Hello Traders:
I want to share a couple thoughts on the implosion of the broker PFG and how it‘s demise relates to us as traders, our trade plans, and overall personal response to large financial loss.
First of all I was a PFG client and all of my monies for trading the FOREX market were there. I along with thousands of other traders (many in our small group here; part of the Triple Threat Trading community) were rocked by the news coming out late Monday afternoon when it was announced that PFG’s CEO had attempted suicide and the company s assets had been frozen by the governmental regulating bodies associated with and tasked to watch over the futures /commodities markets and trading firms. After a few phone conversations I was told that there were large financial irregularities (missing 200 million dollars) and that while there is a slight chance of my monies being returned to me the most probable outcome is that I have lost everything.
Now, keeping in mind that the goal of becoming a professional trader and the financial freedom I had been working towards, The capital I had worked so hard to acquire in order to open an account, all the hard lessons learned along the way, all the personal beliefs I had to overcome and install a new, all the accounts ups and downs as I “finally” grew into a consistently profitable trader, everything had been washed away as surly as the footprints along a sandy beach at high tide. Except one, only one thing remained intact. That is the sure and certain knowledge I now possess (thanks to Triple Threat Trading tremendous mentoring) on knowing how to trade successfully and consistently. Nothing can ever take that away from me or any of the others here who have invested in themselves by learning the Skill of trading.
I know for certain that many clients of PFG upon learning they had been defrauded were instantly on phone screaming a yelling, probably pleading with the other party to somehow make the exception for them in order to retrieve their monies in their accounts. Now, I am not suggesting that I wasn’t angry or any of the other host of emotions that well up in us when an unexpected loss occurs. Fortunately I have come to understand that we each have the ability to make instantaneous decisions on how we react to each and every event we encounter, even the unexpected. Be it a 200 pips loss or the complete disappearance of your trading capital it’s up to each of us to decide how we respond. I didn’t go off the deep end emotionally blaming everyone, kicking the dog, or yelling at my wife. I took responsibility. After all when it’s all said and done it was me who wired my own money to them in good faith.
Perhaps I found a little solace in the fact that I had done my due diligence by investigating PFG, looking at what the regulatory bodies had to say, how many violations they had etc. Just as with every trading strategy I investigate it by back/forward testing before committing my capital. Only then would I go live and so it was with me and PFG. All the reports I read gave me a good degree of comfort in knowing they apparently were a solid firm with a good reputation.
What it boils down to is that even if you do EVERYTHING right you can still lose. This is true in your daily trading business, relationships, and in life. Sometime we do everything correctly and still receive what we didn’t want, expect or even deserve. We do our best to plan for every contingency but still the unexpected occurs. When these things happen we aren’t expected to like it, but part of what defines us as professional traders is how we choose to react to them and what the levelheaded, sometimes difficult decisions that need to be made in the aftermath.
As for me I choose not to moan and groan over my loss. I will continue to get up every morning at the same time and go to my charts and trade. Granted it now in a new sim account but I will continue to perfect my craft and work diligently at finding additional income so as to fund a new trading account. I choose to look forward not back. I picture myself as a rather charred and crispy Phoenix, but still a Phoenix rising from the ashes none the less. I choose not to count the number of time life knocks me down, only the times I get back up! I will never, ever, ever give up on my dreams.
Ted Stieghorst
I want to share a couple thoughts on the implosion of the broker PFG and how it‘s demise relates to us as traders, our trade plans, and overall personal response to large financial loss.
First of all I was a PFG client and all of my monies for trading the FOREX market were there. I along with thousands of other traders (many in our small group here; part of the Triple Threat Trading community) were rocked by the news coming out late Monday afternoon when it was announced that PFG’s CEO had attempted suicide and the company s assets had been frozen by the governmental regulating bodies associated with and tasked to watch over the futures /commodities markets and trading firms. After a few phone conversations I was told that there were large financial irregularities (missing 200 million dollars) and that while there is a slight chance of my monies being returned to me the most probable outcome is that I have lost everything.
Now, keeping in mind that the goal of becoming a professional trader and the financial freedom I had been working towards, The capital I had worked so hard to acquire in order to open an account, all the hard lessons learned along the way, all the personal beliefs I had to overcome and install a new, all the accounts ups and downs as I “finally” grew into a consistently profitable trader, everything had been washed away as surly as the footprints along a sandy beach at high tide. Except one, only one thing remained intact. That is the sure and certain knowledge I now possess (thanks to Triple Threat Trading tremendous mentoring) on knowing how to trade successfully and consistently. Nothing can ever take that away from me or any of the others here who have invested in themselves by learning the Skill of trading.
I know for certain that many clients of PFG upon learning they had been defrauded were instantly on phone screaming a yelling, probably pleading with the other party to somehow make the exception for them in order to retrieve their monies in their accounts. Now, I am not suggesting that I wasn’t angry or any of the other host of emotions that well up in us when an unexpected loss occurs. Fortunately I have come to understand that we each have the ability to make instantaneous decisions on how we react to each and every event we encounter, even the unexpected. Be it a 200 pips loss or the complete disappearance of your trading capital it’s up to each of us to decide how we respond. I didn’t go off the deep end emotionally blaming everyone, kicking the dog, or yelling at my wife. I took responsibility. After all when it’s all said and done it was me who wired my own money to them in good faith.
Perhaps I found a little solace in the fact that I had done my due diligence by investigating PFG, looking at what the regulatory bodies had to say, how many violations they had etc. Just as with every trading strategy I investigate it by back/forward testing before committing my capital. Only then would I go live and so it was with me and PFG. All the reports I read gave me a good degree of comfort in knowing they apparently were a solid firm with a good reputation.
What it boils down to is that even if you do EVERYTHING right you can still lose. This is true in your daily trading business, relationships, and in life. Sometime we do everything correctly and still receive what we didn’t want, expect or even deserve. We do our best to plan for every contingency but still the unexpected occurs. When these things happen we aren’t expected to like it, but part of what defines us as professional traders is how we choose to react to them and what the levelheaded, sometimes difficult decisions that need to be made in the aftermath.
As for me I choose not to moan and groan over my loss. I will continue to get up every morning at the same time and go to my charts and trade. Granted it now in a new sim account but I will continue to perfect my craft and work diligently at finding additional income so as to fund a new trading account. I choose to look forward not back. I picture myself as a rather charred and crispy Phoenix, but still a Phoenix rising from the ashes none the less. I choose not to count the number of time life knocks me down, only the times I get back up! I will never, ever, ever give up on my dreams.
Ted Stieghorst
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