My Two Passions: Why I am Moving to Mare Nostrum :o)

Today I am going to go a little bit outside of my regular posts to communicate something important to all those of you who may be interested. During the beginning of this year I have taken a very important decision regarding what I will be doing for the next few years and this decision involves moving to a very special place right next to the Mediterranean sea, known to ancient romans as the Mare Nostrum (our sea). On today’s post I will tell you what this decision is all about, why I hadn’t taken it before and what possible implications it will have during the next few years. Certainly this is a very important turning point in my life and hopefully it will be done for the absolute best :o) Taking this step is the culmination of a lot of effort and the biggest sign to be that my trading career has achieves a high degree of success!

When I first graduated from my university as a chemist I had mainly two options. I could start working as a paid chemist with just an undergraduate degree or I could go abroad to do a graduate degree that would give me better career opportunities. This is when I took the critical decision to avoid both and improve my Forex skills to the point where I could live from them. After several years I started to live from trading and the dream of having financial freedom became a reality. Today I can say that I live from trading and this is a wonderful thing few people can say, I have got to a point where I have achieved a financial status which provides me with the freedom I wanted without depending on any regular job.

However when I think about chemistry I do not think about it as something I would rather not do. I didn’t study chemistry because of its job prospects but because this area of science deeply fascinates me. Through the past few years I have been doing pro-bono research with an important private research institute in Spain just because I truly like the act of doing academic research. Now that I don’t really have to worry about money that much – besides keeping up all my development/monitoring efforts – it seems like a great time to start some projects that will fulfill my deep desire to do academic research in the areas of chemistry that I like the most.

For this reason I decided to go for a doctorate degree in the research institute I’ve been working with in Spain. This institution is top notch and has some of the most successful scientists in Europe as part of their staff. The ICIQ or Institut Catalá d’Investigacio Quimica (Catalan institute for Chemical Investigation) is located on the beautiful town of Tarragona just a little bit South of Barcelona along the North Eastern Spanish coastline. I spent a few months there doing research in 2007 and I can tell you that it is one of the most peaceful and amazing cities I have ever seen. There is absolutely no chaos, very reduced crime and a wonderful cuisine.

My PhD will be carried out in solar cell research, particularly in the area of quantum dot sensitized solar cells so besides solving the problems dealing with Forex from September I will be working on solving your energy problems as well :o). For me moving to Spain is probably a big step and although initially it will be only for the next 4 years if things turn out well I might be staying for good in this wonderful town.  I understand I might not be the typical PhD candidate (certainly not the typical money-starved candidate, :o)) but I certainly do this because I miss true experimental chemical research a lot and for me a big part of being happy is being able to research the things I like. If you have been an Asirikuy member then you may have noticed my big curiosity and push towards research (even on this field which is purely financial) but such is my passion to find answers to my questions.

Now this “moving process” might have a few short term consequences for Asirikuy as I will probably have to skip one newsletter while moving so that I have the time to settle down and do all the required paperwork once I get to Spain (although I will try to avoid this as much as possible). However once I start my doctorate I will still put the same dedication to Asirikuy I do now as Asirikuy has for me the same priority that chemical research has. I’ve been working on the website and its contents for several years now and I only intend to make the contents better and to work harder on system development and Forex related research. For those of you who are European Asirikuy members from September I will be living in Spain and hopefully many of you can come to visit me when you have some time :o) Certainly I will greatly enjoy having a beer or two with a few Asirikuy members!

If you were not here to learn about my life but about my research in automated trading  please consider joining Asirikuy.com, a website filled with educational videos, trading systems, development and a sound, honest and transparent approach towards automated trading in general . I hope you enjoyed this article ! :o)

 

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38 Responses to “My Two Passions: Why I am Moving to Mare Nostrum :o)”

  1. xyz says:

    Thank you for this personal story. It helps to understand where you come from.

    One slightly personal question (but I don’t think it is very personal given the information you gave in this article): how did you accumulate enough money to be able to live from trading in the first place ?

    I am asking this question because I am also in the process of developing a mechanical trading system and I am quite satisfied with the preliminary tests. Although I am not thinking about quitting my day job yet(I enjoy it for the most part anyway), I was thinking that even if my system was profitable over two or three years, I would not be able to live from it for a long time unless I can start with a trading capital of at least a few hundred thousand dollars, which I clearly don’t have at the moment… I would be curious to know how you managed this or what advice you could give on this. Did you work for a few years and tried to save as much money as you could before beginning to live from your trading?

    Thanks in advance for your answer(s)!

