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Bartłomiej Chomka: "Discipline, distance and patient waiting for the right moments"
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Bartłomiej Chomka: "Discipline, distance and patient waiting for the right moments"

created Natalia BojkoJuly 31 2020

Bartholomew Chomka currently holds the position of Chief Analyst at TeleTrade. Bringing closer his biography, it is worth mentioning his extensive experience in trading on Forex market, and not only. Sometimes we meet analysts who focus solely on theorizing. They do not deal on own account and based on their own opinions. Fortunately, Bartłomiej does not belong to this group. Consequently, it was not a simple conversation with an analyst, but also with an actively trading trader.

We raised issues not only "business", looking behind the scenes of his work. We talked about the practicalities of investing, the beginnings of trading, and the importance of fundamental analysis in determining market sentiment. There are many interesting threads, so we invite you to read and thank Bartłomiej for his time!


Bartłomiej Chomka - about trading and the work of an analyst

Could you tell us what the work of an analyst looks like?  A typical day at work.

On the way to work, I listen to the latest American podcasts and try to catch possible changes in the perception of the macro environment by hedge fund managers. In the WTT office building, I browse the latest reports from investment banks and Twitter. Knowing the current market sentiment, I am practically ready for the morning market commentary, which I run every day at 9:30. In the first part, I try to convey the most important elements describing the current sentiment and potential stimuli that can quickly reverse the sentiment. I try to briefly present the most important information having a potential impact on the market later in the day. During the day, I monitor the market situation on an ongoing basis. To all this should be added the constantly appearing articles and interviews on various websites.

How did your adventure with trading / financial markets start (first interests, transactions)?

My adventure with the market began a few days before the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008. The red headline "bailout" is stuck in my head everywhere at all American stations. Charts on the platform were black magic to me, so I quit after a few weeks. I came back in 2011 and since then I have become seriously involved in trading. I lost 80% of my capital on my first account, and later during the intervention FED (probably on swaps) on a few trades I recouped and then made 100%. I withdrew the money and decided it was pure coincidence and found that I needed to get a deeper insight into the market. The following years were tough because I reset two or three accounts. At that time, I was throwing everything I could onto the chart, testing various strategies. I paid too little attention to fundamental factors. The last time my account was reset, I threw everything off the chart and focused on price itself and fundamental analysis. Discipline, distance and patient waiting for the right moments on the market meant that I started to achieve my first successes.

Are you trading for your own account? If so, what is your approach to the market?

Yes, I trade all the time, but I sometimes have a few weeks of breaks. The best moments for me to take a position are when the so-called A "game changer" that may affect the market and individual instruments for many weeks. Technically, I focus on looking for inputs where potential SLs are knocked out and short-term manipulations. Intraday trading sessions are very important, as the price behaves in relation to the highs and lows set by Asia or Europe.

In your analyzes, you focus mainly on the foundations of the analyzed instruments. What do you pay the most attention to?

Monetary policy pursued by central banks is a key element in influencing market understanding. This is the factor that matters most for all asset classes. The most interesting moments to take a position are mainly signals regarding further actions on interest rates and QE programs. Personally, I am not interested in when the central bank decides, but when new signals emerge and how strong they are. For example, gold entered a strong upward trend in June 2019. Why? The FED representatives started talking for the first time about a possible interest rate cut (which took place on July 31). The second most important element is inflation, which has been very suppressed in recent years ("official" inflation of course). He treats the remaining indicators as a short-term stimulus to greater or lesser volatility of the intraday.

You have mentioned in many interviews that trading is about "market awareness". People who are just starting their adventure with trade often face many dilemmas. What do you think is worth starting to understand market mechanisms? Training? Demo accounts?

In my opinion, the most important thing is to understand the impact of monetary policy on individual assets. Another important element is the knowledge of the market sentiment - i.e. the expectations of the market (investment banks) as to the further actions of central banks, government policy. It's a good idea to look for key events that resulted in more volatility. For example, has every announced QE program in the US since 2008 led to increases in the indices? No, it was only announced in March 2009 that led to a strong upward trend. It was similar during the recent coronavirus crisis, where earlier FED interventions were not sufficient and only the announced program of unlimited QE program led to asset inflation (23 March). First, read all possible comments and reports to start forming your own personal opinion. It is worth writing down your thoughts in a notebook, because at a certain stage of market awareness, we will start catching repetitive patterns. If we properly cover the fundamental part, it seems to me that it is worth setting up a real calculus to start learning to control emotions.

What do you think should be avoided in trading? What games / strategies / beliefs damage the accounts of beginners and sometimes those more experienced in trading?

The biggest enemy for traders is themselves. Traders reset their accounts mainly because of the high leverage they use. I also did not miss this mistake. In retrospect, I know that if I want to use more leverage, I will do so on a part of my capital. In my opinion, higher risk is also an even better selection of transactions, because market conditions are very rare, day after day we will be able to catch a movement of over 100 pips on the currency market without prior loss. Everyone should remember that the market is constantly changing and we should adapt to changing conditions. None of us is able to create a transaction model that will continuously generate profit without any modifications. The only indicator that we should use most often is our brain.

Trading conditions have been fairly “atypical” in recent months. Do you think you should adjust your trading to the market, in a word, be flexible?

As I mentioned before, we have to adapt to the market, not the other way around. Recent months have shown that despite the worst fundamental data in history, the US indices may gain. That is why it is so important to focus on the activities of the Fed. If, after the announced quantitative easing, the indices do not react with declines to poor data, then we should adjust to the new conditions. If there is a situation where the next QE programs introduced by the FED do not coincide with the increases on the stock markets, then we should also adapt. We should never make strict rules. Fundamentally, we live in very interesting times, perhaps this is the end of the old monetary system, so in my opinion, everyone who is related to trading and investing in any way should remember about flexibility.

Finally, a very classic question. What advice would you give to someone who is dreaming of becoming an analyst? Are there such skills, character traits or temperament that guarantee success in this industry?

Any good trader will be a good analyst. Nobody can teach us as much as the market can, as long as we know the right tools to use to analyze our mistakes. I love competition, I am not afraid of defeat, and each day on the market is like another clash with an opponent that we do not know until the end and we do not know what form he is. It is certainly important to be honest with yourself, that is, admitting your mistake and willingness to constantly develop. I believe that it is much easier to understand the market from the perspective of your own account than from the perspective of academic knowledge, which is why I believe that every good analyst should trade in the market.

Thank you!


Bartłomiej Chomka publishes current analyzes on the YouTube channel - TeleTrade Polska.

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About the Author
Natalia Bojko
Graduate of the Faculty of Economics and Finance, University of Białystok. He has been actively trading on the currency and stock markets since 2016. It assumes that the simplest analyzes bring the best results. Supporter of swing trading. When selecting companies for the portfolio, he is guided by the idea of ​​investing in value. Since 2019, he has held the title of financial analyst. Currently, he is the co-CEO & Founder in the Czech proptrading company SpiceProp. Co-creator of the Podlasie Stock Exchange Academy project (XNUMXrd and XNUMXth edition).