LeapRate Exclusive Interview… There are very few people anywhere who have been been following and analyzing FX markets longer than Marshall Gittler. And there are probably even fewer people who have the benefit of Marshall’s wide perspective on the FX industry itself, from the vantage point of the buy side, sell side, Retail FX brokers, Europe, Asia…
Following our earlier exclusive report about Marshall Gittler’s new FX signals venture ACLS Global, we are pleased to share with LeapRate readers our recent conversation with Marshall on the new business, his take on the recent cryptocurrency trading craze, and a lot more.
LR: Hi Marshall, and thanks for joining us today. Please let us know a little more about ACLS – the name you chose, the service, and how you decided to start your own venture after spending several decades as an analyst with a variety of banks and brokers.
Marshall: ACLS stands for Advanced Cognitive Live Signals. The name is derived partly because of the nature of the algorithms that our team uses to generate the signals and partly because all signals we send are market orders.
As for why I went out on my own: after years of working for others, I wanted to use my experience to start something of my own. I had envisioned doing a pure fundamental research and education web site, but in discussing my ideas with some former colleagues, I was fortunate to find others who had a similar vision but on the technical side. We all saw a lot of synergy in combining what we were trying to achieve separately. So I joined forces with some people whose ethics, professionalism, experience and quality of work I trust to offer traders a unique service. We combine professional-level fundamental analysis, technical analysis, high quality forex signals, forex education, webinars and seminars into one service that even the smallest trader can afford. ACLS Global is providing the everyday trader with the kind of tools and market intelligence that were previously available only to institutional traders with deep pockets.
I started this venture to make a difference in the way people trade the forex market. With the team and the technology we have at hand, we’re very well positioned to achieve this.
LR: What mistakes do you think both beginner and expert FX traders make most? What can be done to correct those mistakes?
Marshall: In my experience, there are two main reasons why forex traders fail. The first is that they allow emotions to color their trading decision. The addition of fear, greed, hope and excitement into what should be a calm, rational decision is enough by itself to destroy one’s trading strategy.
The second reason is lack of discipline. No matter how good your strategy is, if you don’t have the discipline to follow it, you’ll eventually fail.
This is exactly the gap that our service fills. Using the ACLS Signals mobile application takes away the emotion from trading. It even does away with the need for a strategy! You simply have to do one thing: follow our signals. This is the only discipline you need. We expect that anyone who has the patience to use our service for at least four months is likely to reap the benefits from a service that works purely on performance. (Of course, we can’t guarantee that anyone will make money with the service.)
LR: Can ACLS clients have their trading account at any broker? How do you track whether or not your clients are indeed following the signals provided, and their profits from the trades?
Marshall: Our members can choose any broker they want. We do not control their trading, we do not know what they do and we do not want to know how much our members profit from our service. Whether they make 2x what they pay us or 100x, it’s no difference to us. It’s entirely up to them to decide which signals they trade on if any, how big their positions are, and where they place the order. Some of our members may open positions that give 10 cents per pip, others may open positions that give $1000 per pip. We leave this up to their discretion. Our task is to provide our members with insightful daily analysis plus profitable signals that will help them to monetize that analysis. What they do with it is their own business.
As ACLS, we do not affiliate with or support any forex brokers. We are totally independent and transparent on this.
LR: What’s your take on the current crypto currency trading craze? Is BTCUSD trading here to stay? Will it become viewed as a “major” pair any time soon?
Marshall: This is a matter of great debate and discussion among us! Personally, I’m of the old school. I think these are as you say a “craze” and that the fad is likely to fade as investors realize that their money isn’t safe from hackers and fraudsters. There will always be some hopefuls looking to get rich quick, not to mention people trying to hide their assets from the government, but at the end of the day this is likely to be a sideshow at best.
On the other hand, no less than IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said just this week that “it may not be wise to dismiss virtual currencies.” She pointed out that many of the obstacles that they face are technological and so are likely to be overcome over time. In fact, she raised the possibility that countries with weak institutions and unstable national currencies might well prefer to adopt one of these currencies rather than peg their currency to the dollar or the euro.
In short, we could be witnessing the birth of a new type of financial instrument, or a new type of tulip. Only time will tell.
LR: What else can we expect to see from ACLS in the coming months?
Marshall: We have some very exciting plans ahead, but unfortunately I can’t reveal them at the moment. Needless to say, our members will be the first to know about them and to get the opportunity to use them. But let’s keep it at that for now. This is only the beginning for ACLS Global!
I’d like to urge all your readers to visit our web site at www.aclsglobal.com, download our app from the Google Play Store and join our trading community!