Trading in financial markets is by no means easy. While the fact remains that investing is a good way to grow wealth, there is no guarantee that every trade will result in profits, making trading a very challenging endeavour. A positive mindset goes a long way in life, and the winner of eToro’s UFC Trading Challenge holds such a disposition, saying that you either “win” or you “learn.”
Jeremie Caringal is the winner of eToro’s UFC Trading Challenge in which he made impressive returns of 621.03%, fending off more than 1,000 other participants to win the ultimate prize, which includes a flight to Las Vegas, four nights of accommodation, tickets to the International Fight Week event and an exclusive tour for two at the UFC Performance Institute. This is not the first trading competition Jeremie has won. He recently secured a cash prize of $1,000 in eToro’s monthly trading challenge in which over 3,000 participants went head-to-head to rank as one of the Top 10 traders each month.
We reached out to Jeremie to learn more about his trading strategies and his motivation for trading.
Tell us a little about yourself? What do you like to do in your free time? What do you do for work? What are your hobbies?
My name is Jeremie. I currently work as a laboratory technician for a government agency. I love to learn from every trade I make, whether or not I profit from it. My hobbies are reading news and market analysis articles.
What has been your major motivation to trade? When did you start becoming interested in the financial markets? Did you develop an interest as a kid, or is it something you picked up recently?
I began trading in the financial markets with the objective of achieving financial freedom in the future. I only started trading recently and regret not learning about trading or taking finance-related classes when I was in college.
Did you have previous experience with financial investments before joining eToro? Why did you choose to join eToro?
I did not have any trading experience prior to joining eToro. I chose eToro because the platform it offers is quite intuitive and very user-friendly for someone just starting out on their investment journey.
You won two trading challenges in less than 3 months. How do you feel about competing against thousands of traders and coming top? Does that motivate you to trade further?
Quite frankly, I was very overwhelmed to see that at the end of the competition, my name was on the list of winners and mostly because it was at the top. I did not really expect to win the top prize as I knew that there were thousands of traders competing in the UFC Trading Challenge. When I joined the competition, my goal was just to win the UFC replica belt, but I was ecstatic to win first prize. Trading against thousands of traders really excites me and allows me to learn from them while developing new strategies to suit my trading style. The idea of trading is not to win prizes, but it definitely keeps me motivated to better my performance as a trader, regardless of winning or losing.
How has your trading strategy evolved over time?
I trade, based on what the price is telling me, meaning I’m a price action trader. I trade mostly based on technical analysis. I use a specific strategy which I think will suit the current market conditions.
In the heat of the moment, how do you manage to keep a calm mind and stay positive?
I value experience more than money. When I first started trading, I had very little idea about what I was doing. I just executed a trade because it felt right but over the course of time, I have learned from my mistakes. It took time to develop a positive attitude and mindset. It is very important to learn from your trades, no matter what the end result is. Trading is dynamic in nature and markets change all the time. There is no way to be right all the time, even with all the fundamental or technical analysis in the world. But what you can do is learn from your mistakes and that will improve your performance. It will boost your confidence and it will dissipate the fear of losing because every wrong turn would be a new lesson.
It is always refreshing to see someone with a positive attitude who wholeheartedly embraces all results. As pointed out by Caringal, trading can be daunting and may not go as planned each time, which makes having a positive mindset very critical to the entire process. Caringal will travel to Las Vegas in March for the UFC Fight Night and hopes to share his experience with the eToro community after his trip.
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