What I’ve Learned From An 8yr Old Trader
By: Ryan Norris
Tags: Forex Trading Strategies, Forex Trading, Trading, Forex, Swing Trading Strategy

Alex is your typical 8-year-old kid. He loves fishing, riding his bike, computer games and playing with his kittens, friends and brothers. He’s not so fond of cleaning his room or doing anything else that could potentially fall under the “chores” category. In early 2020, he found himself like millions of other kids — out of school and under lock-down at home. The schools scrambled to come up with ways to keep the kids engaged in their schoolwork through an overwhelming number of online tools, including (but not limited to) Zoom class meetings, Prodigy, Seesaw assignments, Splash math, i-Ready and Epic. One of the platforms Alex really enjoyed had limited access without a subscription so he begged his parents to get full access costing about $10 a month. His father, feeling overwhelmed with the many monthly subscriptions his family was already tied into, came up with a deal to give Alex a way to earn what he wanted.

THE DEAL

The deal would require him to pay for his subscription through trading. Alex has, in fact, been part-time trading on and off (mostly in the MT4 simulator) for over a year to earn pocket money. His father thought this would be a prime opportunity to switch him to a demo account and coach him in live market conditions. In order for Alex to keep his subscription, he would need to trade consistently and make a profit.

TRADING PERFORMANCE

From April to September 2020, Alex has consistently banked profits from the Forex market on his demo account which had a starting balance of $1000. To be transparent, Alex had over the shoulder coaching from his father. However, a point was made to ensure Alex was actually the one doing all the work in the MT4 platform. The table below shows his results. (Hi there — this is Alex’s mom/xCaliber editor! One thing that hasn’t been mentioned here yet, was a certain “incentive” that was offered to Alex by his father. You know how Alex loves fishing? Well the other thing that he decided he really needed was a boat — which his dad readily agreed to. Maybe too readily?? So the second part of the deal was his dad telling him that as soon as he earned $600 in trading, he would buy a boat! Guess how long that took?? HINT: His dad should have made it a bit more challenging!!!)

Alex’s Track Record To Date

The Method

While most of you are probably thinking that his dad just did it all for him (and in a limited sense you would be correct), Alex was tutored using a simple technique created and tested by xCaliber that allowed him to actually manage most of the trading on his own. Through this method, Alex actually needs very little help to trade. He isn’t required to look for entry or exit signals, perform technical analysis, identify chart patterns OR use any other conventional trading method. He uses a technique derived from xCaliber’s revolutionary Thumb Money Method which many clients master within a few days with very little additional coaching.

Alex was directed to a market which was primed for this method. Markets can remain in an optimal state for the method to be applied for weeks or months. There is no daily checking or analyzing of price charts.

Lessons Learned

The below are some lessons form Alex’s journey that may be helpful to other traders. New helpful updates will be posted from time to time, so be sure to save this page and check-in on a regular basis.

Alex Trades For Less Than 5 Minutes Each Day

A common misconception among traders is that more time trading equals more money. Day traders can literally spend hours in front of the computer each day to grind a profit out of the market.

Alex, on the other hand, has achieved the above results with a very nonchalant approach. In fact, he only looks at his trading account 3–4 times a week spending as little as 5 minutes in front of the computer. It normally starts with his father chasing him to look at his account before bed. Alex would then take whatever profit is available and with literally 3–4 clicks set up more trades, which he would then check for profit whenever he felt like it or his dad hounds him again. If Alex makes good profits, he gets extra pocket money which is a big motivating factor. (But what about the boat?? I’m going to get fired from my editing job!)

Alex Does NOT Trade with Stop Losses

One of the big No No’s in trading is never trade without a Stop Loss. For those not familiar with the term, a stop loss is a set price level where if a trade goes the wrong direction a stop loss will be executed at a certain price point to exit a trade. This typically saves traders form losing all their funds if a trade goes bad.

Using a stop loss is certainly good practice. However, there are certain conditions within markets that at times make it possible to consistently and safely profit from the market without a stop loss.

Alex Does NOT Look for Trading Signals

Alex does not take into account any signals on a chart to enter or exit a chart; he only applies the technique.

Many new traders make the mistake of using visual references in the form of chart candles, indicators, trends, or chart patterns to determine when to enter or exit a trade. It can take many months, if not years, to master this approach. Alex has a technique where all that is required is to apply it within a wide price range. By doing so, any visual reference other than price is redundant.

Alex Does NOT Feel Any Emotions Over His Trades

Mastering emotions is a pillar of becoming a profitable trader. Any one that has tried trading has experienced the emotional roller coaster of a position swinging in and out of profit. There’s also a certain euphoria when a carefully planned trade works out and adversely you feel your life if ending when it doesn't go your way.

Alex has never experienced this, for one reason admittedly his dad is watching over his shoulder BUT he takes a Market Master approach where he just builders layers of sell limits, which he calls traps at price peaks or troughs and waits for the market bounce back to take profit. Again he doesn't use stop losses which I know is frowned upon however look at Alex’s track record which proves that when certain market conditions occur you can safely trade without Stop Losses. There are a couple factors behind this as well that add several layers of additional safety.

Want to know more about the Thumb Money Method Alex has been using? Visit www.makethumbmoney.com for more information including video tutorials, helpful hints and more.

Author: Ryan Norris (Alex’s Dad):

xCaliber Trading Founder & Creator of the Thumb Money Method