    • admin says:

      Hello Xyz,

      Thank you for posting :o) Well certainly I saved as much as I could when I was a student but it wasn’t clearly that much. Most of the money I made initially came from the money I could manage according to regulations. For example in the US you can manage capital through limited power of attorney contracts towards at least 115K USD or 15 investors (whichever comes first) and this gave me the opportunity to gather significant amounts of capital from the management of capital from friends to save towards the idea of living from trading. Then you just start compounding and reach the point where living from trading becomes a reality. I should also make it clear that I have a very simple life style (I am really the total opposite of a consumist) and I also don’t have any children, mortgages or any debt whatsoever so for me it might have been easier to save and reach this goal than for most since I have virtually no financial obligation outside of my monthly expenses. However I believe that this is achievable for anyone within a 10-15 year time frame with judicious saving, investment and the development of a clear and deep understanding :o) Thank you very much again for commenting!

      Best Regards,

      Daniel

  2. Rimas says:

    I am realy impresed with your energy and pashion with everithing you do. Thank you very much for all unbelievable job you have already done on Asirikuy and good luck with your new projects.

    • admin says:

      Hi Rimas,

      Thanks a lot for your comment and kind words ! You’re very welcome :o)

      Best regards,

      Daniel

  3. Caner says:

    Daniel,

    It will be hard for you to have a job, to deal with your accounts, to develop new systems, and deal with asirikuy. You know, asirikuy is growing rapidly in these days. I wish you can handle all of them well. You are closer to Turkey now. If I visit Spain, I’d like to see you.

    Caner

    • admin says:

      Hi Caner,

      Thank you for posting :o) You’re right it won’t be easy! But I am quite disciplined and hopefully everything will get done swiftly :o) If Asirikuy grows too much then I might need to impose some sort of barrier on membership (like by referral only) to make the email answering load smaller but probably that won’t happen until we grow a lot more. Certainly if you come to Spain I would be thrilled to meet you :o) Thanks again for posting!

      Best Regards,

      Daniel

  4. Jeff says:

    Hi Daniel,

    You teach in many ways,not just Forex trading, but by your example – here I see that in life you follow your passions …… and the money follows.

    We often chase money and neglect our passions thinking that our joy will come when the money arrives …. only to find that even should the money arrive (highly unlikely if we ignore our passions) but our passion has been quashed in the pursuit of money.

    Good luck and best wishes,

    Jeff

    • admin says:

      Hi Jeff,

      Thank you very much for your comment and kind words :o) Well as you say I always try to pursue my passions and going to Spain to do research is basically just a decision based on what I want to do in my life time now that I have financial freedom. Certainly trading and developing trading systems is also something that makes me very happy but certainly both things are important parts of my life which I want to develop. As the title of the post says these are my two passions and I would love to develop both fully through my life time. As you say when you follow what you love, money simply follows :o) Thank you very much again for your post and support,

      Best Regards,

      Daniel

  5. Franco says:

    Hey Daniel,

    I’m exactly now where you were, have to decide if I’m going to search for a full time job, if I’m going to do my masters in nuclear engineering or if I’m going to do full time trading. Difficult diffuclt….

    But I love engineering and science so I don’t think I’ll ever just do trading that would be a total waste in my opinion

    • admin says:

      Hi Franco,

      Thank you for your comment :o) Well for me the decision was not easy. I decided to dedicate a few years to trading since it was the best time to achieve financial freedom (with a lot of time and no financial responsibilities). Of course each person’s situations are different (for example I had no debt from my studies) but for me it was the perfect time to do this. If you have no financial obligations then it will probably be the best time for you to become successful at trading before you continue with the development of your career. Certainly it is up to each one of us to figure out what to do and probably what was best for me might not be for you :o) Thank you very much again for your comments !

      Best Regards,

      Daniel

      • Franco says:

        Thanks for the reply,

        All of the trading knowledge in the world won’t do me any good if I don’t have a large sum of capital (at least $150 000), so I will have to work before I can even think of financial freedom via trading :)

  6. tbu says:

    Hello Daniel,
    I was a little bit surprised by your decision :-) I wish the best of luck in your new post. I have never seen you but I respect you very much. I hope you will continue with the project of Asirikuy and I am looking forward for meeting you in Barcelona or Tarragona, that I like very much, too :-)
    Thank you for everything you do!

    Best Regards,
    Tomas

    • admin says:

      Hi Tomas,

      Thank you very much for your post :o) Well I will certainly continue spending as much time (probably even more!) in Asirikuy during the following few years (hopefully decades!) so don’t worry about that :o) I also look forward to meeting you in Tarragona !

