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Questions (Quotes from Ed in Red)	Answers
Fri, 29 Jun 2007 Returning to What Works Hey Ed, Regarding my e-mail June 1, 2007 "Back to Printing Money" When you ask me to consider recalling how I handle nervousness about big and fast moves. You hit it right on the button when you said in your response: "Use a trend-following system with very close stops." That is exactly what I did and am doing now plain and simple. To add to that I need to re-enter trades even if I get stopped out of them and they start to trend again. From the e-mail "Back to Trading" June 1, 2007. My trading streak stopped when I stopped believing there was opportunity to make money during the Internet Bubble Bursting period. Instead of trading I listened to the news chatter about how bad the market was. I got fearful and took a big chunk of money (1/2 of it) got married bought some new cars (One for my wife and one for me), went on some vacations and fixed up my little house (Which I really do enjoy.) At first I thought my trading problem began when my wife was pregnant with my son, then I thought it was when I had trouble with my last long term job. I remember when the construction workers were at my house I was telling them about Nextel but I did not buy it. The stock went up several thousand percent! The reality is that energy, material and housing stocks were trending very nicely during that time. Instead of paying attention to my charts I was paying attention to the news. The reporters were all talking about the Internet stocks crashing while ignoring the oil, coal and housing stocks that were all hitting new highs. I also went too short term with some trades (Overtraded) and sometimes I traded too big positions that made me fearful. I let outside influences dictate my trades instead of staying with the trend. So in essence you are correct about the same thing standing between me and trading and writing this e-mail. I trade best when I focus on the price action and current trends and not outside events or news. Thanks for getting me to focus on writing this Ed. It may look simple to write but this really digs up some feelings about "sticking with it", "staying focused" and "believing in myself". Regarding June 14th "Warren Buffet Video". Yes it is amazing that he could have positions like KO (Coke) and still have so much net worth! It makes me feel like I can make mistakes and not feel so bad and still make money. Imagine if he had taken some of his KO profits and had caught some of the other trends in those 10 years. Thanks for your help and input again Ed. P.S. I'm going [on vacation] with my family from July 7th to July 28th. I will check in with you after that unless I can find Internet access there (It is a rural area near the beach).	Thank you for sharing your process. The News can provide lots of excuses to abandon your system Clip: http://www.stanford.edu/group/ aises/news.html
Wed, 27 Jun 2007 The Painter Extraordinaire Ed, I think this is quite something. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIJtKxdRQzY	I wonder if he can also "paint the tape."
Wed, 27 Jun 2007 Support with C# Hi Ed, We are building our trading system using C# and MS Access. We are using the TSP as practice to make sure we are programming everything correctly. We are doing the EA TSP first and learning a lot. [We]have a question about formatting data in the DataGridView. His question is below: "I'm connecting to an Access database and importing the data tables into a dataset object that I create. The problem I am having is formatting the metric values for the slow and fast lags in two additional data columns that I've added to the dataset object. The values in all but the date column are double types. I'm looking to format the precision to three decimal places XXX.XXX before or after putting the values into a datagridview object that I am using to display the data values in a windows form. I've been looking at different properties and methods to perform this sort of formatting but I am stuck. I have seen methods that use numerical formatting, but it tells me that I need to convert the values to string values or use console.writeline which supposedly will also call the .tostring() method. Any suggestions on how to go on formatting the double types while maintaining them as doubles?" Thank you for your continuing support,	The datagridview object seems to have a bug. You might try this patch: With myDataGridView.Rows(0).Cells(0) .ValueType = GetType(Decimal) .Style.Format = "C2" .Value = CSng(.Value) End With Otherwise, you might try pre-formatting your doubles to a strings before you enter them.
Tue, 26 Jun 2007 Wants to Join a Tribe Meeting Dear Sir, I would like to know if there is any tribe in Los Angeles area ... and when is your next Workshop. Thank you.	You can check the Directory page. Watch FAQ for news of the next Workshop.
Tue, 26 Jun 2007 Frustration see: previous Dear Ed, Your comment seems to be true and I am really upset now. And do note among others that apparently I stopped doing sports to have an excuse for hibernating. Now my back problem worsened and I can hide at home - just me, my cats, my plants and my computer ... wonderful world. I already tried family constellation, esoteric science, psychotherapy and now I am really frustrated. Something like, man, it's me again. I mean MA 90 and MA 200 offer some company but they don't talk very much. Love & Respect,	You may have "Medicinal Rock" resources that medicate your feelings about intimacy by shutting down, hibernating, hiding and turning your attention to your cats and to your computer. A "Pro-Active" Rock might have pro-active resources such as staying awake, sharing your feelings, being open to receiving the feelings of others, asking for what you want, enjoying contact with others, etc. You likely already understand these resources logically, and might even agree with them. To that extent, you might accept them as "advice." Advice, however, rarely works. Our Rocks act automatically in response to our emotions, way before we have a chance to process our feelings logically or apply advice. In the Rocks process, we re-program our automatic emotional response patterns, so we entrain different results without having to "figure it out" or "work at it." We Send Signals that attract (and repel) others. We send these signals automatically, often before we are aware we are doing so. Clip: http://www.engageonline.co.nz/ solutions_attract.htm
Mon, 25 Jun 2007 More on F-healings see: previous Ed, Thank you for confirming f-healings to me. I am very much heal-ED for sharing my f-healings with you. ----- e-motion = energy in motion?	OK.
