Andrew Mitchem: The Leisurely Approach

Takeaways

• It takes time and patience to be a good and consistent trader

• Trading is not and never will be a get rich quick scheme

• Remove the emotion and trading becomes a lot more interesting

• Andrew developed his own trading strategy

• Risk management contributes to his profits

Andrew's journey so far

Andrew Mitchem's journey is different to that of many other traders; it took him four years to make anything out of trading on a consistent basis. After four years most people would probably have given up, but Andrew kept at it. People give up far too easily, especially if they think trading is easy money. You need to have the right trading mindset. He was able to go through things at a slow pace, not needing to make money, not thinking that he would get rich quick. It allowed him to go through a learning process to work out which systems were beneficial.

In the first four years Andrew Mitchem's trading was 'all over the place'. At the end of that time, he wiped everything from his charts except for the best of what he had learned. Since then it has never changed, even if the markets have.

Trading is tiring

Trading can be emotionally exhausting for many people. They are attached to the outcome. For Andrew Mitchem, it was more about looking at the charts and the math rather than the monetary outcome. Once you understand how to trade, the money will follow on afterward.

Trading on smaller time frames doesn't cause a problem.

The shortest that Andrew Mitchem trades is the four hour chart, although he has developed some software for six hours and eight hours. But he only checks them twice a day - 5pm and 5am. This means he won't stress if he is doing other things.

This is one of the reasons why he loves to take retracement orders; it gives him the time to scan through the charts and he isn't going to move at the wrong time. He can easily see whether there is a trade, and if there is what the entry and exit points are.

Andrew trading style is technical based one

Andrew Mitchem's trading style is technical based. Although he does look at the high impact news announcements, they don't affect his trading. For him, it's about using overall strength and weaknesses. Focusing on trading continuation patterns or reversal patterns, which are both very simple, works well for him.

It is best to be as simplified as possible when trading, this is one of the best trading tips he can offer. There are some things he certainly likes to see in his trading. If he is taking a bi-trade, he likes to see a pull back downwards first, and then a bullish pattern to reversal, for example.

Andrew Mitchem also likes to use round numbers a lot - numbers that end in zero or 50 - plus divergence as a final backup. He is certainly not a fan of using lots of lagging indicators - real time is much better.

Why the higher time frame works well for him

One of the nice things about the higher time frame chart to get an overall gauge of where the week is likely to go. This is a simple thing to do on a Monday morning. It gives Andrew Mitchem confidence that the bigger picture is looking bullish which, if it matches his smaller time frame, means he can continue.

The beauty of trading the longer time frames and the technical charts is that it doesn't really matter what the market is doing. The same philosophy can be used no matter what time frame. This, of course, is sometimes easier said than done.

If there is no trade, many people will want to place one anyway - the key is to not do that. Don't force trades to happen. Remember there are no prizes for trading more. Plus, having higher reward to risk trades means that you don't have to trade so much.

Risk management is a priority

Andrew Mitchem always risks a maximum of 0.5 percent. It makes life so much easier; each trade is equal and it takes the emotion out of things. You are more easily able to control what you are doing when you have a fixed percentage to trade with. It does mean you have to have confidence in your system to leave the trade in - it's the epitome of set and forget.

If Andrew Mitchem sees the price get to a certain level on a daily chart (his favourite time frame), but it's not at his profit target, yet he can see on the smaller time frames that there is weakness in the trade, he might scale out.

It all depends on the time frame. Or he might have 0.25 percent risk on a retracement order and 0.25 percent on a market order instead. It needs to be as mechanical as possible otherwise emotions get in the way.

Does Andrew have a mentor?

Andrew Mitchem didn't really have a mentor. He did attend a day course, which is what got him into Forex, although the course wasn't much good. He did subscribe to some news feeds and so on, but it was more about trial and error than anything else.

It was working out what worked for him which enabled him to compile a strategy. It took four years to become consistent, which is pretty good going.

Giving is beneficial

Andrew Mitchem gives a lot away for free. It seems natural to him to do this. It also keeps his trading sharp as he has to be answerable. It benefits him as much as everyone else.

The giveaway information helps a lot of people which he helps doing, and it also helps to bring people to him. Plus it's built up his name and reputation in the industry.

Conclusion

Trading is not easy and it will take time, even years to be successful. It took Andrew 4 years! Be prepared to analyse yourself and work out a trading strategy which works for you. Andrew recommends a disciplined approach so as to take the emotion away and to become successful.

Andrew Mitchem can be found at www.theforextradingcoach.com

Questions

• Andrew Mithchem, would you say your "journey" is typical of many people who have eventually succeeded in trading? What do you supposed you did differently to the 92% who typically give up?
• So great to be talking to someone who is ALSO big on lifestyle trading. We're all about that. As you may or may not know, we trade the daily and the weekly time frames while using the smaller time frames for additional confirmation - but you actually trade off the smaller time frames… doesn't that tie you down in terms of time and defeat the point?
• Tell me about your trading style? How does it separate you from the rest? Have you traded the same strategy or does it evolve? Do you risk the same amount per trade? Is it by a percentage or fixed amount per trade?
• In terms of trade management, do you scale in/scale out?
• Do you subscribe to the notion; "Trade what you see not what you think"? ie; is it 100% technical or is it spliced with some fundamental analysis?
• Now, you've been trading since 2004 - a pretty long time. Did you have a mentor or did you roll with the school of knocks?
• Do you find that market newcomers are easier to train than those who have been around the block a bit?
• Tell us about your biggest trading mistake and what you learned from it.
• So you have a big presence on FPA and give away a boatload of material - why are you so generous?
• Thank you so much for your time - where can people who want to find out more, find you?