Michael Calvert: Full-time Trader

What programme did you do with Amplify Trading?

I joined Amplify in November 2014 on a three-month hybrid course. The first week was based in their London offices where I spent the mornings getting invaluable hands-on experience of the trading platform and the afternoons attending lectures given by their senior staff and traders. The rest of the course I spent at home, connected by internet to the Amplify office in Central London, hearing lectures and receiving one-to-one as well as group tuition throughout each day.

Why did you choose Amplify?

I discovered Amplify when I saw an excellent documentary about them on BBC television. I did some further research and came to the conclusion that the directors and senior personnel were dedicated to providing no-nonsense training of both the fundamental and technical sides of trading financial markets. I had been an investor for several years but was particularly interested in learning how to trade on an intra-day basis as well as how to trade announcements of financial data and news releases.

What are you trading now?

I still trade individual equities and precious metals on a medium-term basis but most of my time is spent watching for intra-day opportunities, mostly of major currency pairs, but also Oil, Gold and equity indices. Trading fits my lifestyle given I split my time between living in Nottingham and in Spain for 6-months of the year so being connected to the trading-floor online keeps me in touch with Amplify and other traders who have also completed a course.

How did you find the transition from completing the course to trading full-time?

Not too difficult, I had already traded with my own funds but also because the Amplify course had prepared me for the possible pitfalls, the importance of discipline and how to deal with the psychological stresses of trading. By the end of the course I was “ready to go “.

What is the one piece of advice you would give to someone thinking about taking up trading full-time?

Keep records of all your trades. Each record should include the asset, amount traded, entry, stops, targets and the type of trade e.g. classic after pivot break, profit or loss, if stopped by just a few ticks then how many and so on. My advice is to analyse your results weekly monthly and to include a sort by P/L.

Michael is online everyday as part of our virtual community ‘Trading-Live‘ which is where traders share ideas and remain connected to our squawk box as well as analysis from senior mentors and Director Anthony Cheung.