JasonStapleton FX Trader Mag
JasonStapleton FX Trader Mag
JasonStapleton FX Trader Mag
OPTIONS PERFORMANCE
E XC LUS I V E I N T E RV I EW J A S O N S TA P L E T O N A N S W E R S T O F X T R A D E R M A G A Z I N E
Jason Stapleton
CEO and head trading coach at
4xTradersLive
Jason Stapleton explains FX Trader Magazine new way of thinking, of looking at the market
the reasons why he decided to participate to a and at themselves.
trading challenge: to provide evidence, as CEO Jason explains why, once you have a system that
and head trading coach at 4xTradersLive, of has a positive expectancy, 100% of your success
what he and the trading style he teaches can falls on your ability to trade it day in and day
produce. out, which is why he focuses a lot on psychology.
To become a successful trader, he says, you Although he has a passion for economics and
should follow the advice of a successful trader politics, he has developed a purely technical
and treat your trading as a business. approach to trading and explains why there
His number one advice as a coach is to stay is no possible way for a private trader who
away from chat rooms, web forums and social hasn’t got a team of people to make educated
networks, to make sure his traders focus on a decisions based on fundamentals.
FXTM: Can you tell us about your I wasn’t focusing on what the real started to work really heavily on my
story? How did you get interested in issue was, which is: psychology. One psychology, being disciplined and
trading? How long have you been has to get hold of the psychology of fixing in a set of rules. Following
trading for? What is your experience the market and their own personal all those rules, I began to grow and
in trading? psychology in order to be effective. now instead of constantly loosing,
JS: I started out managing my It doesn’t really matter whether the I’m consistently winning, which is
own investments. I started to put systems are profitable or not, if you the ultimate goal for anybody who’s
some money away, I was beginning don’t have the discipline to trade day trading.
to build up a nest
egg and I wanted to FXTM: You recently
manage that myself. finished 4th at the
I had the belief that Varengold Trading
nobody cared more Challenge. First, why did
about my money than you decide to participate?
me and I did not want A lot of trainers preach
to give it to somebody but they don’t “walk the
to put it into mutual walk”...
funds. I wanted to JS: Because of my
be able to do the business, I get hit with a lot
research myself. That of people who are asking
quickly turned out me for things like: “Show
to “Hey, I could use me your performance
some of this money records” so, for a long
to trade with!”. And time, I used to say “here is
I started out trading what our trading systems
some options. I ended are producing, here is
up loosing quite a what we are doing in the
lot of money trading live room” and what was
options. But I had coming back was: “How
the belief that I could -DVRQ¿QLVKHGWKDWWKH9DUHQJROG7UDGLQJ&KDOOHQJHJHQHUDWLQJ can I make sure your
figure out how to do VKRUWRIUHWXUQLQPRQWKV numbers are truthful?”, or
it. So I continued to “Let me see your personal
study, buying all the books, going in and day out, under a set of rules statements”. But I’m not giving my
to seminars, then I thought “let’s and conditions that you’ve layed out, personal trading records, those are
go ahead and trade stocks”. But the you’re not going to be successful. very private. And if I provide the
market was running on the short side, And the more I studied and the records, they say: “How can I validate
so I decided to have a look at futures. more I read and the more I talked to that they are actually true?” or “you’re
So I rolled from options, to stocks, successful traders, that’s what they hiding your losses, there is no way
to futures and had very little success. are saying. Richard Dennis said it the you can be achieving such results.”
Over the course of many years of best, he said: “Anybody can create a So, when the challenge came out I
practice, trial and errors, I came to trading system that 80% is good and thought “this is my chance to provide
the conclusion that what I’m really is the best one ever written. The evidence of what me personally
doing is bouncing from system to question is whether or not they’ll and the trading style that I teach
system, from market to market and have the discipline to follow it.” I can produce.” It’s over a set period
of time. It’s third party regulated. and trading style? Is it only a matter try to eliminate as much subjectivity
They track the results. So I stepped of experience? out of our trading as possible. And
in and I traded for 3 months. I used JS: What I did is I went to find that’s what I tried to do when I was
a longer term swing trading system, somebody who was successful and learning to be successful. I didn’t
that I developed. And this is what who had an outline of “This is how want emotion to play any kind of
I do now. I get role in my decision
about 10 to 15 making. Once I
trades a month. got on the path, it
The system took some time, it
itself, with took months and
the position- months of trial and
sizing model error, continuing
that I used in to trade and
the trading continuing to loose
challenge, money, before I
generated just finally got things
short of 300% thought out. I
return over the would love to tell
course of these you that I’m 100%
3 months. The cured of emotional
high water mark response on the
at that traders market now, but
challenge what I’m not. Nobody
about 309% ever is. But I do
in 3 months, know how to
so a little over trade now. And
100% a month. Winning traders treat their it came through
Should that
be expected by
trad ing l ike a business a long process
of self reflection
traders who and study, along
are coming with the help of
in? Absolutely not. I was trading it should be done. This is how you someone that I knew was successful.
