What brought me back to ET? In the mid 80s I stumbled across an am radio station on the extreme left hand of the dial. If I remember correctly it was 570 WPLP. If the name of the station was important, I would look it up. It is not. However, there was a show that was very important to me. A radio dj by the name of Bob Lassiter who also happened to be an alumni of the ET Hall of Fame. Bob Lassiter trolled the entire city of Tampa on the radio every evening. Sandee, my common law wife at the time, hated the fact that I listened. She hated Bob and his show. I honestly cannot say that I agreed with much of what he said at the time. I may have looked like a hippie, but I voted for Reagan. Although now I woild be inclined to vote for Bernie. Lassiter was trolling his radio fans before trolling was cool. So it came as quite a shock to see that Bob had one of the most popular threads on ET. On Lassiter's wikipedia page they linked to Tampa's Short Skirt trades. On the first page Bob laid out the rules to his system. A few pages later and Bob was on to something else. Forever losing, constantly changing strategies. On his radio show Lassiter would say that there was one setup that he could count on to put a few shekels in his pocket every time it showed up. I was hoping to see what it was. Imagine my surprise when it was a system promoted by the revered LBR. I paid $90 bucks for a book she wrote and I can only say the three systems Tyro backtested did not work, Tyro lied to me, or maybe it was a coding error. I am guessing coding error was not the culprit. Let me cut to the chase. It took me quite a few pages to realize, holy shit, this is the written version of that very same show. In Tampa he would get the blue hairs riled up. He would slam everything sacred to a conservative, military town who loved a losing football team. I loved the show. Then it dawned on me. Bob is having his way with ET. Once I realized I know longer felt sorry for his abhorrent trading skills, and I surely did not feel sorry for the ET reader, I enjoyed the show. The ET reader was getting exactly what they signed up for. Many traders followed Tampa's thread to give him some much needed advice. When he took it, they stuck around. Others stuck around too to tell him how much he sucked. They were angry. Why wouldn't Tampa just stop trading? Quite a few would stop by on multiple occasions to demand that the thread be moved to chit chat where it belonged. They could not quit Bob. They were eating out of the palm of his hand. Even though I was a fan. Even though I had been directed via Lassiter's wikipedia page, I could not figure out what his angle was. My eyes welled up with tears when I found out. I won't spoil the fun, but it was not just to roast a few sacred cows. Nor was it a warning to the newbie, because Bob felt no pity for the newbie or struggling trader. Bob did what he always did. He built an audience. Quite a few people were in on the joke, and for those he simply entertained. In my estimation that thread was better than the airstream call. A call I heard live, but it didn't even compare to any number of the football/God calls that were aired. That is what brought me back. A weird nudge from fate. But unlike Bob I am not trying to build an audience. ET has a business model that will keep these threads alive for quite some time. Blogs disappear, just as edges might. This thread is for the newbie. This thread is to provide hope. Because once I make my financial comeback I will have left far more than inspiration. Do I have an edge? Will that edge disappear? The first question is debatable. The second is not! For now I don't have much to offer, except, maybe, to chum the waters of ET. Although that is not my intention. I will leave more than bread crumbs. I will leave behind "one" Pathway to Prolonged Profitability. Your welcome.
Contraction. Expansion. Contraction. That is the only market cycle that is predictable, 100% of the time. Continuation? Reversal? That is the hard part. But one thing is certain. Relatively speaking, corn should move one way or another, very, very soon. Maybe even tomorrow. Inside, narrow range bar. [CONTRACTION]
Tomorrow's plan: NQ if it takes out the August 11 low Oil and gold are not on the radar, but if I see significant movement on the watchlist I will pull up the daily to see if the juice is worth the squeeze.
Size matters: I was attending a Community College in South Florida in the summer of 1985. That is where I met Amy. Amy and I would never date, or become anything more than friends because of her size. PHAT (pretty, hips and thighs) has always been in. Fat girls, not so much. I'm not body shaming her. That was my friend. Size didn't matter, but it did. Amy asked Marshall and I to go to the Pick Kwik and pick up some beer. She was celebrating. The rest of the evening is just a blur. But let me tell you what happened at the store. So Marshall and I walk outside of Amy's apartment with the keys to her compact, grey, Toyota, I believe. That car was simply A to B. Unbeknownst to me I get into an unlocked car that looked almost like her car and it started. With her key. Blame that on the Gainesville Green if you want, but that car should not have started. But it did. The ignition on your car is a place where size definitely matters. Normally, it does. So Marshall and I realize what happened and quickly get out of this stranger's car. Now we are off to the store, the Pick Kwik. It was located right by the dog track on Nebraska Ave. just south of Waters avenue. Nothing good ever happens at the dog track, except when the trifecta comes in. Our buddy James had a system. It rarely hit but the three times it did, was worth a total of $1700, one time racking up nine hundo in one shot! James would combine the recommendations of two handicappers while boxing the trifecta. Hanging out with your friends, drinking Mickey's Malt Liquor and bullshitting was never a bad way to pass the time. Especially when the trifecta hit. When boxing trifectas, size matters. The payout is only half. We wouldn't have won otherwise. Each of us had our hustle. Marshall had a gift. My go to trick was to stare a woman down like I had the biggest cock in the world. Eye contact is the biggest hustle there is when it comes to face to face communication. My father, a retired OSI Agent (read detective for the Air Force, not spy; at least not him) learned a thing or two about the art of covert communication courteous of the USAF which he passed on to me. When you make eye contact with someone it causes the other person to see you as more trustworthy, intelligent, confident and pleasant (no quality that actually comes natural to me). I am fiercely competitive. Not content with being average. So I would take every advantage possible. My eyes would look at the rules through a prism. Bending them. Contorting them. Making them work for me. I learned that from a career Air Force man who knew that the regs carried more weight than a General. He posessed a badge that proves it. When it comes to walking this side of the law, size matters. The government always wins. Ask Bill Gates and Martha Stewart. Ask Donald Trump! He may soon find out. No matter how big your empire, it is nothing compared to the resources of state sanctioned tax collectors and regulators. Warren G has nothing on the U.S. Government. Gangsters at their core! That's right. I meant to tell you about what happened with Marshal at the store. Blame that on the Colorado Chronic. So this really fine girl comes out the store. She was about 28, brunette, with the perfect body. She had the type of look like this girl, I can take her home to meet Mom. This wasn't Mom's this was by the track. No telling what type of girl you meet there. I am up to my usual tricks looking her directly in her eyes and she starts walking towards Amy's beater. Marshall motions for her to come to his side. I knew I was out of gas. I have seen this trick before. When this carmel complected Goddess walks over to his side of the car Marshall grabs her hand. Gently. She wasn't resisting. He placed her hand on his cock. She opens the door and gets in the car, and we dropped her off at her boyfriends house two days later. My friends, size matters. I was reading a thread earlier where someone asked if you could trade 200 contracts at a clip on the NQ. That question caused me to think about that Google options fiasco. 40 contracts of google options are a drop in the bucket. $4,000 per point was anything but. When your account is bleeding money like a video game you make bad decisions. So, to the OP of the other thread, that is up to you. If $1,000 a tick does not scare you then you have a ton of money. I hope the OP reports back on what he finds. That would make a good journal! In trading, like nothing else I have ever experienced, SIZE MATTERS!
Query. I believe a month ago when you started the journal you said you had a starting balance of $5,000. You say your current balance today is $5045. I do recall you saying this is paper, but have you also considered the commissions and fees in your balance? It seems a lot of trading to make $45. I hope that includes all the fees in the calculations...?