      Best Regards,

      Daniel

  7. Maxim says:

    Daniel,

    I wish you all the best in your new path to the PhD!
    I’m sure that you’ll find out many new things in that field since you always come with fresh and extremely original yet elegant ideas!
    I also hope that you will be able to investigate both fields (chemistry and forex) at the pace you think is a right one.
    Wish you all the best in your new endeavor.

    Maxim

    • admin says:

      Hi Maxim,

      Thank you very much for your comment :o) I deeply appreciate your support (now and for almost the past 3 years) and hopefully I will continue to count with you as both a friend and Asirikuy member in the future. You have definitely helped my programming much more than anyone else :o) Thanks again for your invaluable support!

      Best Regards,

      daniel

  8. Gabor says:

    Hi Daniel,

    Your research project sounds very exiting. I wish you there as much success as in forex.
    I always wanted to see Bacelona, but until now I didn’t have the opportunity to get there, now here’s a great opportunity :) I look forward to meeting you in Tarragona.

    Gabor

    • admin says:

      Hi Gabor,

      Thanks a lot for your comment :o) I would obviously greatly enjoy meeting you in Spain so once I get established I will be glad to offer you a place to stay and show you around! Also looking forward to meeting you :o)

      Best regards,

      Daniel

  9. Chris says:

    Daniel-

    Congratulations on this big step in your life and I wish you all the success you deserve. I hope that you can continue to work on Asirikuy and even if you slow down a little maybe I can finally get caught up on everything you are doing!

    You are such a talented individual and watching you build Asirikuy out of nothing but a blog and e-book was really an inspiration. You’ve done more original and useful work in the past 2.5 years than most people will produce in a lifetime.

    Congratulations once again and in a few years we can call your Doctor Fernandez!

    Chris

    • admin says:

      Hi Chris,

      Thank you very much for your comment :o) I definitely also hope to continue my work in Asirikuy at the same rythm so hopefully there will not be a need to slow it down, however I may do some polls on the website if the rythm is “too fast” as I have thought lately that the publication speed might be too fast for many members (who have full time jobs and don’t have as much time). Probably if a majority of members would benefit from a “slower speed” I might consider this change anyway :o)

      Also thanks a lot for calling me talented :o) I believe that my talent really doesn’t rely on me being any “smarter” than anyone but simply on the fact that I am perhaps a little bit more dedicated. It seems that having a vision and working hard towards it is what makes things in the end workout so I am sure there are thousands of individuals attempting to profit in the markets who are way smarter than me but I believe my focus is what gives me the “edge” here. I am glad you’ve found all this process inspirational :o) Thanks again for your post!

      Best regards,

      Daniel

  10. Maurizio says:

    Dear Daniel, I’m very happy for you for this new exciting project and life. If you will have the same approach to your alternative energy project as you have in Forex (and I know you will have it), I’m sure you could give a great contribution in this field and in saving our planet!! I’m also very happy that you will be not far from Switzerland and I’m already planning to come to meet you, maybe with Gigabrainy. Thank you for everything you do for us!!
    Kind regards.
    Maurizio

    • admin says:

      Hi Maurizio,

      Thank you for your comment and kind words :o) Hopefully I’ll be able to contribute a lot to this field, to tell you the truth I am very passionate about both chemistry and Forex and hopefully I’ll be able to bring the best to both worlds in the future. Saving the planet is certainly an extremely ambitious goal and all I want is to contribute my grain of sand towards that goal :o) I will certainly be very glad to meet gigabrainy and you in Spain!

      Best regards,

      Daniel

  11. Samkronin says:

    Daniel,

    I have family nearby Tarragona, so we will definitely be able to meet up in person now! I congratulate you on your decision and wish you every success Dr Fernandez.

    I completely understand how you feel. I spent many years doing a Bachelors and a Masters degree in molecular biology which I am still passionate about. Because I couldn’t live off a bench researchers income I left and became a science film maker which is now my other passion. As much as I really enjoy forex it wouldn’t be enough on its own and any financial freedom it provides will just allow me to continue promoting science through my films even more. I’m sure you will get the same satisfaction pursuing your research in solar technology. Besides, our energy problems are so dire we need someone with your intelligence and creativity working on it!

    Kind regards,

    Sam

    • admin says:

      Hi Sam,

      Thank you for your post and kind words :o) You’re entirely right in that trading provides me freedom and certain satisfaction (through finance-related research) but I want my contribution on this world to go beyond this seemingly socially unproductive field (in the sense that it doesn’t provide a lot of social improvement on its own). Living from trading has given me the power to take the decision to go for a PhD knowing that I won’t have to depend on finding a job on what probably is a very hard market for researchers. I am doing this PhD for what I believe are all the rigth reasons and I am sure it will be a very enjoyable time :o) I definitely look forward to meeting you in Tarragona !

