"The good thing about Ishimoku is that it immediately shows which instrument works according to market laws, and which is influenced by outside forces," - Andrey Lukin

A few words about our hero today. Andrey Vladimirovich Lukin, a Siberian, was born and grew up in the now "glorious" city of Mezhdurechensk. He studied in St. Petersburg, then returned to Mezhdurechensk and worked at the mine, which, after the explosion in the late 90s and its closure, went into business. Then, in the late 90s, I learned about stock exchanges and Forex in particular, but due to circumstances I could not devote all my attention to them, so I returned to the mine.
With the advent of the Internet in a distant Siberian city, I again began to look for opportunities to enter the stock exchanges. In 2005 such an opportunity appeared.
In 2008, Andrey Lukin quit his job at the mine, moved to St. Petersburg and fully devoted his time to trading.
Нашим читателям Андрей Лукин знаком по ранее опубликованному у нас курсу обучения «Ликбез. Индикатор Ишимоку – 5 составляющих успеха».

Y.A.: Andrei, tell us about your first experience on Forex?
A.L.: Первый опыт связан с компанией « Клуб». Так сказать, призывник его ЧГК: конкурса «Что? Где? Когда?». Попробовал торговлю на конкурсных счетах – настроение было одухотворенное: «ВАУ, да я просто гений! Сейчас капусты нарублю!». Естественно, открыл свой первый реальный счет на  1000 долларов… и «слил» за неделю… Потом еще раз с таким же «успехом». После провалов зашел на форум « Клуба» и там, пообщавшись с местными обитателями, понял, что я ничего не умею и не знаю. И что торговле надо учиться. И учиться основательно.

Y.A.: Many traders quit trading after the first lost deposit, probably, that is why Forex is often compared to casino. Why did you decide to continue?
A.L.: Потому и решил продолжить, что осознал свои ошибки и понял, что трейдингу надо учиться – с наскока ничего не взять. Читал и искал хорошие материалы более полугода. Много чего перепробовал, пока в мае 2006 года не попробовал Ишимоку. С того времени этому индикатору не изменяю. Результатом моих исследований и работы с Ishimoku indicator стал цикл статей в Вашем журнале под рубрикой «Ликбез. Индикатор Ишимоку – 5 составляющих успеха».

J.A.: Tell me, why Ishimoku?
A.L.: This is a very simple indicator, even though it seems complicated. The algorithms of interaction with the price incorporated into it are a ready-made trading system, which allows you to determine trends in the market almost instantly. The development of this creation in the direction I needed allowed me to bring the indicator almost to perfection.
Because of this, I boldly assert that Ishimoku indicator gives targets and signals long before the instrument's price arrives there, and all economic news and data are released in the development of signals and targets by the indicator. That is why I have not practically followed the fundamental data of the world market economies for more than a year and a half.
In addition, the indicator perfectly shows which instruments on the market work according to the laws of the market, and where there are speculators or where there is the interference of the state or other management institutions. The calculations I made based on the analysis of Ishimoku have been repeatedly confirmed by the mass media after some time.

J.A.: Did Ishimoku allow you to deal only with the stock exchange?
A.L.: This is a question I am constantly asked by my course attendees. I answer honestly, not yet.
If you remember that at the time when I started working in Forex I was working in the mine, then it is clear that I did not have enough money to work only in exchanges. For more or less carefree existence I needed the capital of more than 30 000 dollars to work in the mode of quiet trading with observance of all rules of capital management. Over time I earned a certain amount of money, which allowed me to leave the mine and move to St. Petersburg, but I have not yet "matured" enough to fully devote myself to the stock market.

Y.A.: Do you expect to connect your future only with the market? Or is there a possibility that you will do something else?
A.L.: Да это уже практически свершившийся факт – основную долю доходов приносит работа на Forex. Пока я планирую связать свою жизнь с ним.

Y.A.: Andrei, in your opinion, can a trader with any experience learn to work with Ishimoku?
A.L.: Yes, the indicator is difficult to grasp only at first glance. In fact, it is very simple and convenient.

Y.A.: Everyone knows that trading strategies lose force over time. How often do you change your tactics?
A.L.: I practically do not change. And you have to distinguish between tactics and strategy. The strategy of working with Ishimoku has not undergone any changes. But the tactics varies depending on the strategy. In addition, the instrument volatility strongly affects the choice of tactics. That's why the volatility settings of the indicator for working on intraday time intervals appeared.

J.A.: What instruments do you prefer?
A.L.: В принципе любой инструмент подходит для анализа через призму Ишимоку. Однако, чем он и хорош, – сразу покажет, какой инструмент работает по рыночным законам, а какой работает под влиянием сторонних сил. Вот такие инструменты я предпочитаю не рассматривать в своей работе. А что касается основного приоритета, то уже длительное время отдаю предпочтение британскому фунту.

Y.A.: And what purely speculative (under the influence of outside forces) instruments would you point out?
A.L.: In addition to speculators, governments and the Central Bank are sometimes actively involved in shaping instrument prices. As for the speculative aspect, I would, of course, single out the currencies of the commodity-priority countries in the economy. The Australian dollar, the Canadian dollar, the New Zealand dollar, and all the cross rates with these currencies. The Japanese yen, and consequently its cross-coursesThe government of a country is highly susceptible to interference.
The ruble looks interesting in this respect. Not only is it a "commodity", but its exchange rate is also strongly influenced by the "opinion" of the Central Bank and the government. And when I hear from analysts that the ruble exchange rate went in one direction or another under the influence of any macroeconomic data, it makes me smile.

