"I am in favor of keeping only companies with international licenses and working by international standards in the market," - Mikhail Boldin, Fort Financial Services

Today ForTrader.org magazine has Mikhail Boldin, Director of Development in Russia and CIS of the international brokerage company Fort Financial Services. We will ask him our traditional questions in the hope of getting unconventional and useful advice for our readers who are into trading.

ForTrader.org: Hello, Michael. Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did it happen that you got acquainted with stock trading?

- Hello, my name is Mikhail Boldin. I am 43 years old and I got into stock trading at the end of the 90s at the age of about 29. At that time I was working as a currency dealer at the representative office of an Austrian bank in Russia. After some time I was offered a job as a leading manager in the representative office of a British clearing house in Moscow, and three years later I moved to the broker's headquarters in London and for almost 10 years was in charge of the development strategy of trading for private clients of this broker in Russia and Eastern Europe.

 

- Exchange trading is becoming more and more a part of our life - many people know about it or are holders of certain securities. In your opinion, why is speculation popular in Russia and the CIS countries now?

- The fact is that three important factors contribute to this:

• The level of financial literacy of the population has increased significantly over the past 10-15 years and people understand that money must work. Trading on FOREX, as well as on the markets CFD and futures opens up fundamentally new opportunities for independent investment and free money management. Moreover, trading currencies or other contracts is indeed very exciting and interesting. For many people it becomes not only a means of diversifying their savings, but also a hobby.
• The level of welfare of the population is growing and now for a lot of people it is not difficult to transfer to your trading account $ 1000 and periodically make a profit from changes in exchange rates.
• The rapid development of Internet commerce has led not only to widespread access to the Internet almost everyone, but also to the fact that there are many electronic payment systems that allow you to transfer money to and withdraw from trading accounts almost instantly.

Together, these three factors determine the availability and interest in exchange trading among the general public. And this interest continues to grow.

 

- Which markets are of interest to you and why?

- Personally, I still sometimes trade on , and it's mostly currency pairs with euro and sometimes with pound. However, for the last few years most of my trading is in precious metals and energy futures. Why am I personally interested in such instruments? Probably because having lived in London for 10 years I understood better the nature of price changes on European currencies. I have already developed a feeling. But foreign exchange trading for me is always short-term. As for the futures on metals and oil, in my opinion, they are the best tools for long-term positions. Since I don't have much free time to trade, I keep open positions in futures sometimes up to two months.

 

- What don't you like about the structure of exchange or OTC trading or would you like to change?

- I am convinced that if a trader works with a broker who has an international license, then the broker's work will not cause any complaints, and therefore something can be changed only in the direction of technical progress. For example, it would be better to improve the quality of quotes broadcasting to different regions of the world. I am for the idea that on the market there are only companies with international licenses and working according to international standards, because practice shows that many small and unlicensed companies bear risk for the reputation of the whole business.

 

- In your opinion, can anyone become a trader?

- If we are talking about trading for yourself, then yes, almost anyone who has analytical thinking abilities and is not afraid of risk can become a trader. Special knowledge and experience come quickly, as a rule, after six months of serious hobby or stock trading most people are able to get serious profits from time to time. The main thing is not to lose your head, that's the trouble 🙂 But if we are talking about professional traders, whose main profession is exclusively trading, then in this case much more is required than just understanding the market.

 

- What qualities should a trader have in order to become a professional?

- In my experience, a professional trader is, first of all, a person with a very balanced psyche and an adequate picture of the world. Only those who manage to overcome their own ambitions and desires and learn to see the market picture as it is in reality achieve success in trading. As soon as a trader reaches this level of self-knowledge, his or her trading results skyrocket to unprecedented heights. Of course, in addition to psychological preparation and experience, it is necessary to be well-versed in macroeconomic indicators and be able to read and interpret fundamental analysis professionally. Preferably, be able to do it yourself and build a trading strategy on its basis with an investment horizon of 3 months and make quarterly adjustments in the process.

 

- Many people consider trading on the exchange market to be either a frivolous business or a scam. What do you have to say about it?

- I'm sure it all depends on the attitude. If a person treats investments as a casino game, of course, there will be many reasons for disappointment. If one takes trading seriously, observes risk parameters and follows a trading plan, then it is comparable with any kind of business, where there are also risks, revenue plans, and development plans. And, of course, once again I recommend to work only with brokers with an international license and working according to international standards.

 

- In your opinion, what is the most common mistake traders make?

- Oh, this is a very difficult question! Based on personal experience, I can say that, in my opinion, the most common mistake is breaking the time balance of profitable and losing trades. As a rule inexperienced traders try to close profitable positions because they are afraid the price will go against them and profit will vanish. But at the same time, such traders hold to the last, until the very margin callThey have been trying to exploit unprofitable positions because they believe that the price will turn in their direction and everything will work out fine. As a result, profitable positions are not allowed to develop and are cut off at the roots, while unprofitable positions are grown to enormous proportions. If this ratio is reversed, the dynamics of deposit growth, as a rule, significantly improves.

 

- Why traders should work with your company?

- Let me just list the main competitive advantages of our company, and readers will decide for themselves.

• First of all, Fort Financial Services is originally an international company, which is regulated by the international brokerage license number IFSC/60/256/TS/14, issued by the well-known and respected financial regulator International Financial Services Commission of Belize.
• In accordance with international license requirements and financial company regulations, Fort Financial Services has a reserve fund, a stabilization fund, and a company operating fund, which are segregated from client funds and kept in separate bank accounts, which guarantees 100% a guarantee of return of all client capital.
• Traders have a wide range of payment systems for deposits and withdrawals from trading accounts. On some popular payment systems, such as WebMoney, deposits and withdrawals are made without commissions (commission 0%).
• No deposit and deposit bonuses are available with every deposit.
• We have one of the richest ranges of trading instruments. You can find more than 500 instruments for trading on the MT4 platform and over 2,000 futures and options contracts on the professional CQG platform.
• Our second platform - CQG - is specifically designed for world-class professionals who prefer direct access to the world's leading exchanges. This platform allows not only trading, but also the creation of synthetic positions, combining futures and options trading, trading exchange spreads and using the most advanced trading algorithms for scalping even fractions of a price point.
• Clients from more than 30 countries trust us, and I sincerely hope that our service will also be appreciated by clients from Russia and the CIS.

 

- Surely you have had some funny situations with clients during your work at the Dealing Center (Broker). Without mentioning any names, could you share one with us?

- Yes, there were situations. For example, one client successfully took a trend (over 700 pips) and increased his initial deposit many times over. The total amount of the profit exceeded $50,000. When he received the amount in his bank account, he called our Finance Department a few days later and was about to send a case of champagne. I had to explain him that in the country where the Finance Department is located the "customs" of this box will be very expensive and barely talked him out of this endeavor. But it was a pleasure 🙂

 

- What advice would you give to newcomers to the exchange?

- I would advise beginners to learn trading not on demo accounts, but on a specialized real account for beginners. Fort Financial Services has developed a special type of account specifically for beginners - the "Beginner's account". Thus, if the trader will record a losing trade on this type of account, the account for newbies will be credited with 10% of the loss amount. This allows you to significantly reduce trading risks and at the same time practice in real market conditions.