This week one of the most successful traders on the platform, Marcos Santos from Brazil, will share his trading experience. In the interview he explains what trading means to him and shares tips on how beginners might start their trading journey.
What’s your name?
My name is Marcos Santos. I’m 26, and I live in Santa Catarina, Brazil.
What do you do for a living?
I’m a trader. I make a living from financial markets, and binary options in particular; this is what I spend 100% of my time on.
Before you became our client, what did you know about trading, and did you have any trading experience?
Prior to becoming a client of IQ Option, I used to work with another broker. Back then I didn’t know anything about trading. Somebody sold us a “wonderful” strategy that gave signals for when to enter the market. It was a complete disaster.
Unfortunately, many people are delusional about financial markets; they buy courses, strategies, and other materials and tools that lead only to losses. As a result, these traders get the wrong idea about what’s really going on. Most of them lose all their investments and never come back.
I had that experience as well, but I stayed. The only positive thing about my first trading attempts is that I learned how to use MT4. Other than that it was a letdown. Incidentally, I still have not been able to withdraw my money from that broker’s account.
What was the most important thing for you when you were choosing a binary options broker?
Good reviews. I talked to those who were already using the platform to learn how everything works and if the payments arrive on time, see if there are any irregularities with the charts, and learn whether the profitability percentage is fair.
Did you read any learning materials when you started trading? What strategies have you used? Have you tried demo account?
Yes, I read tutorial materials. I think any information can be useful. I tried the demo account as well, but only to get used to the trading platform. Then I moved to a real account. The thing is, when you use a demo account you don’t take the psychological aspect of trading into consideration since you don’t trade with real money. It’s possible to be very successful for months using a demo account and then lose everything in a day on your real account because with real money your demo experience is irrelevant.
Which strategy interests you the most? Which strategy would you recommend for inexperienced traders?
There are many different strategies out there. I think beginners should focus on more straight-forward methods and tools to avoid confusion and get first results. For example, they can start with the basic technical indicators, such as the KDJ or the Ichimoku Cloud to practice technical analysis and search for trading opportunities.
However, those who’ve been trading for a long time know that strategy accounts for only 20% of your success. The most important things are risk management and psychology. These things are what any beginner should build upon. These things will allow to you be consistent, which is the most important characteristics of a good trader.
Often, the technical side of trading is not an important consideration in the minds of traders. Being able to withdraw your profit is. Have you faced any difficulties while withdrawing your money?
I’ve made a lot of withdrawals and never faced any problems. Usually a withdrawal takes one day. On a couple of occasions I had to wait for three days but it never took longer that that. I usually prefer to make deposits and withdrawals to e-wallets like Neteller, Boleto and Pix, which are quite popular here in Brazil.
Will you continue trading using the IQ Option platform?
Absolutely. IQ Option does its job very well. I like having a variety of assets to choose from and being able to apply different tools for market analysis. And with the new promo features like risk-free deals and trading signals the platform has become even cooler than before! I hope it will continue to grow, and I will grow with it.
