Jarratt Davis talks about his journey from novice to gun trader working with hedge funds

Spotlight on a successful forex trader: The Jarratt Davis Interview

Jarratt Davis taught himself to trade forex around 2005. His intention was to support himself while he traveled: a noble goal many aspire to but few achieve.

After what I gather was the usual rough trot early on Jarratt found his feet as a trader and has never looked back.

From self-employed retail trader Jarratt has progressed through the ranks trading for hedge funds, while working with various global forex professionals, investors and other traders.

I have known Jarratt since around 2007 when I joined his online mentoring service, Liveconnect (as it was then known).

The education I received through this was definitely one of the defining moments for me as a trader, particularly with respect to the way Jarratt teaches verification of systems and strategies via thorough, appropriate backtesting.

I put the following list of questions to Jarratt and asked him to provide his traders story at the end. Enjoy!

How and when did you get started in trading and what attracted you to it?

I first got into trading towards the end of 2005 / beginning of 2006 and it was a complete accident! I was searching for a way to convert currencies online for a trip I was about to take and then found an advert from a broker for Forex trading.

I thought it sounded intriguing and clicked the link, and that was the start of my journey!

The reason it appealed was that I wanted a way of making money online from anywhere in the world, so that I could travel.

What help did you get early on, or were you for the most part self-taught?

Initially I was completely self taught, I used free sites to give me the basics and then kind of sat in front of the charts looking for secret patterns that always won. I eventually began studying Support and Resistance and developed my trading methods that I still use today.

Who were your heroes, or mentors who most helped you?

I would say that guys like Tim Ferriss really inspired me to see another possibility, and his book The 4-Hour Workweek really pushed me to find something that was almost passive income, online. Which trading became.

Do you still trade regularly?

Im nowhere near as active as I used to be, when I was trading client accounts I used to literally be up at all hours looking for set ups, but now I tend to trade during the London session 2 or 3 days a week. The reason I got into trading was that I could have more time and freedom to do whatever I wanted and travel, so thats what I like to spend my time doing now.

What sort of trader are you, day trader, scalper, position trader, swing trader or other?

Ive always been a day trader, in and out as quick as I can. Holding positions overnight is my least favourite aspect of trading.

What tools do you use in trading, i.e. are you discretionary or entirely technical in your approach?

When I became successful I used support and resistance and price patterns a lot, but there is definitely a discretionary element to my methods. I do not just blindly trade a strategy because it gives a signal . I will only take optimal trades as I see fit.

If you could say one thing to a forex newbie what would that be? (Okay, youre allowed more than one, it is important after all :-))

Dont use leverage and trade consistently, these are the absolute corner stones of success. There is no such thing as not enough profit

How has trading changed your life?

Trading has altered my perception of money, and helped me live life in a way that I prefer. I really couldnt get a standard job after almost 5 years trading professionally! My biggest thing is the freedom I have, I wouldnt change that for anything.

If you had your time over, what things in your trading career would you change?

The time I wasted on pointless things like strategies that never lose, or trying to double my account every week . I also spent a lot of time going in circles from one system to the next which got me nowhere, and just hindered my career.

Id learn the basics, find a proven strategy that I like and trade it over and over like a machine!

How has the current year gone for you, since it appears to have been tough for many traders?

It has been very tricky and I have had to adjust my style several times to catch certain moves, but overall 2012 has been a good year, culminating in me being ranked 2nd best performing trader by Barclays for the 2008 2012 period!

Jarratt, since you trade with hedge funds, can you give an idea of the ideal profile for a hedge funds trader?

In this industry all anyone cares about is how much you make and how much risk you take to make it. If you can produce above average returns with very small draw down you will get clients and funds queuing up to give you money!

It doesnt really matter where you studied or where you worked, results are everything.

What is the best advice you could give to any forex trader, assuming it is not the same as that for a forex newbie above?

Think about what you want trading to give you, and plan for that For instance if you want to get ultra rich you would head towards running your own hedge fund and trading hundreds of millions from a giant office.

This is not the same goal if you just want to have the freedom to live and travel wherever you want at a moments notice, and in fact having a multi-billion dollar hedge fund would restrict that lifestyle just as much as a normal job!

Think hard about what you want and then find ways to trade in such a way as to get yourself there.

– Jarratt, thanks for generously giving your time to be in this interview. You know how we all love to read about other traders, their beginnings, learning curve and (hopefully) ultimate victory. Could you please tell us something of your journey as a trader from when you began until now, in your own words?

When I first started trading my goal was to turn my own money into a small fortune. That goal quickly changed when I discovered the leverage of trading clients money also. This in itself led to complications and problems that I hadnt even imagined before I encountered them, and finally once I had made it I was left with a big void where work and learning to trade once was . The lesson I learned here is that your goals change as you reach them, and that your ability to adapt and go with the flow will really be the mark of how successful you become!

If youd like to learn more about Jarratt Davis, his style of trading and the methods he teaches, click on the following links:

Jarratts homepage: Jarratt Davis.com

Jarratts Trader Training: Fund Trader Academy