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In a message dated 9/8/01 8:55:37 AM Central Daylight Time,
JLevine710@xxxxxxx writes:
<< Can you provide information about your letter? >>
Well, since you asked, here is the long version. I started writing a private
Industry Newsletter e-mail over a year ago. The reasons for doing so were
many. I initially offered it to clients, prospects, and those other people
who I had direct contact with from the various trading discussions groups I
participate on. At first I had about 100 people receiving it. Today there
are about 500 people on the list, though many more have it forwarded to them
by others.
My intent was to create some type of daily newsletter to stay in front of
people, for personal and professional reasons. I wanted to give them
something of value for free with the hope that it create interest in the
industry and would return Good Will to me. If I send you a newsletter and
you read something of value, it creates Good Will for me. If I send you a
newsletter and you find something that someone else would find useful, and
you forward it to them, you have created Good Will for yourself and for me.
If I create enough Good Will, perhaps some of that will turn into business
opportunities. And it has.
Part of the idea is based on the concept of "Viral Marketing." I send it to
you and you send it to others who send it to others and so on. I know that
this aspect of the newsletter works because the readership of the newsletter
keeps growing and I know some people in firms who resend it out to lots of
people in their organizations.
Part of the reason for this private approach has to do with not constantly
bombarding the various trading lists with my opinions where it would create a
backlash by readers or competing brokers. I want to follow the protocol and
ethic of each of the groups. I do not deny there is a commercial aspect to
my participation on various trading lists. However, the main reason I
participate is to learn. And I have learned much from RT and the other
lists. I don't want to negatively impact my ability to learn by having the
commercial aspect of my participation called into question.
One reason I felt the need to start the newsletter has to do with the current
CEO and President of the CME. Jim McNulty had been a mentor of sorts early
in my career, but I had lost touch with him as I was engrossed in my career.
When he was named to the CME post I was dumfounded by my losing touch with
him. Thus, I wanted to create something that would allow me to stay in touch
with my friends, associates, acquaintances, clients, prospects, competitors,
media and the like.
Many people on RT and other trading forums have expressed their appreciation
for my posts on industry trends and the mechanics and technology of trading.
That encouraged me to try something like this.
With so much change occurring, as we migrate to electronic trading in the
U.S. from open outcry, I wanted to help people stay current with that change
and help them manage it. The best way to do that is to provide them with
current information and try my best to help them make sense of it. Since I
was already trying my hardest to stay current and doing much of the work of
the letter for myself, it was not much more to share that with others, but in
a defined and private format.
Thus, my letter is structured into several sections: lead stories, exchange
news, regulatory news, reports, miscellaneous news and John's comments. I
have built a web page that takes me to set news pages at the various
exchange, regulatory and brokerage web sites. I have a set of key word and
concept searches I do, looking for news stories about the exchanges,
regulators, players and key ideas in the industry. I finish off the letter
with my own comments, which sometimes are very pointed.
One of my competitors said he was not sure which his favorite part of the
letter was, when I take someone or something to task in my commentaries, or
my apology the next day for doing so. You can be sure that I hear from some
of the targets of my commentaries.
I also will occasionally do some original reporting about electronic trading
issues or other things that pop up. I recently had a scoop, reporting on
Trading Technologies cutting staff for the second time in recent months an
hour before the official press release from TT had been issued. The CEO
called me on that one and even invited me to dinner.
I offer the newsletter to anyone who wants to receive it. There are many
competitors who are on the list. There are senior executives at brokerage
firms of all sizes who receive it and the letter has been described as the
perfect summary of topics for a senior industry executive. Other types of
recipients include exchange staff, exchange members, CTAs, CPOs, stock
brokers, regulators, media, vendors of all sorts, coworkers, clients,
prospects, friends, and other assorted people. Just in recent weeks I signed
up one of the largest traders on Eurex and a/c/e, the President and CEO of
one of the New York Exchanges, a Senior VP of a Chicago Exchange, several
regulators, many individual traders, and various others.
Many people have offered to pay for the letter, or asked me when I will start
charging for it. That would defeat part of its intent. Recipients of the
newsletter are free to forward it to as many of their friends and associates
as they want and encourage them to subscribe. I do not want to deter that in
any way, as long as is done appropriately.
However, a competing firm has approached me about licensing my letter for
their use and I will be paid for that. So I will be receiving direct
compensation for it, along with the Good Will and the business opportunities
that it generates.
I am a very strong believer in only doing business that is a good fit. This
newsletter, and my participation on various trading forums, allows readers to
get to know me. If they have a need for a brokerage relationship, or a
managed futures product, and believe I may be a good fit for them they
approach me. That is a good start for a successful long term relationship,
which is the kind I want.
There are many brokers in the industry who are suffering right now because of
a decline in trading by their customers. Mine business on the otherhand is
right up against historical highs for revenues. I run an online trading
operation. I have regular telephone based clients also. My firm has a
marketing relationship with one of the hottest CTAs in the business right
now, Defender Capital Management. And that is a relationship I brought to
the firm. We have helped Defender raise money with lots of different
brokerages all around the industry (Refco, Lind Waldock, Fox Investments,
PFG, PMB, Man Financial, and The Price Group). Thus, I have diversified my
revenue base during these turbulent and changing times.
I don't know which way the markets or industry are going to go. I have some
ideas. But I am trying to hedge by bets by offering diverse services,
products and relationships. I want to have a career in this industry for
many years to come. There may come a time when the music stops and I don't
have a chair. But I will be able to stand on my own two feet and continue to
dance if I can differentiate myself, build relationships around the industry,
and continue to find and offer good value to clients. I am trying my hardest
to do that.
My newsletter works on several levels then, and I like that. To sign up for
my letter, someone need only visit the web site I built for The Price Group's
Electronic Trading Division, <A HREF="http://www.pricegroupetd.com";>
www.pricegroupetd.com</A>, and click on the link on the top. That will
create an email with a subject line to subscribe. Feel free to subscribe and
recommend the newsletter to your friends and associates.
Thank you for asking about it, and I hope you all appreciate the openness and
completeness of my reply.
Regards,
John J. Lothian
Disclosure: Futures trading involves financial risk, lots of it! John J.
Lothian is the President of the Electronic Trading Division of The Price
Futures Group, Inc., an Introducing Broker.
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