© Ed Seykota, 2003 - 2006 ... Write for permission to reprint.

Frequently Asked Questions

TT Associate Program  ...  Chart Server

Answers

- William Arthur Ward

documents/TWMagFall2003final.pdf

Thanks.
 

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Run Away Wife

I take the hot seat about unresolved issues with my wife. She seems to run away and not want to resolve anything. I notice that this makes me yawn and makes me tired.

I get into the form of yawning and fully experiencing yawning. I also feel bored and fold that in along with yawning. I realize that I feel complete exhaustion and I recall feeling this same feeling during disagreements with my parents.

I realize that it is about acceptance, my reluctance to accept my wife and/or parents and their reluctance to accept me.

The process manager asks me if I know what my wife feels when we argue, and I do. He asks me if I am willing to experience her feelings. I do and I realize that she feels extreme tension in her neck and sick to her stomach and it is really hard to stay in that form. I do not like the feeling and now realize why she runs away.

I understand how she feels and I work through her feelings until I like the way she feels. I understand it and I am ok with it. I am willing to accept her the
way she is.

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I am quiet not sure how it is all connected, but here are recent changes since my visit to incline: I speak more often, longer and and about more important stuff with my mom. I work out very intensely and feel great joy doing so. I feel more fun when I am doing things, whether it is developing trading systems or picking up my dry cleaning. I am more accepting and appreciative of other people. My relationship with my girlfriend is more intimate, she also does much less stuff to irritate me. I have a deep sense that everything is hear to help me, I feel life is overloading me with things to help me, which I like. A lot of members out of our tribe drop out and we merge with another tribe in the city, I feel all members of the new tribe are very committed to the process, which is awesome.


Thank you for your work Ed, great to meet you. I am hoping to get the Quattro Passo (pass on all four snapshots)  : )

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Permission to Change a Snapshot Category.

Of the four snapshot categories, Right Livelihood, Body, Fun and Relationships, our group is trying to figure our where to put something like spiritual / religious growth, dressing in nicer clothes, or other things that a person might do for any sort of personal growth or improvement.

I had suggested replacing Body with Personal, where Body (exercising, losing weight, etc) would fall under Personal. What do you think?

I could certainly take my issue of needing to rearrange the process to suit my needs as an entry point to my next hotseat (Hah! Beat you to it!) But I have more pressing issues as entry points.

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Hello Ed,

some questions on your chart server..

1) could you please tell me the time constants used
for short, medium and long term stock selections? My lag calculations match yours almost exactly for short term. Thinking this is a 5 day setting

2) possible to list out the lag / % yearly roc on the
chart itself?

3) Do you use cash flow to screen your selections? If
yes, what would this number be?

thanks a bunch

At present, you might be able to get a pretty good fit for the short-term strong list by using a 5-day exponential lag on price and screening for average daily cash flow (price * volume) above $1,000,000

I want to thank you Ed for the priceless knowledge you share. I want to also acknowledge my home town tribe for their continuous support. I would also like to thank the various other tribe members that I have come in contact with over the years for their support.

Intentions do equal results.

May God bless you Ed.

Yours truly,

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Thank you for the catch.

Irish Punt

Nice chart of the Irish Punt, trading this currency in the ‘now’ is impossible, has it no longer exists.

One could trade it in the not too distant past; however, finding a broker to take the order might be difficult.

Cheers

Thank you for the catch. The chart is pending removal from the list.

Custom Charts

As an "Associate", I am now receiving custom stock charts which are the specific charts ... I want to follow.

I am trading, following long term trends. Well ... still trying to.

To receive custom charts, click on Charts, above

The Missing Link

Ed,

I could not locate "Studies" section on "Resources" page as per the FAQ threads dated Thu, 2 Jun 2005 and Sun, 05 Jun 2005.

Thanks for your help.

The studies section is currently inactive.

Time Space Continuum Rhetorical Question

Do you regard the consequences for what you do in the now if the future does not exist?

Five months later I'm happy to report that things have never been better between us!

I've never understood how TTP works, why it works, I'm not even sure if I send or receive correctly. But every meeting I go through the motions and am constantly amazed at the progress that I've made in many different areas of my life. It's like magic.

Thank you, Ed, for starting this forum. And thank you to my Tribe members for their support and great receiving abilities.
 

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Weight Up

RE: Final Weigh-In

Muscle weighs more than fat.

He'll surely trend either toward weight loss or weight gain ... but it says nothing about his health or what he looks like.

It is possible to lose weight and at the same time have an unhealthy blood lipid profile and a higher 'body fat' percentage.

The mirror usually clarifies.