aggressively. I’ve been doing this become a professional trader”. And I
a very long time. And we want to listened to every single thing that he FXTM: In your opinion, what is
shoot for consistent profitability. told me to do. He said “ This is how the difference between a winning
That’s my ultimate goal for people you write out a trading plan”, and trader and a loosing trader?
that I taught to or work with. this is how a wrote out my trading JS: Winning traders treat their
plan. He said “This is how you test trading like a business. In the forex
FXTM: You said you started with you system, this is how you strategize markets, brokers are making it easier
options then stocks and futures, and on a development process”. I use an and easier to open these 500$ or
that after many trials and errors, you “If-Then” syntax for all the strategies 1.000$ accounts. Those are price
finally found the right discipline and development that I do. And it’s very points that people used to go gamble
psychology. How did you reach that simple, for example, IF the market with, on a week-end or when taking
step? How did you find your niche does this, THEN we do this. And we a trip to Vegas. So trading for a lot
32 FX TRADER MAGAZINE April - June 2010
TRADING PERFORMANCE FX
of people is nothing more than that I had already written out. project and your role in it?
gambling. They come in, they don’t Ultimately I could have had a million JS: I was trading full time from
have a plan, they don’t know what dollar strategy put together and I home and I was getting lonely. I
they are doing and they’re taking would have blown that strategy up! thaught, “why don’t I start offering
signals without knowing why they are Because I wouldn’t have followed it, some training and open a live trading
taking them, and all of that adds up. I didn’t have any discipline. I hadn’t room for people to come in, see what
Winning traders have a plan. They spent any time working on the real I do and may be trade along with me”.
treat their trading like a business issues that were causing me to loose So I put together a little and cheap
and they are extremely disciplined money, which were emotional. But I website - I think we spent 2.000
in what they do. They have taken the knew that I loved trading. I absolutely dollars to put the website together -
time and the effort to develop a plan love it! I can spend all day every day and I opened up a virtual room using
that they know is effective and every watching the market, teaching about a software system where I can show
single day they focus on nothing what I’ve learned and studied. I have my computer screen to people. I just
more than trading that plan. They a real passion for it. And I had a core said “it’s free for a week, come on in
don’t deviate from and see what we do”
it. It is not a game. and I started getting
They’re very serious My goal is to take traders from people to say “would
about it. Those are
the kind of traders conscious incompetence to a you work with me?”, so
I started building up a
that I like to see
coming to me, or
place of conscious competence core network of traders
that I mentored. And
people who say that has grown and
“look I’m not successful, I’m loosing belief that, if I had such a passion for developed into the business that you
money, I know I’m doing something it, there had to be a way for me to be now see.
wrong but I’m committed to figure successful at it. So I made a decision I think people see in our company
this out and I want to do whatever is to be successful. I don’t take what it something different from what they
necessary to be successful.” takes. I don’t care what is costs me. see in other places and especially
FXTM: You mentioned that, I’m going to figure this out and I’m in the Foreign Exchange world.
when you started, even though going to be successful. What you see Because forex is so unregulated.
you were not successful, somehow in the Varengold Trader Challenge There are a lot of swindlers out
you had the belief that you could and in what I do now, in the trading there that are looking to take your
become a successful trader. How do and teaching, is a reflection of the money and nothing more. But I
you explain that conviction? Is this years of hard work that it took me have a vested interest in seeing my
typical of successful traders? to get from point to point. And clients be successful. I don’t take just
JS: I don’t know. I thought: “I’m an my goal now of course is just to cut anybody. People have to fit a profile,
intelligent person. So this is not an down on the amount of time that it they have to build a place where they
issue of me not being smart enough takes for traders to get from point A are financially solvent, they have to
to understand what I need to do, this to point B. For those who want to be ready to do what’s necessary to
is me not understanding what I need be successful, I want to make that make the change. The course is very
to do and not understanding how I transition as quickly as possible. expensive compared to what else is
need to go about doing that.” So I out there on the market. So in return
sought out someone to help me to FXTM: You’re CEO of I have to give a lot of information, a
figure that out. And I found out that www.4xtraderslive.com training lot of counseling and a lot of work.
it had nothing to do with the systems comapny. Did you create the
that I was using or the trading plans company? Can you tell us about this FXTM: What about results?