      Best regards,

      Daniel

  12. Corezo says:

    Daniel, I wish you all the best in your endeavours. I do hope that Asirikuy continues to grow and is active for the next few decades.

    I think all of us are inspired by the example you have set for us. I know that I will be successful trading forex if I simply learn all the steps that you learnt yourself, and gain a strong understanding about all aspects of the systems I will use.

    It is amazing that everything you have provided, your knowledge, talent and experience, has been given out of your compassion for ‘the little guy’ and not for much of a financial gain.

    Although I am from Australia, it would be brilliant if we could all meet up in Spain at sometime in the future…maybe at an annual Asirikuy get-together…there would be more than a few beers shouted for you!

    • admin says:

      Hi Corezo,

      Thank you for your post and kind words :o) I also hope Asirikuy continues to grow and that our understanding of trading becomes deeper and our tools much better. I see a future where Asirikuy becomes a large community of “little guys” who achieve financial independence through the power of understanding. To tell you the truth Asirikuy was created out of a need to give back from a career which made me feel “empty” without this contribution, to fill a void I felt existed where people who wanted to reach trading success but didn’t know how to didn’t have someone to lend them a hand. Now we all work together and Asirikuy has become a true community, certainly much more than what I would have though almost two years ago when I created the website :o)

      Your idea about the Asirikuy yearly meeting is also a great one :o) I will give it some thought and probably we could plan one for 2012 if everything turns out as we plan! Thank you very much again for your comment,

      Best Regards,

      Daniel

  13. Dan says:

    If not now, then quite possibly in the near future there might not be a more important environmental, political, and sociological issue than energy, its production, and its distribution. So it’s good to know someone as talented and dedicated as you is putting his efforts towards research in this critical field. Best of luck, and I hope it brings you much personal satisfaction and success.

    • Franco says:

      I agree, without energy our knowledge of the markets won’t really be of any help, as there will be no market!

  14. Rob van der Houwen says:

    Daniel,

    Johanna, my wife ,used to go on holiday to Salou(neighbour to Tarragona).
    She says its beautifull region ,so, you should be allright living there!
    We ourselves are thingking of moving to Spain in the near future.

    regards,

    Rob

  15. Rob van der Houwen says:

    Daniel,

    Beautiful surroundings, so a lot of inspiration for the mind! I want to thank you personally for your positive energy always. All the best!

    Regards,

    Johanna.

    • skdoust says:

      Looks like I am a bit late here but congratulations Daniel on the new phase in your life. I always think talented people who can make a difference should just do that, and i think your solar power research could be worthwhile. Congratulations again.

      PS I’d certainly be interested in a community meeting (even though its a long way to travel!)

  16. Sebastian says:

    Wow! I´m impressed to say the least with this important decision you just made for your life, i´m sure it will be for the better!
    I deserve you the best in Tarragona and seeing the passion and dedication you put to forex everyday i´m sure you´ll contribute a lot to the alternative energy field (field that interests me as well but i´m just a computer technician for the time being) y espero poder conocerte algún dia ya que desde Madrid estoy a un par de horas de viaje en coche… ;)
    You also are a big inspiration and the living proof that living from the markets is highly achievable if we put the required effort, and capital of course.
    That´s exactly the same reason why i want to be financially independent as well, being able to live from the markets without having to rely on a monthly paycheck certainly is not my final goal but the true mean that will allow me to study, learn and pursue other fields i´m passionate about besides forex, but in order to achieve that first i need to keep compounding enough savings and the only way i know of doing that is still working for somebody else…

    Un abrazo! :-)
    Sebastian

  17. McDuck says:

    Hi Daniel,

    well, I don’t want to throw a bucket of cold water. But I feel in the obligation to give a little reality check to avoid disappointments.

    Your case is so singular that I don’t know what applies to you, but here go some general guidelines.

    First of all, life for PhD students uses to be difficult, and it’s pretty usual to get burned. Mayor sources of frustration are difficult relations with the advisor and bad research topics that lead to dead ends, although both things use to be related. So here goes my advice to you: pick a good advisor!. This is the single most important decision a PhD student has to make, that in the case he’s fortunate enough to be able to pick. Spend all the time you need to make this decision, ask everyone…. but this decision will mark your future as a PhD. Remember, research topics and advisors go together. In the case things don’t go well with your advisor, simply change him by another ASAP. This is a complicated step, but it’s the best in the long term.

