It seems impossible, but June 17^th 2010 marked 28 years since the day we not-so-fondly refer to as the “Blowout”.

To begin the story, my wife came from a little farming town in Northwest Iowa. 

Everyone in her little town followed the grain markets.  

Many traded corn and soybeans futures and a few were big traders by any standard.

Several people in her home town became and remain my best friends.

My best friends there traded grain spreads during the same time I began to do well trading wheat on the trading floor.  

As I had a relationship with E.F. Hutton, my friends and I did our trading through EF Hutton, one of the largest brokers at the time.

My friends were trading seasonal grain spreads and had made money in their trades time after time.

They started with small trades, but

My longest running job during college was delivering 160 pound soft-water tanks into people’s basements while their dogs snarled at me.

The oversized metal tanks I lugged into the houses made the dogs absolutely crazy. I remember a big German Shepherd viciously biting the tank I was holding at the same time the lady of the house was telling me not to be afraid of the dog.

However, as bad as I may have thought my soft-water tank delivery job was, it does not compare to the job of the Chinese soldier, pictured at the left.

Can you imagine a less appealing job - holding up a target while other soldiers shoot at it?

At least it does not take much effort and it is one of the few jobs in the Chinese Army that allows, even encourages, you to sit all day.

Using targets in trading can be like that – easy to do, but

All morning our P&L was up $3,000 to $5,000.

We had 25 traders trading mostly Eurex Bund, Dow Jones EuroStoxx 50 and DAX. No single trader was ahead more than a couple of thousand and none were behind more than a few hundred.

Just another normal, quiet day…

or so I thought.

Then I looked at my P&L screen and saw that we were no longer up $5,000, but we were down $10,000 then a second later we were down $50,000, then $110,000.

I raced out of my office and asked the traders what was happening in words not suitable for polite company.

The traders replied similarly that they did not have a clue, but the DAX and the Dow Jones EuroStoxx 50 were in free fall.

Seconds later

Earlier this year, hedge fund manager Simon Townshend presented a private webinar to traders in my Electronic Trader Mentoring Program. 

In his presentation, Simon revealed an amazing secret that he has been using in his own trading to great effect.

Most traders develop their techniques around chart patterns or a range of indicators.

Simon’s approach is quite different. 

He argues that

• 190+ articles on trading not available to the public;
• dozens of Electronic Trader podcasts not available elsewhere; and
• free access to my monthly $aturday $trategy $essions

Sign up now for only $49.95.

P.S. Traders currently in my Electronic Trader Mentoring Program (meeting with me on a regular basis) receive full membership access as part of their mentoring. This is yet another reason to join this group of serious traders, if you have not done so already.

In the ring with Jeff Quinto in my corner

I’ve used many analogies, but have settled on boxing as the closest fit to trading where your opponent represents the market.

2008 what an astonishing year! 

Once again the market served investors with a timely reminder