I can tell you as a first-hand reader (as well as many other "notables" on this forum that won't admit it) that Don doesn't sell a system presently. You may be able to find CDs he's created some time ago, but he's up front and will tell you that it's not representative of what he does now. Assuming Don's success is 100% legit over the last year or so, most traders (new and pros) find the blog fascinating because it's essentially a diary with a bit of tactical stuff thrown in - written much differently than most blogs. There aren't a lot of specifics, but plenty enough to help you understand what he uses and how he does it. Bottom line: it has garnered the attention because Don made more than a million bucks last year ($1.6 I think). Of course, he started with $750k and still has $2M in his account (if I recall correctly). The breaking news is that within the last month or two as his performance has cooled off and encountered a self-professed lack of "fire in the belly" to trade, he is turning attention to assembling 20 or so traders to mentor for about 10 weeks or so. Nothing official, but he's "taking applications" as of a few days ago.
I have no idea if don's legit but i do know his one year blog provided zero teaching on how he trades and i believe the blog was meant to get "followers" of which now he's going to select 20 "lucky"jellyfish to teach his ways. Oh by the way he "only" wants around 10k from each. Don basically trades 2k emini's a day at cheap commissions as he has a leasee seat i believe. few if many retail traders can trade his vol and remain solvent. I guess the bone i have to pick is many many times don said he wasn't interested in teaching and the blog was just his little experiment and here he turns around and is trying to profit big off this. He said time and time again he was a "trader" and had no interest in teaching. Anyone who pays anyone to learn to trade is a fool.
Interesting quote. I have no idea how valid it is, as I can only attest to my own personal journey over the past 8 years. What do you feel is the best way for an aspiring trader to learn? (Real question, not a challenge).
He doesnt seem to describe his method on the blog so I didn't find much value in it but maybe I missed the posts about the method.
His method is pretty simple...He essentially acts as a market maker/liquidity-provider and fades extreme moves. Scales out of most of his position at +3-5 ticks; scales out of remainder. He's in/out fast. I think it's funny how everyone here is fixated on the "method". His posts are more around the life of a (profitable) trader; trials and tribulations, etc. Is every post valuable? NO of course not. But there are some good insights into life as a full-time trader. The content is free so don't know what everyone's complaining about. Don't like his blog? Easy solution...don't read it
check out: http://carlfutia.blogspot.com/ http://myestradingjournal.blogspot.com/ http://brenketrading.blogspot.com/ http://esanalysis.blogspot.com/ http://meversuswallstreet.blogspot.com/
Right. Don gives plenty of information in the blog about his method. Is it listed out in a handy cheat sheet? No. You pretty much have to read the entire blog and piece things together. People really want a "how-to" manual. Why do you want that? That won't guarantee you anything. What you need is an understanding of an overall approach so that you walk away thinking "that's not so different than my own trading - I can do this". But it's probably lost on most readers that Don's average profit per contract is less than what most trader pay in commissions. He leases a seat and pays low commissions. Without that, Don would not be profitable. That probably meets the definition of "scalping" for most people.
Why is a blog interesting if you do not see the track record? We already have a lot of analysts on TV and elsewhere telling us what the market is going to do. And overall as a group, their performance generally seems to be random. And if someone accidentally calls 2 market moves in a row, they are considered geniuses, even though it is likely many do this. Apparently, people like Jim Cramer help to pull down the average So again, why are any of these blogs "interesting" or "successful"? Catchy title or URL? Professional looking graphics? The vast majority of these are useless. So maybe if you think it is "successful" - what is your criteria of success? Mine is: longterm, proven outperformance edge on the instruments he/she comments on, plus effective money management. Everything else is noise. NOISE NOISE NOISE