By the time he cleared his CA exam in the ninth attempt, the Jalandhar boy’s interest in finance was taken over by derivative trading. Within the community, Saluja is known as a bear for he has made 90-95% of his money by betting that the index – Nifty or Bank Nifty – will go down.
Here’s a chat with the discretionary price action trader:
You are a CA but a full-time trader. How did that happen?
My father was a doctor and so I always wanted to be a professional like him. Since I was good at mathematics, I chose to do CA. In between, my father passed away and so I could not focus on studies. I cleared CA in ninth attempt.
Since I had to support my family also, I started working while preparing for CA exams. While working in Gurgaon, I used to trade part-time but it was getting tougher to concentrate on both – job and trading.
In 2018, when my trading profit became more than salary, I quit the job to turn to full-time trading.
Initially, trading was my plan B but then I changed my mind after tasting success.Who introduced you to trading?
I was preparing for my CA final exam where we had one chapter on derivatives. It was for around 20-25 marks and so I went to attend a class on the subject in Delhi. When the market opened, the teacher started trading live in the auditorium in front of 700 students. That was very exciting to watch. After the class ended, a broker had put up a stall outside the auditorium and I opened a demat account and started trading with a capital of just Rs 25,000.Over the next few months, I kept on losing and making money by doing swing trading. Eventually, I got into F&O and learnt strategies and then my profits became more consistent. I soon became a price action trader after realising that price is the first one to react and indicators follow price.
You are known more for your bear trades. Tell us about your trading strategy.
I am a directional trader who does both buying and selling. I scalp on 15 minute candles. I make 1% of my capital if Nifty falls 40 points. I am more into bearish trades as the down move is very fast.
Most of the money that I have made has been on bearish moves. On the bullish side, I use bull call spread and butterfly strategies.
How do you handle stress in the market and maintain calm when the trades are not in your favour?
My capital has grown gradually in the market and so I don’t get disturbed psychologically. Fear, greed and ego are the biggest problems. My funda is simple – when you are wrong, simply sit it out. Why many traders don’t make money is because trading is different from real life. In trading, you jump when the train has started moving.
I have had this habit of morning meditation for the last 17 years. I am associated with ISKCON and meditate every morning for 2 hours.
You will find me travelling for 2 months every year. You will find me with three laptops when travelling.