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Trouble with Snapshots


Hi Ed,

I take the hot seat with several issues on my emotional radar but with no focal point. The prospect of creating a four square snapshot brings them into focus, so I concentrate on that. I can develop a snapshot for Body but not the other three. The prospect of meeting my commitment of providing a snapshot at the next meeting fills me with dread. With the prompting of my process manager I curl over and hold my head in my hands; everyone in the tribe encourages me by drumming and constant vocalizations. I intensify the experience to surf the wave.

My hotseat seems to go on and on and on. At one point I need the drumming to quiet down so I attempt to direct my receivers by a hand signal. I am in CM for a very brief time. They get the message and I go back to experiencing my forms.

After several more forms I feel exhausted so I lie down on the floor. My process manager tells me to feel relaxed, to feel heavy. I comply. After awhile I get back into my chair. I return to the snapshot issue. After more forms and encouragement I reach a zero point and an aha emerges: No matter what I can come up with for the snapshot I will have to work on issues I do not want to work on as the result of next meeting's snapshot. But that's fine; I experience the forms and enjoy them. The same thing will happen in the moment of Now called next meeting.

Thanks, Ed.

WeWilling.gif

I am keen to invest for the long-term. I appreciate that volatility is a part of trading and have no problem with this. I have also read about trend following over the past few years and can understand its merits.

Please could you give me an opportunity to invest with you.

In this case, if you have at least $400,000 LNW and are willing to lose $20,000 we can talk further.

The final weigh in this morning is 244lbs.

Thanks for your guidance and comments during this process.

Hmmm ... I wonder what follows the final weigh in.

Snapshot Experiment

One requirement for IVTT membership is to further develop the work.

Tonight I am experimenting with bringing an integrated four part snapshot to my own tribe. It's one snapshot that integrates all 4 of the quadrants into one image.

Image: My wife and I are dancing. I am spinning her out with one hand while I lift and balance a small platform loaded up with 2 5-kg weights and two bags of money. My daughters are trying to dance with us. My son is hiding behind a chair enjoying the spectacle and not wanting us to know it.

Title: 'Cha Cha Ching'

Description: I am physically fit and financially independent. I sell trader support services to some of the best portfolio managers in the world.  I manage money for myself and a few carefully selected clients. I am well compensated for the high returns and low draw downs that I provide for my clients. I maintain my balance and I'm having loads of fun dancing the Cha Cha Ching with my wonderful wife and our three children.

Feelings: I want to put a specific amount of money in the bags and I don't do so because of the workshop advice that specific amounts lack emotional content. I might take this into the hot seat.

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Hello Breathwork Support Team!

As of June 1, 2006 I report that I complete the first month of trading in my fund. May is a volatile month with performance up about 10.5% from beginning equity at one point and down about 3.5% at another point. The month ends with gross performance of about -2.1%. I raise a small amount ($62K) of additional assets in May, and assets under management as of June 1 are just over $1.1 million.

I plan to attend the Managed Funds Association conference in Chicago this month in order to introduce myself to institutional and high net worth individual investors and to increase the visibility of my firm.

My fitness plan did not go so well in May. My weight is up about 4 pounds from my last report, as I partially abandon my fitness routine while I focus on my business operations. Now that the fund is up and running I plan to recommit to my fitness plan and get right back on the system.

I commit to continue to report my assets under management to you, my Breathwork support team, on the first of each month until I reach $5 million under management.

Thanks for your support!

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I mailed my registration for your seminar in Cambridge today. After I mailed it I noticed that there was a stipulation of a postmark date of May 30. I apologize, please except my registration if you can or provide me any adjustments required.

You may remember an e-mail I sent you several months ago. I indicated I was going through chemotherapy. I am finished now, living very much in the now of each day. I have your Trading Tribe book and look forward to contributing to the seminar any way I can.

I would like to share more with you relating to my AHA moments as a struggling teenager, the genetic optimization program I wrote for building portfolios, and a few other things, but I won’t burden you now. Perhaps before, during, or after the seminar there will be a moment for this, or perhaps not.

I have never traded a contract in my life, but I really enjoy intellectually pursuing issues as if I were active. To that note, I suspect this question may tread on your FAQ rules, but maybe not. I see your diversification study. I see the single market scaling of contracts with a specified heat of 10% and the diversified heat of 5%. What I am intently wondering is if when applying the 5% heat factor for the combined portfolio does each market get to draw from the combined equity of both markets at an individual 5% heat factor, or does each market keep its own running equity total for which each draw a respective 5% heat from for sizing the contracts. If the answer cannot be a simple A or B, I patiently await some supporting data for the diversified simulation to complete my fascinations.