FX TRADER MAGAZINE April - June 2010 33
FX TRADING PERFORMANCE
JS: My goal is to take traders from FXTM: How much time do you matter which instrument or time
conscious incompetence to a place think a trader should spend on frame you’re looking at, pattern
of conscious competence, where training everyday? And does training formations work. And we focus
they say “I understand now what I really make a difference in terms of 100% on technical analysis. Being
need to do to be successful and I’m trading performance? part of the live trading room and of
working everyday with the support JS: We know scientifically that in the private client group that I have
of you and your training program order to break habits and reinstall is extremely beneficient to them
in order to become consistently new habits, it is a 60 to 90 day because it helps reinforce what
profitable.” And many of them are process. If for years you believed that I teach in the program. We have
now. I worked with a wide variety the markets are crooked and that to continue reinforce these core
of traders, so the course in itself has the game is squewed in the favor beliefs so that we can change our
been widely successful, just in the of large banks and institutions, it’s perception of the markets and our
amount of people and the response going to take some time to realize perception of what success is.
we are getting from the program. that all charts are the same, no
FXTM: What do you think
comes first: to have the right
All charts are the same, no matter trading system or to have the right
psycholog y?
which instrument or time frame you’re JS: You have to have a system that
has a positive expectancy and that’s
looking at, pattern formations work maths terminolog y that says that “if
you follow this system, over time it’s
going to produce more money than
it looses.” If you don’t have that,
I don’t care how disciplined you
are, you’re going to be disciplined
to trade a loosing system. And
that’s not going to be effective.
But once you have a system that
has a positive expectancy, 100%
of your success falls on your
ability to trade it day in and day
out. And that falls completely on
psychology. My personal belief is
that trading is 99% emotional and
1% technical. Once you learn the
skills, once you understand how
to write your trading plan, how to
trade your trading system, then all
you have to do is focus on trading
the system. I understand that there
is a lot of debate on that. Some
people will say “it has all to do with
JS. I have several systems to cater Foreign Exchange, because not only FXTM: But do you use your
to individual traders. We have a do I get to study the politics that we fondamental knowledge and
day trading system that’s called are doing in the US but also what information in your trading or do you
“Trend Trader”, the “T Squared” is the European Central Bank and have a purely technical approach?
system, which gets traded basically the Bank of Japan doing. How their JS: No, I don’t use any of it in
Tuesday through Thursday. Then economies are going to be affecting my trading. That’s what’s funny
we have a swing trading system currency prices. is that I read all this economic
that I call a “CTS system”, which is Some of the benefits of trading information all the time. But when
a countertrend divergence model foreign exchange is that it is an I sit down at my computer, I’m
system. Then we have a longer term, unregulated market. It’s a spot 100% a technical trader. I don’t care
like day trader positions system, for market. You can trade micro lots and whether everybody else in the world
those people who work full time jobs, mini lots, which means that if you says that the European Central Bank
and of course I have the system which only have 5.000 or 10.000 dollars is going to raise interest rates. If my
I used in the Varengold Challenge you can start trading whereas in the charts are telling me that I need to be
that I show traders and that I offer futures market you need 30.000 to long or short, that’s what I’m going
them as a course of study. But it 50.000 dollars of starting capital, to do. I know several fundamental
requires a very high level of technical just because of the cost of buying analysis traders, I’m not suggesting
analysis and knowledge as it uses a the contract. So in the forex market, by any means that you can’t be
lot of Fibonacci and ratio patterns more people can participate. successul as a fundamental trader,
in order to determine price action.
And because it is hard to learn, I
created a private client group, where Stay away from chat rooms,
I take them every day through the
trade setups, I show them how I’m web forums and social networks
drawing in the Fibonacci patterns,
I show them what we would expect
to see, I offer them trading calls
and really give them a blueprint for
success. And my goal is that, one day,
they’ll be successful enough so that
they won’t feel the need to use the
services anymore.
FXTM: Why do you trade Forex
and what can you tell us about this
market? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of trading currencies?
JS: I can tell you why I trade
forex. I love politics and I’m very
interested in economics, in what
our Federal Reserve is doing and
how that’s going to affect business.
And as I started looking at my two
main passions - politics and trading
- one of the best outlets for me was
36 FX TRADER MAGAZINE April - June 2010
TRADING PERFORMANCE FX