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I have recently returned from the "Off the Floor Trading" CME seminar in
Chicago. For those who might be interested I am posting a short rundown on
what went on .
The event was headed by Neal Weintraub and primarily Neal acted as M.C.
Speaking at the seminar were Jack Rhodes, a former floor trader who now
trades the euro off the floor. Jack Asplund is president of Optima which
provides daily technical info for bonds and other market. A trial is
available from their web site. Thomas Stridsman is a system analyst for
PMB. He spoke on the appreciating the difference between predictability and
probability when developing and analyzing systems. Mark Kelsey is also with
PMB but has been a floor trader on many exchanges over the years. His part
of the program was spent on recognizing and using time of day patterns in
different markets. The s&P and bonds primarily. There was one other
speaker in the morning whose first name was Tom but whose last name I can't
come up with. He used to be an arb trader but now trades systems and
manages money off the floor. Up to this point I thought that the seminar
had a good variety and that the speakers experience on and off the floor
made it very worthwhile. Some of the speakers had products but ther there
was no hard sell from anyone at all.
But this was all in the morning. After lunch it was time for Mark Brown.
Curiosity about this guy was what probably made me decide to attend. Also an
appreciation for a lot of what he has contributed on this list. Actually
there was a free exchange of opinion in the morning with the other speakers
so Mark had been heard from before. He definitely has his opinions but was
in all respects a gentleman. Not at all the flame-thrower I had sometimes
envisioned. In fact I think he was a little nervous to begin with. But not
for long. Saturday afternoon he talked about his background as a
researcher, trading methods, daytrading verses position trading, frequency
of trades , personal objectives and psychological aspects. This was basic
but informative and was interspersed with his own personal view on things
and personal experiences to illustrate points. Then he got into some code
and some equity curves for a couple of systemsand some indicators. I
believe he has traded one of the systems system since 86.
The next day about seven(?) of the 20 or so attendees met with Neal and
Mark at the East Bank Club for breakfast and another session with Mark. The
group was varied. One guy manages a hedge fund. A couple of the guys had
only traded stocks. After some more code and system talk and some more
personal trading history, Mark spent time with each attendee and assessed
what their goals were and what was needed to move toward that goal.
That was Sunday. Monday Neal arranged for those who wanted to visit the
floor of the CBOT.
That's it! Both Neal and Mark have also said that they are available for
follow-up to any of the Sunday attendees. I have received one indicator by
email that was talked about but not released at the seminar.
I always read Mark's stuff before but I have new appreciation for the
experience and knowledge behind most of his posts. I think he is genuinely
interested in helping others to become successful traders and in learning
what he can from others. The whole experience was very positive.
Neal set the whole thing up and was a great host but was pretty much on the
sidelines (as much as Neal can be I suspect). He interjected a lot of his
own witticism and wisdom and made sure everyone gained weight.
Oh yeah. There was nary a mention of TraderWare and only one malevolent
remark about Bill Cruz. But that was late and it was getting dark.
That's it. That's the rundown and my personal opinion for what it's worth.
If Neal and Mark do it again, I would recommend it.
RBradshaw
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