    Second, to be honest it looks to me no-realistic to keep you current pace of work at Asirikuy with pursuing a PhD. Research is very time demanding, no serious researcher works 8hours/day, all work more. Same for serious PhD students, and in spite of your special situation you’ll want to keep up with your doctorate courses, and with a similar ‘production rate’ (hey, welcome to this world) as your mates. Research work is not like office work, from 8am to 4pm, and many weeks you’ll get home exhausted and the last thing you’ll want to do is debugging code.

    Third, you’ll probably need to transition to a more supervisor role at asirikuy, and the members will probably need to have a more active role in the whole development part. To find an equilibrium between asirikuy & research time is going to be probably your mayor challenge. If you research makes fill your internal needs and you make it compatible with your other endeavors you’ll be a happy man, but it won’t be easy.

    Finally, you’ll have to pass now through Madrid quite often, so if you need any type of assistance, please drop me an e-mail.

    Good luck.

  18. Scott E says:

    Hi Daniel, You can see from the outpouring of response here, how many lives you have touched. Having followed you from early on, I am so happy that you’re being able to follow your passion and move to a beautiful spot in the world to enjoy it from. I contine to be amazed at the creativity and sheer volume of what you bring into being within Asirikuy, so if anyone can manage to pull off being a PhD student as well as your Asiriikuy work, it’s you.

    It sounds like you will be meeting a lot more Asirikuy members in person in your new home. I live in the US, not exactly in your new neighborhood, but It seems like a great idea to set an intention of having a face to face meeting of everyone in the Asirikuy community that could make it. Holding it in a place that’s beautiful and easily accessible will make it all the better. I don’t think I could afford it today, but at my current rate of progress it would be very doable in a year’s time. Anyone like the idea??

  19. Lucas says:

    Hi Daniel, I see that many kind words have already been written. This is surely because we all, your turtle pupils!, are learning a lot thanks to you and your Asirikuy creature. But there’s more. In a way we grew fond of you for being such a great and seriously committed person: invaluable forex training, fresh ideas for a new monetary system, and now also solar cell research. Above all, you are a positive model.
    I would really like to join an Asirikuy meeting in 2012.
    All the best for you in Tarragona, I’m sure you’re bound to do very well. Never forget to watukushay also yourself :-)

  20. KlamseN says:

    Hey Daniel,

    just want to wish you all the best! Take your time to move – an intercontinental move is not to easy :-/ But I’m sure you will do it!

    As I live in Zurich/Switzerland and have some friends in Barcelona I’m looking forward to have a beer – or two ;-) – with you.

    Cya here in good ol’ europe ;-)

    Cheers
    KlamseN

  21. bubincka says:

    Hi Daniel,

    great compliment to your courage and will to live your life your own way: there are very few people (included myself) that can tell the same.

    Then let me go back to sweet memories when I had a trip with my motorcycle
    from Italy to Spain crossing also Tarragona, as you say wonderful places where to live.

    Finally, coming to asirikuy, I think that as McDuck suggest is practically impossible to do both Phd and asirikuy, at least at the development rate it is today. It should mean that suddenly the duration of a day change from 24 to 48 hours and we know this is not possible.
    So my proposal to Daniel is to reduce the quantity of production and I take the freedom to say that 2/3 post a week on the blog could be more than enough, one video per week instead of two it’s very OK, the ns can be done only in PDF format or video whichever Daniel prefer. These are just examples that could let to mantain asirikuy on quality top level, only reducing quantity: This should be good at least for me to stop running and take the time to to revise some old videos, investigate better how some
    EAs work, become a better software developer and so on.

    Best,
    Rodolfo

  22. Cador says:

    Hello Daniel,

    Wish you the best in your academic and research endeavor and I’m deeply in debt of you for showing me and all Asirikuy members the right way to become profitable in the Forex market.

    May God illuminate you and give you hundred times more than you are giving us.

    God Bless You

  23. Dragos says:

    Hi Daniel,

    I am regularly following your forex teaching for more than a year so far. In simple words said I thank you for every think and for making it REAL for me and for all of us! It is really wonderful to be an Asirikuy member and learning besides trading also modesty and honesty, qualities so rare in this world.

    In life there are many aspects that have to be fulfilled so that we can be complete as individums. So, I also wish you all the best in achieving your new goal. I am sure you will finish your PhD with the academic distinction “summa cum laude”.

    If you will organize an Asirikuy meeting in Spain, I would be very happy to join it.

    Dragos

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