Rafał Glinicki - an interview with a speaker at XTB Trading Masterclass

Already 19 May will take place XTB Trading Masterclass in Warsaw - conference on investment (last vacancies left!) One the speakers will be Rafał Glinicki - trader, founder of VSA Trader and two-time winner of the top ten in the "World Top Investor" competition.

INTERVIEW WITH RAFFAL GLINIC

1. How did your adventure with investing start?

My adventure with investing began already during my studies, and then I ended the Wrocław University of Technology at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. I took part in many different projects and trainings that were thematically related to economics and finance. One of these trainings has particularly affected me. I do not remember the title right now, but it was something like: "Everyone can reach a million." I was full of optimism and conviction that I could also become a rich man. I liked the idea of ​​systematic savings combined with investing, which was presented there, so I invested the first savings on the WSE.

I remember the first purchase of shares and the emotions that accompanied it, I followed articles about the companies I bought and everything that was said and written about them. Such readings obviously influenced my buying and selling decisions. The first investments were, as always, very successful at the beginning, but then it was worse and it turned out that it is much more difficult than it looked at the beginning.

I decided, however, that I will not get out of this way but I need to find out what the people who make money on the market are guided and on what basis they decide to buy shares or to "push them" onto the market. I bought the first books, I took up learning to understand the mechanisms that capital markets are guided by, then there were various trainings in Poland and abroad. It took me next years, then I began to see some dependencies on the market and create my own scenarios based on market mechanics. It was a moment when I knew what I wanted to do in my life and what fascinates me.

2. Could you explain how your investment strategy evolved?

Being a student at the Wroclaw University of Technology, I was passionate about mathematical analysis and physics. I was fascinated by the fact that many things can be measured and calculated, which is why my first steps in the learning process were all kinds of "mathematical formulas", ie indicators, oscillators and averages. I devoted a lot of time to these issues. These instruments beautifully showed successes on backtests, unfortunately it turned out that it is not working so beautifully on the live market. After some time, I started to ask  the right questions like: Why is the price changing? What affects this change? How to see it on the chart? These questions directed me to the right path, at the end of which I began to find good answers. Then came the understanding of the market mechanics and the realization that the laws of cause and effect, demand and supply rule there.

3. Who is the authority in trading for you?

My greatest authority in trading is Tom Williams, my master and mentor who was a retired trader of the syndicate of the stock market. Unfortunately, he left us last year, but thanks to what knowledge he left behind is in his own way present with us. He gave me, above all, how to skillfully see which force has the advantage of demand or supply on the market. You need to trust charts, they are the surest source of information, be able to read them properly, recognize signals, notice and understand the reaction of other market participants.

4. What do you think is the key to success in trading?

Achieving success in trading is difficult, but not impossible, just like achieving success in any other field. It requires many factors, I will say here about two key:

1. Understanding the rights of demand and supply and reasons for price behavior
2. Stick to your chosen strategy and control your own mental weaknesses

From my own experience and observation of other traders in my project, I know that this 2 point often causes the biggest problems. Mental work is a big challenge for the trader, the problem is that hardly anyone wants to work with their weaknesses, because it requires a lot of time and knowledge about the psyche and mechanisms that govern us. 

5. Where did the idea for the VSA Trader project come from?

VsaTrader  is a company that was established to implement the "Turtle Project".

It aims to create a group of traders who invest based on one coherent decision process that results from market mechanics and VSA. The group is still training and developing under my supervision. Working on this project consumes me a lot of time, but I am very happy with the results of my turtles, I am looking for people who want to deal with trading on the Forex market and futures, I see how my turtles are developing and motivates me to continue working.

5. In your opinion, what are the most common mistakes made by beginners?

First of all, it is a mistake that in the initial phase of his or her journey, such a person enters the real market without preparation, where much more experienced investors are waiting for him. It would be best for such a person to start an adventure with FX on a demo account and achieve repeatability and regularity of his decision-making process on a safe basis. Another mistake is the lack of understanding of the basics of capital management, which is a step away from emotional decision making. Added to this is leverage and no stop loss games are mistakes that cost a lot. Excessive profit expectations in relation to the deposit held are also a problem. Beginning players set themselves a huge, several hundred percent profits as a measure of success, which they want to achieve on a monthly or yearly scale. These types of results are practically unrealistic to work out. Trading is a business like any other - you need to have the appropriate knowledge, have a plan and implement it consistently.

6. Your favorite investment instrument?

It changes, I do not attach to the instrument, I play where the daily volatility at a particular stop loss allows for a good profit / risk ratio. Currently, I'm usually present on DAX, it is also interesting on gold and oil.

7. Who is Rafał Glinicki private?

Privately ... I'm probably an ordinary guy who has a lot of passion.

I like people, I have many friends with whom I spend time. They would probably say something more about it :)

8. What will you tell at the lecture during the XTB Trading Masterclass conference in 19 in Warsaw?

At the conference, I will present how, through the analysis of the behavior of volume and price, we can see which side of the demand or supply has an advantage in the market. I will also explain how we use these tools in assessing the trend prevailing on a given asset, at the same time I will discuss the most important signals indicating the strength and weakness of a given market.