(click here to see the video if picture does not appear below)

When you watch this video, you are likely to be amazed that this guy actually jumps off a cliff and flies through the air.

But, that is just part of the story.

Watch the entire video and see all of the planning that goes into it and look at the after analysis. He does not “just” jump off a cliff and hope for the best.

Everything he does is according to his well-thought plan.

Success in trading requires every bit as much planning, but most traders just “jump off the cliff” with no real plan.

They just the hope that things will work out.

Of course, without the kind of detailed written trading plan that is necessary (and that I teach in my Professional Trader Mentoring Program), traders are just jumping off a cliff and hoping.

Can you picture yourself as James Bond in a tuxedo sitting at the Baccarat table at the casino in Monte Carlo with a beautiful girl by your side?

I can. The first time I was ever in a casino, I wanted to be just like James Bond. Read the rest of this entry »

I hope that you and your family enjoy a wonderful holiday season together.

My thanks to all of you who have made 2011 another successful year as we have grown together.

For me, the best part of my mentoring is that I get to help serious traders advance in their trading and along to way they become my friends. Thank you all for your friendship.

Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012,

Hello Jeff: This is a quick note before the year is over just to THANK YOU for a wonderful experience in 2011 and to wish you and your family the VERY BEST FOR 2012!!!!. So far getting to know you and being able to work with you has been a great experience for me.  I am looking forward to continue working in 2012 and to keep in touch after the program is completed! THANKS one more time and BE WELL, Ernesto.

Several years ago, I attended a luncheon meeting at the Economics Club of Chicago in which Bill Gates spoke.

I had never heard Gates speak in person and I was ready to hear all about the newest software and latest technology.

Much to my surprise, all Gates talked about was what he called “data mining”.

Gates thought data mining was important. He said that by analyzing data collected throughout your business, you could find revealing insights leading to improvement.

Although I did not fully understand the importance of data mining at the time, every year since then I have seen dramatic examples of how mining the data from your trading can lead you to important discoveries.

One dramatic example Read the rest of this entry »

I have heard dozens of traders lament that the market is fixed.

They believe the deck is stacked against them.

I have a very different view of the market.

I believe the market is designed to pay you money.

I agree the market is fixed – that the deck is stacked.

It is stacked in your favor if you do three things:

Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone I know who owns a dog thinks that their dog is the smartest dog that ever lived.

They think their dog remembers everything that happens.

Take my neighbor’s dog Fritz as an example.  Fritz is smart, but his short term memory is hazy at best and his long term memory is almost nonexistent. The markets have a memory just like Fritz.

The more in the past a price is, the less likely it is to be helpful in making trading decisions.

However, just like a dog owner’s belief that his dog remembers things, many traders memorize past prices in the hope that the market will repeat itself in the future.

Traders have told me triumphantly that the market bounced off last Tuesday’s lows or rallied to Friday’s high.

Maybe it did.

But Read the rest of this entry »

This is the great dichotomy of futures trading.

Most all of us are attracted to futures trading because we want action.

We crave the excitement.

But, the reality of futures trading is that it rewards patience.

When I first came to the floor, I pictured myself buying from one side of the pit at 7 and simultaneously selling on the other side of the pit at 7¼.

I can picture myself buying contracts with my right hand and selling them at a higher price with my left hand.

Even though I can picture it perfectly even now, I do not believe it ever happened.

My money came from Read the rest of this entry »

I asked Andre what could be learned from the recent lightening and wind damage to a giant walnut tree next to my house.  Truth be told, I wanted to have an excuse to use the photo-shopped picture at the left.

Thanks Andre.

“The market is like the weather, unpredictable and sometimes very volatile. The tree represents an overall position in the market and the branches, contracts in different markets. No branch is the same on a tree and similarly and, hopefully, the contracts are in non-correlated markets.

The tree is a beautiful tree providing shade for the trader and his house and it took years for it to grow to its current size.   Read the rest of this entry »

In many professions, it is the most important thing.

(see picture at left)

However, in trading, over-reliance on accuracy can actually be destructive.

A new mentoring trader started with me last week and he showed me a strategy he had learned that generated 80% winning trades.

80% winning trades – that seems too good to be true.

Could there be a catch?

As we discussed the strategy in greater detail, he showed me the setups which seemed very reasonable – in fact the setups were quite clever.

But, then, he told me about the Read the rest of this entry »

I was the favorite grandchild of my larger-than-life grandfather. Read the rest of this entry »