FOREIGN exchange (forex) trading can be a lucrative career — or side gig — but there's a steep learning curve and a few risks associated with this activity. Unknown to many, it's not gambling. It's a science, requiring learning technical indicators and risk management strategies.
"Why is it scientific?" asks Born2Win Philippines Chief Executive Officer and founder Ferdie Pabalan
Pabalan says that forex trading is like science because it requires observation, looking for patterns and testing hypotheses. He is also considered by many as the leading forex trading educator in the Philippines today.
"Just like a good scientist, you have to be open to new data and patterns. And this is all done with systematic risk management. Hindi ito kinakapa (It's not done by guesswork)," continues Pabalan.
Pabalan adds that forex trading is basically a recession-proof activity.
"First, you can earn money even when the economy is down," says the trainer-coach.
The trainer-coach adds: "In a depressed economy, you usually have to exit stocks, or you ought to avoid stocks altogether. But in forex [trading] where you trade currency pairs, there's always one economy doing better than another. For example, if patterns show the US dollar is weakening and the Japanese yen is strong and stable, then doing US dollar to Japan yen trades can be profitable."
Other than that, Pabalan says since Forex is active for 24 hours, there is plenty of time to make good trades due to the constant movement of the market.
People do not need to be equipped with initial capital to get started. They may do "test trades" using only P5,000. With the proper training, this will come to fruition.
Lastly, forex trading is not affected by disasters such as the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused numerous losses in stock markets worldwide.
"Forex trading has always been strong," adds Pabalan.
Rommel Deraco, a 45-year-old seaman, is one of Pabalan's former students who can testify on the effectiveness of his full 68-hour training program. Within one trading day, he has made as much as P265,000
"You must know when to stop. You'll be tempted to earn big money, but you should only trade what you're prepared to lose. Don't be greedy. Know when to let go of a losing position," says Deraco.
Deraco advises aspiring traders that the best way to learn forex trading is to get educated by a real forex trading coach such as Pabalan.
"You have to take courses on forex trading even before you make one trade, and you have to practice every day," adds Deraco.
Randy Sanoy, a 50-year-old, semiretired manufacturing engineer, is another one of Pabalan's students. Wanting a new source of income to sustain himself in 2020, Sanoy has discovered forex trading. However, he has been unable to push through with his forex trading education due to the pandemic.
After joining Born2Win Philippines' free webinar in July 2022 and being surprised to discover that it was coached by Pabalan, he has decided to enroll in Born2Win's forex trading program.
"I saw that a $100 [profit] per day was doable. You can average $500 per week or P2,000. So, the training fee [in Pabalan's program] is a small amount when you consider the return of investment (ROI). I got my ROI within 3 months," says Sanoy.
He calls Pabalan "the best teacher" he's ever met because of how attentive and patient the trainer-coach is in guiding students through the ins and outs of forex trading.
"He makes sure that before he leaves one topic, everyone understands it completely. His style is effective. He sees to it that on the last day [of the program], you should be skilled enough to place a trade — with a reasonable chance of success — on your own," adds Sanoy.
Sanoy advises beginners to: "Just keep practicing every day, keep studying, and stay on top of current events that affect the world economy and the currencies. Don't be swayed by your own emotions when trading even though it can't be helped sometimes. My experience is [that there's] mixed emotions. Actually, you'll feel all kinds of emotions even if the trainer will keep telling you to trade with no emotions and just use the trading principles. Tao ka lang eh (You're only human)."
Filipinos — regardless of where they're living and working in the world — who seriously want to undergo training in forex trading and who think they can keep their emotions in check in the face of negative outcomes can register for free in one of Pabalan's upcoming Born2Win online forex webinars for beginners on September 20, 23, 27 and 30 as well as October 4 and 7.