Thanks again, I really admire some of your frankness and insights.

The 5% heat factor means each instrument assumes risk of 5% of the total account equity.

Sir,

What is risk?

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(5/17/06 Judging the judge)
Ed says, "Trying to be non-judgmental presupposes a judgment about being judgmental"

(5/15/06 Going in Circles)
Ed says:
PM: So are you willing to do TTP?
S: No, I don't want to.
PM: OK, thank you. So let's have a check out and then go to the next person


Dear Ed,

I think you are right on, as I have a knot in judgment, and the second FAQ is a prime example. When I feel the sender is not really giving her best effort (i.e. not willing), it feels like I am judging her progress, and I keep telling myself that I need to be supportive instead of analyzing her, and that whatever the sender does is the right thing, even including what appears to be going in circle. As you say in the 6/24/04 FAQ (Why is trading so different), "TTP suspends belief in the JCT trilogy: judgment, causality and time."

I notice you have a similar example in the Trading Tribe book when a member's wife is calling for help to change her husband. However, in my case, the person actually shows up at a tribe meeting, claims that she wants to try, goes on the hot seat, but appears to be going in circle.

From a systematic view, I guess I attract her into this drama, and so my best way out is to experience my feeling towards this "going-in-circle" experience. Now, since we have only a total of three members (including myself), so she is going to be either process-managing or receiving my session. Hmmm, an interesting experiment ...Thanks.

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I take it to the tipping point and relax as I hold it even longer. I feels really cool. You ask me to get back into the composite form and really enjoy it. I am willing and I go for it. I take it to the very end and let go gently. I am calm and centered.

I realize that no matter how good my system is there will always be lots of things I could of or should have done better. When I reframe the trading process as one of just playing the odds, it's clear that perfection isn't even an option. It doesn't matter one bit if I could have done something better in retrospect as long as I follow my system. My task becomes one of developing and following a profitable system instead of constantly making the "right" decisions day in and day out.

During checkout I commit to going live with a mechanical system within 2 months.

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When I come back you ask me how did it feel. All I can say is 'really dumb!' which gets quite a few chuckles.

You ask me if I am willing to do it again and really get into it. I really get into it with all the intention I can muster. During the process I have a vision. I am six years old, sitting at the table with my father and he is paying me for the grades on my report card. He pays me less than he previously agrees to pay me. I point out that he owes me 5 cents more. He goes over the math and I notice that he is not paying me 5 cents for a B- in one subject. He exclaims: B minus!! That's almost a C! I feel really hurt and angry that he is breaking his agreement with me. We are now in line with the theme of the night: breaking agreements.

When I tip I relate the vision and feelings to you. You ask me to get into them again. I end up on the futon. I smash my fist into the pillow over and over again losing touch with all rational thought. Yelling at my father and letting out 35 years of repressed anger. I collapse onto the mattress and a feeling of calmness overcomes me.

As of today (5/31) I can report that my relationship with my father is better. I understand better that he transferred the k-nots he received from his father down to me. He considers himself dumb (he's definitely not) and his father taught him that he could never succeed just because of who he is. I remember him telling me the opposite many times: "a [family name] can do anything" and it was very clear from the joking tone of his voice that he did not believe it. Yet somehow by repeatedly telling me that statement that he did not even believe, he made it possible for me to go much further than he ever could even while doubting my own worthiness.

With my natural abilities there are few limits to my success other than the feelings that I have in k-nots. I thank you and the tribe for helping me overcome my feelings of unworthiness. I am able to dream dreams that I could never dream before and I know that I am on the road to as much success as I am willing to accept.

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During checkout another Tribe member says he feels that I am not done, that the feeling in his stomach passes but there is something in his head that did not get cleared out. Very perceptive.

Later during his hot seat my head clears. Very strange.

On Saturday during our Company tribe meeting I commit to a heavy load. One that is far from easy given my other obligations yet still within the realm of possibility. I am better able to stretch. Only the next two weeks will tell if I stretch too much.

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Comp [let->etit] ion

Hi Ed,

It is great to see your new FAQ after a month! I was feeling worried if something unfortunate happens to you that you are not able to maintain it. (I don't know how that thought comes about) In any case, glad to see your answers. This incidence reminds me of not taking things for granted. I wholeheartedly appreciate your sharing. THANKS!!

In the 5/14/06 FAQ (Gas Price War), when you say, "While the chain letter does not request government intervention (which tends to reduce completion)...", do you mean reduce competition (instead of completion)?
Thanks.

Thank you for the encouragement and for the catch.