

GBP/USD TRADE UPDATE 23/05/2013

I POSTED THIS TRADE THIS MORNING ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE THIS MORNING........... IT JUST BROKE OUT..... BACK TO ENTRY, (BREAK EVEN)

EUR/USD TRADE UPDATE 23/05/2013

back to break even, i posted this entry on my face book page this morning

GBP/USD CLOSED POSITION. entered 1.30 AM WAT

we exited this position we saw a fib support  at the low made........ diversification and re-organizing of our office  has limited our online presence and posting of our trade entry........ bear with us

CLOSED AND OPEN TRADES

On Thursday we were forced to close our gbp/usd buy, when it formed a shooting star formation at a resistance on 1hr chart , usd/jpy sell, usd/chf closed  40pip after the poor usd news release on Thursday, nzd/usd level braker hit our stoploss. open position eur/usd

TRIGGERED GBP/USD BUYLIMIT UPDATE

it has been tough...................

USD/CHF TRADE 15/5/2013

I entered this trade base on eur/usd...... it got to a support which is the same with our price period cycle........ it has been a waiting game since morning............

GBP/USD BUYLIMIT TRADE TRIGGERED

EUR/USD BUY POSITION

the earlier 4hr candle closed above 1.2992 which is our price period cycle point, our next target is 1.3120 with stoploss @ 1.2977