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 CEO and Founder Ferdie Pabalan, considered by many as the leading forex trading educator in the Philippines today. “Science is observing phenomena or activities carefully and looking for patterns, then based on these patterns, you create hypotheses, and then you test your hypotheses. In forex trading, we observe currency price movements, look for patterns as shown by multiple technical indicators, create hypotheses and test these hypotheses by making small, test trades. 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 ‘feel.’)”
Pabalan added that forex trading is basically a recession-proof activity. “First, you can earn money even when the economy is down,” the trainer-coach said. “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 USD-JPY trades can be profitable.
“Second, because there are lots of people all over the world doing forex trading, 24 hours a day, five days a week. The market’s always moving so there are lots of opportunities to make good trades,” he said. “Third, it’s accessible. You don’t need a lot of money to get started. For as little as five thousand pesos, you can start doing ‘test trades’—after you’ve gotten proper training, of course. And you need only one to two hours a day to do this. Fourth, it’s not affected by disasters. The Covid-19 pandemic caused a lot of losses in stock markets all over the world. Countless companies had to close down because of the lockdowns that killed demand for products and services. Forex (trading) has always been strong.”
Pabalan has numerous testimonials of graduates of his full 68-hour training program. One former student he always mentions is Rommel Deraco, a 45-year-old former seaman who made as much as P265,000 in profit in one trading day. “You must know when to stop,” said Deraco. “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.
“You have to take courses on forex trading even before you make one trade,” added the former OFW seafarer. “And you have to practice every day.” Deraco adds that the best way to learn forex trading is to get educated by a real forex trading coach like Pabalan.
Another success story is Randy Sanoy, 50, a semi-retired manufacturing engineer possessing expertise in inventory and materials control, who sought a new source of income to sustain himself. He discovered forex trading in 2020 and met Pabalan, but was unable to push through with his forex trading education at the time due to the outbreak of the pandemic. In July 2022, he decided to join Born2Win Philippines’ free webinar and was surprised to discover that it was hosted by Coach Pabalan. That’s when he decided to enroll in Born2Win’s forex trading program.
“I saw that 100 dollars (profit) per day was doable. You can average 500 dollars per week or 2,000 dollars every month. So the training fee (in Pabalan’s program) is a small amount when you consider the ROI. I got my ROI within three months,” declared Sanoy.
He calls Pabalan “the best teacher he’s ever met” because of how attentive and patient he 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,” Sanoy added. “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.”
The engineer advises beginners: “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 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 kalang e (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 themselves for free in one of Coach Ferdie Pabalan’s upcoming Born2Win forex webinars (online) for beginners on September 20, 23, 27, 30, and October 4 or 7.