J.A.: You are actively engaged in teaching your strategy. Are there students who have already surpassed their teachers and whose innovations you have adopted into your system?
A.L.: Not yet (laughs). But some of my students have already reached my level. They admit that they try to add something of their own, but they come back to the initial position. It's hard to use Ishimoku in its pure form. They actively use candlestick analysis, work with channels and trend lines, as well as elements of wave TA.
Some listeners simply supplement the strategy with other elements they own and like. There are fans of Waves Wolf, Forks Andrews and others. But the basis, as they say, is my system based on the Ishimoku indicator. Everything else acts as a confirmation and supplement.

Y.A.: Do you use additional signals for yourself?
A.L.: Yes, I do, and it is part of my TS. But these signals from other elements of TA are considered solely as a confirmation of targets and signals from Ishimoku.

Y.A.: Tell us, how does your trading day go?
A.L.: Everything starts on Monday. If since Friday we have a problem with non-achievement of the target or the indicator has not given a signal, and thus the target for the medium term (sometimes it seems that if we have one more candle, there will be a signal and the target), then we leave Monday to the price to be defined. In the evening, after the closing of the European session, it is possible to judge about the priorities in the direction of the instrument.
Кроме этого, Ишимоку позволяет спрогнозировать не только уровни, интересные для работы и входа в рынок, но и примерное время получения таких сигналов. Поэтому, зная этот нюанс, я не утруждаю себя бесконечным мониторингом графиков. Мне достаточно в нужное время получить информацию об уровне цен, чтобы принять решение. Просмотр графиков, как правило, это просто получение информации о том, каким именно образом получен тот или иной сигнал, для того чтобы скорректировать свои цели. Так как я человек весьма подвижный, то прозябание у монитора мне весьма противопоказано – не люблю я это дело, особенно, когда нахожусь в рынке. В это время стараюсь быть подальше от компьютеров и мониторов.

J.A.: How long can the deal you opened be on the market?
A.L.: Всё зависит от тактики, от силы сигнала и глубины цели. Но большинство – не более суток.

Y.A.: And how do you prefer to close transactions?
A.L.: By TakeProfit (smiles). Again, it all depends on the work tactic: in a trend market positions are usually closed by TakeProfit, during corrections and flat periods I close most transactions manually.

Y.A.: And how do you close deals with a loss?
A.L.: Смотря, как этот убыток получился. Если в тренде, то никак не закрываю, – значит, рано зашел и попал на коррекцию, поэтому усиливаю позицию на коррекционных уровнях, и далее иду по тренду. Если сделка открыта в коррекционном канале, то… флет есть флет, дождусь выхода в безубыток. Если же встал в позицию против тренда в расчете на коррекцию (а это очень редко), а цена не дошла до цели и ушла обратно в тренд, то режу позиции без сожаления.

Y.A.: Andrei, was there a deal that was particularly memorable for you?
A.L.: Probably with the Swiss franc last year. I was actively selling it, and on some information the franc suddenly shot up more than 400 points (at that time the intervention of the Swiss Central Bank was "sort of" announced). Knowing the franc's technicality and the fact that it would work out its objectives, disregarding all this talk, I sold it at the very top with an obscene lot, and in three days I took more than 700 pips.

Ю.А.: Вы строите прогнозы на длительные периоды – квартал, год и т.д. или только внутри дня?
A.L.: Intraday work is impossible without identifying trends on higher time intervals.

J.A.: What is your maximum timeframe?
A.L.: The whole ruler. For example, on a monthly timeframe I look at the Ishimoku with parameters at 12.

Y.A.: What would you advise beginner traders?
A.L.: Decide, to begin with, why they decided to do trading. Then, you need to know exactly how much money they can trade painlessly "in deficit", so that it would not affect the family budget. In addition, I advise you not to rush in trying to "cut the cabbage quickly" as I did, better to spend more time studying and remember that you will have to study all the time. And, of course, be patient.

SA: One last question, what's your prognosis for the summer for the major couples?
A.L.: Now all major currencies are in a corrective movement after the spring strengthening of the U.S. dollar. The euro gave out signal на месячном таймфрейме с целью 1.14 и перспективой до 1.12, но ему требуется подтверждение. Тем более что цена на месячном ТФ находится в облаке. Младшие таймфреймы пока в ту сторону не смотрят. Но при определенных условиях, а это продавливание евро ниже 1.20, этот инструмент уже ничто не остановит. У фунта стерлингов не все так безнадежно. Долгосрочные временные интервалы работают в коррекции. Как цель можно рассматривать 1.48 с перспективой 1.53. Глядя на фунт, можно предположить, что и евро будет летом укрепляться. Ориентир – 1.27. Швейцарский франк – как цель для коррекции – 1.12 с перспективой до 1.11 – 1.10. Иена – 93.00 с перспективой до 96.

Y.A.: Andrey, thanks for the interview and good luck!