The "Check Out My Boobs!" booths were the ubiquitous fx bucket shops. LMAO when I saw them. Really just wanted to speak with someone at MF Global about clearing and such, but the chick standing there was f'n useless. The "brain" was off taking a dump somewhere, for like over a half hour (that's how long I looked for him before gave up. Was also looking to meet Baron, but he didn't have a booth.
NY Traders Expo I was there both Sunday and today, Monday. It's always entertaining and gives me a chance to chat with people I know, meet other traders and see new things offered to trading professionals like us. I thought that this year there were less of everything: vendors, visitors and gadgets. I am not sure about this last thing (not having seen any "official" numbers) but the place seemed less busy (although relatively cheerful) and with far fewer new products than several years ago. At the same time, out of the many free seminars and presentations that I always like to attend, three stood out for me: Toni Hansen's on position trading, Oliver Velez' on his new venture (Velez Capital Management and his Trade For Life offering, a very interesting idea that seems to be catching on fast) and Deron Wagner's ETF Trading methodology and related products. I thought they were great talks and interesting offerings; and both Deron and Toni, imo, presented extremely well. Of course, I also think that Oliver should get his own TV talk show, because the man is such a natural. As usual with him, two things happened in my brain: I loved his seminar AND I didn't learn anything new... he's the best at doing that. He has a lot of interesting statistics, like % of breakouts that pan out at first, and % of breakouts that eventually pay you money) but he doesn't tell you where he got them from, etc, etc. Oliver is Oliver, and that's what he will always be. The truth is that I love his books and tapes and several years ago I really learned a lot at his 3-day Pristine seminar; and so I sort of owe him. Oh well. Pristine was also there and worked hard to catch people's attention. Being a graduate and all, I like what they do and what they offer. Unfortunately, there seems to be animosity between them and the founder and half owner of the firm, Oliver, which surprised me and bothered me to hear some of the negative comments made in private. Oh well again, the business world can be vicious, right? That's why I left AT&T to become a trader 10 years ago - can't stand office politics. I spoke for about 30 minutes with John Person and I thought that his trend/pivot emini trading software (runs on Genesis data) is reasonable. Same with Ed Barsano of CoolTrade, although I was already familiar with the product, which, imo, has potential. Same with the iDayo Indicator, for those who like that type of investing/trading, and the Thinkorswim company: I have done very well with RedOption strategies autotraded by the TOS people... good and cheap. I asked a few questions at the TradeStation booth and also at the Fidelity booth and they both told me to "call and get someone who knows." They appear to send mostly salespeople to these Expos - but I already knew that... it's just that every year I hope that it will somehow change The NinjaTrader people were there in full force and their product is getting better and better. About Felton Trading, VectorVest, Best Choice and Ablesys, I know enough to purposefully stay clear. Well, in summary, not one of their best, but an interesting way to spend a day and a half, and for me it's only a train's ride from home.
Cooltrade? really? They struck me as the least professional of the bunch this year. That's where the dude was wearing sraw hat with shades and mardi gras beads. Best Choice is up there with Felton in terms of value (zero) IMO Alaron's set-up was sad Anyone see the dudes with a video camera and hired eye candy wandering around interviewing people at display booths? He used to be a prop trader but it ended badly for him. they were wearing black T-shirts with "www.hitthebid.net" James Altucher, Thinkorswim guys and Craig LeVielle of CME were worth while
I don't think that the guy wearing that hat was associated with the CT company - he was walking all over the place. Ed Barsano (CEO of CoolTrade and chief developer) is really knowledgeable about both software and trading and has a great product, the best so called "robotic" trading offering, imo. Good and inexpensive. Of course, if you like that sort of trading.
tnks all 4 the reviews n the reports. keep'em coming... from those of us who couldn't make it there... p.s whens the Vegas one?
hahaha, i saw that guy too. he was with a company, but not cooltrade. i dont know anything about cooltrade, but i did glance at the booth. all i remember seeing was a screen with a HUGE buy button, and a HUGE sell button----looked cheesy so i kept on walking. surf
ok, went down sunday. here's what i did... first, got together with a successful trader, someone who's got a very different style than mine - but it was great to compare notes, see how things were going, etc. one of the things i was most curious about, how do you handle your kids dealing with the 'trading' aspect (as opposed to daddy leaving every morning to go off to work and not coming back til much later). really beneficial... the expo itself is getting smaller. they actually had one of the rows closed off in the 5th floor? the outside hallways were NOT as full of exhibitors. there sure seemed to be less ppl / participants than last year, or the past couple years. interactive brokers was NOT there. realtick was not, and there was just a small townsend booth. as expected, the number of forex and commodity booths has increased; i figure that when 90% of the expo is dedicated to that, the forex/commodity boom will be nearing its end. it appeared that participants in the panels and around were about 50/50 for forex/commodity vs stocks. tim morge was a very good speaker; he could speak AND he wasn't pimping stuff. the advanced level 2 reading wasn't; oh well. there were lots less giveaways, but i wasn't going for them. i just use that as a point of reference to how much money is flowing too freely... since someone mentioned the booth bunnies, there weren't a lot of them...but if there are booth bunnies, as someone else mentioned, i tend to think less of the product. when i worked with a startup (pre-trade show) way back when, we hired a couple decent looking women but they were NOT dressed in short skirts, but rather very professional. until you talked to them, you wouldn't have known they weren't part of the company... unfortunately, no one got back to me about going out at night and my (non-equity, corporate) trading friends were out of the city for the long weekend, so i went to momofuku ssam solo. for those who are still around...they're making some amazing food down there. grilled veal sweetbreads with chiles and lime, some scallops with lychee and something else, both were top notch. i've there with friends or myself 6? times, and it's always been great stuff. go if you get the chance, on 13th/2nd. ave. so that's it. i still think for newer traders, the trading expo is a great opportunity to learn a fair amount of good information. the only problem lies in distinguishing those who are good traders (but can't speak), those who are good traders and can speak, and those who can speak well but are trying to sell stuff, and can't trade. needless to say, the first two are who you want to talk with...but there's more of the third.
It started out with a bash given by Surf, and then ... I attended a TradeMaven seminar on a lark and was really impressed with the presentation given by Doug Zalesky. He runs a business with a chat room and everything ... but I was really impressed with the knowledge shared, and that was by far the one of the best presentations I've ever seen on how to correctly interpret Market Profile and volume for trading. He's also big on the Bonds and Oil and it was nice to hear someone talk about something other than the S&P E-Mini's. Saw a talk by Kathy Lien (and her partner) with FXCM talked about her book where she interviews many different traders to find out how the achieved success. I like the diversity of methods and approaches to the market, there's definitely something in that one for everyone. Purchased a course from Adrianne Togahrie. She consistently gives a really good presentation, and consindering the fact that her courses cost less than one protective stop on one e-mini contract (LOL), I definitely think it worth the investment. Tomorrow I'll be checking out the trading competition, then it's off to the races! Best P.S. The blond in the slinky cat suit and black boots at some random FX bucket shop booth on the 6th floor just proves me right once again!
Hats off to the janitors at the Marriott for keeping the smell of urine out of the Men's room and the exhibition floor.
that would be boris schlossberg, who has posted on ET from time to time. the book is "millionaire traders" and is a very good read.