For several years, the demo account competition DemoCup has been held by the international forex broker NordFX. A prizewinner of the competition is also Mukhammed Nurzhanov from Kyrgyzstan. And although he only placed eighth in the January derby, we are confident that the time is not far off when this young man will occupy the top spots in international trader rankings.
If at the beginning of the last century, pioneers of aviation and astronautics were born in small provincial towns, now, a hundred years later, pioneers of Forex are emerging there. And if earlier Seneca's saying was "Per aspera ad astra" (Through hardships to the stars), now, looking at Mukhammed, it can boldly be rephrased as: "Per aspera ad Forex" — "Through hardships to Forex".
— Mukhammed, to start, if you don’t mind, please say a few words about yourself: how old are you, where were you born, who are your parents, where do you live now, your marital status, education, profession, and where do you work?
— Well, what can I say? I am 22 years old, I was born in the Kyrgyz Republic, in the town of Kok-Jangak in the Jalal-Abad region. It is a very small town, Kok-Jangak translates to Green Walnut.
I graduated from school there in 2009, then came to the capital, Bishkek, to enroll in a university. Thanks to my knowledge, I was able to enroll without problems on a budget at the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University named after B.N. Yeltsin. I am currently in my 5th year studying to become a civil engineer and I work in a construction company in my field.
My parents are now retired. My father used to work as a mine director in my hometown, and my mother was a teacher. I am still not married.
— Tell me, how developed is Forex in Kyrgyzstan? Are many people involved in it?
— To be honest, Forex is not developed at all in our country. I tried to find like-minded people interested in Forex here, but unfortunately, there are almost none or very few in Kyrgyzstan.
— Your Ukrainian colleagues complained about the imperfection of the legislative framework in Ukraine regarding Forex. How is this situation in Kyrgyzstan?
— Since very few people know about Forex here, there is no legislative framework at all. Maybe we will face similar problems, but only at some point in the future.
— According to Wikipedia, 82.7% of believers in the Kyrgyz Republic are Muslims. In this regard, the question is: how popular are special Islamic accounts that some brokers offer? Do many traders use them?
— Yes, most of us are Muslims. I don’t know for sure, but I think there are neither dealing centers nor Islamic accounts in my city.
— Mukhammed, when did you enter the world of Forex? What prompted you: simple curiosity, excitement, a desire to quickly earn a lot of money, or something else?
— In 2010, I was in the USA and heard about exchanges, stocks, etc. Upon returning to my homeland, I found an interesting article about Forex, and that’s how it all started. What interested me? First of all, it was curiosity, and then the desire to earn money quickly.
— Did you receive any special training in trading, attend courses?
— No, I didn’t attend any training or courses — my financial situation didn’t allow it. But I started to study this market independently — reading articles, books, watching video courses, seminars… In general, I tried to find, study, and apply everything related to Forex. I still continue to read and watch as much as possible because I always learn something new and, of course, useful. This helps me improve.
I don’t think that Forex is engaged in by any super-talented people; they are probably just persistent, hard-working, and very disciplined. But that’s, of course, my personal opinion.
— Do you feel like a professional in this field now? Can you teach others? Or do you think you still need to learn more and gain experience yourself?
— No, I am not a professional yet. For that, I need to gain experience, which I currently lack. But soon, I hope to achieve that professionalism. I can certainly give advice to beginners, but not teach.
— How did you learn about the DemoCup competition held by NordFX? Why did you decide to participate?
— I saw a banner about the DemoCup on the internet and decided to participate. In general, I participate in many competitions, but I think that NordFX conducts its competitions much more honestly and fairly than some other dealing centers, I don’t want to specify which ones. I wanted to test my skills, abilities, and patience, but in the middle of the competition… I relaxed a bit.
— One more question regarding the competition: did you use an advisor or trade manually?
— Only manually. And I am sure that no advisor can compare to a real person. I recommend trading only by yourself! Yes, there are mistakes made due to emotions, but we learn from those mistakes :)
— Your results graph in the competition is quite interesting and unusual — first, almost a horizontal line, several jumps up (from zero to 35 thousand), then again almost a week of complete calm, and suddenly a sharp vertical rise to almost 115,000. Did you catch trends on fundamental events or use some other strategy?
— Very simply: as I said, in the middle of the competition I relaxed, and then right on the final stretch, I started trading normally again.
— Well, everyone would like to do that: gathered yourself, put in a little effort, and… tripled your capital in a couple of days! And this is called "normal." Now, if you allow me, a general theoretical question. Do you think it is possible to combine fundamental and technical analysis in trading? Or are these two mutually exclusive approaches?
— Probably, it is possible, but I only use technical analysis. At one point, I tried to trade using fundamental analysis, but it’s not for me. Probably for analysts :)
— Speaking of technical analysis, which indicators and time frames do you find most successful for trading?
— At first, I used all the indicators that exist! I couldn’t even see the chart properly. Well, now I first want to see just the chart, and if there are clear traces of movement, I try to use indicators based on that. I only use MA and Fibonacci lines. On my real account, I use only the daily time frame D1, and on the competition account, I used H4. Before that, I tried to trade on smaller time frames, but it didn’t work out for me. Probably, it’s better to work where you succeed, right?
— Mukhammed, what do you think about strategies based on the Martingale method? Can they be used on — I emphasize! — a real account, or is it a guaranteed path to zeroing out the deposit?
— If I’m not mistaken, this method is also known as the "boomerang." I have never traded using this strategy at all.
— What do you think about scalping?
— I don’t think about it at all. I probably don’t have the patience for it, and my heart wouldn’t withstand it. For me, as I said, the norm is D1 and H4. Each person is individual.
— Now allow me to ask a "deeply personal" question — what are your successes in real trading?
— I am gradually developing, and I have some small successes.
— Do you think that by engaging exclusively in Forex, one can support a family? And become a millionaire?
— It all depends only on the person: if he can manage his emotions, be persistent and patient, then yes, he can support a family and become a millionaire. I hope I will succeed one day too.
— Looking at you, I am absolutely sure of that. By the way, since we are talking about family, how do your loved ones feel about this activity? Do they support you or advise you not to waste time on Forex and engage in "serious business"?
— To be honest, no one knows that I trade on Forex. Sometimes my relatives ask what I do, and I have to lie to them. I don’t know if they will understand me or not. I want to show real results, after which I hope they will believe in me and this activity of mine. For now, I am studying, working, and… trading on Forex. Although sometimes I catastrophically lack time.
— If NordFX announced a competition not for demo accounts, but for real accounts, would you dare to participate?
— I will be honest: probably not.
— And finally, our last, traditional question: what is your goal in life, in general, and in Forex, in particular?
— Probably, my life goal is to achieve success in everything: first of all, in family (this is the most important for me), in personal life, and of course, in Forex. I want to become financially free and then spend more time with my family, friends, and girlfriend. I will also try to help everyone in need; I myself used to struggle financially, so I have experienced all this firsthand. And I also want to travel around the world! That’s the short version.
For reference: DemoCup is a two-week competition that NordFX has been holding monthly since March 2010. The competition is exclusively for training (demo) accounts. However, the prizes for the winners are quite real — $3500 is drawn monthly, with a total annual prize pool of $42,000.
Every month, $3000 is divided among 10 winners, and another 10 people receive consolation prizes of $50. Anyone can participate in the competition completely free of charge and win. You can learn about other competitions held by Forex by following this link.