Mon, 25 Jun 2007 Holding Out for a Few Days Hello Ed, I hope all is well with you. I'm writing this email in response to my recent negotiations with a ... fund that is interested in diversifying their capital into alternative strategies. I sent them my work and they seemed to be very keen on getting more information on this. I met them two weeks ago during a job interview and I did well with the talking and presenting my knowledge. The fund has a 20% incentive fee for their performance and I think I made a mistake with the profit split as I wanted 35% of what they earn (i.e. 7% of the incentive fee). I did this to have some room to negotiate and end up somewhere around 20-25%. They were quite surprised and said that they will contact me in "a few days" etc. The same day I actually changed my offer via email from 35% to 25% because I couldn't fall asleep. I called them a few days later to ask whether they received the mail. They said yes and that the CEO will decide and contact me in "a few days". Two weeks has gone by and I am wondering what to do. I feel a bit stupid asking for so much but what the hell, what's done is done. Besides, there are no rules about a fair price or how to negotiate the proper way. To me, this is a hold out that can last forever. I really want to get the job, it's an opportunity like ever. However, I want to play big and settle from the start with some sort of advantage. I would like to talk to you about this, can I call you? regards,	You might consider calling your contact and telling him your feelings. If this seems awkward, you might take your feelings about it to your Tribe. If you want to talk to me, you can apply to the incline Village Tribe, attend a Workshop or see "consulting" at the bottom of the Ground Rules page. Tough Negotiating can be a way to avoid the intimacy that might come from making the deal. Clip: http://www.piperreport.com/archives/ images/Negotiating%20Drug%20Prices.jpg
Mon, 25 Jun 2007 Expressing Feelings Ed, It's been awhile since I reported to the TT FAQ. Over the last couple of years in addition to conducting and participating in TTP at my local tribe, I have been reading a lot about psychology, Indian and Zen philosophy, work by ... Joseph Campbell et al. I have also gone through a lot of personal and professional experiences - related to business, relationship and family. The good and the joyful experiences have taught me not to get too carried away and the bad and painful ones (although more educational than the good ones) have taught me not to get too down and beat up on myself. In other words, find the zero point in my life not just in the hot seat. Throughout these lessons, one thing I have learned and relearned that I must come to a zero point with regard to my feelings. Acknowledge them as soon as they arise. Act and or express them in that moment and don't let them linger on and come back to them in the future. In other words, I must stay in the moment and do the best I can in that moment and enjoy the moment or at least stay at a zero point. I used to bottle up my own feelings and not express them because I used to (still do but to a lesser extent) worry about what would my expressing my feelings would do others' feelings as I didn't want to hurt others' feelings. What I have experienced is that by bottling up the only person that got hurt was me and by expressing, I and the other person actually benefited. I got closer and gained more trust by expressing my feelings. Same with trading - I used to self doubt and fear about taking the signals. If I got stopped out and the new signal came in the same or the opposite direction I used to hesitate to pull the trigger because of the loss on the last trade. So I was dwelling on the past. I was bottling up my own feelings with regard to trading. I have slowly begun to conquer the fear of the unknown and just deal with the consequences of taking action on signals and feelings in the ever evolving moment of now. I am very excited about my trading and personal life now. I am looking forward to every day as a new day. I have wonderful snapshots for my trading and personal life now. Thank you.	Thank you for sharing your process. Expressing Feelings ... ... or Milk ... or both is generally more intimate than bottling them up. Clips: http://www.brandonrha.mb.ca/en/ Having_A_Baby/Breastfeeding/Index.html http://www.womanthouartgod.com/ breastfeedinglovemaking.php
Mon, 25 Jun 2007 Tahoe Fires Hi Ed, I just wake up and the TV is reporting a wildfire at Lake Tahoe and it sounds really bad. I just hope all is well with you and your family and everything's fine. Take care!!!	Thank you for your concern. The burn is in South Lake Tahoe, I am in North Lake Tahoe. I recall, for years and years, the local fire chief continuing to advise the residents of Lake Tahoe to thin the forest to reduce fuel levels and decrease the likelihood of fire. The environmentalists oppose thinning; they want to protect the trees and prevent erosion runoff into Lake Tahoe. Fire requires fuel. Clip: http://www.wildlandfire.com/pics/wall/ wildfire_elkbath.jpg
Mon, 25 Jun 2007 Acting Out Rejection Hi Ed, Well, after three weeks of waiting I called the guys to ask whether they managed to come up with a decision and I hear :"Yes, it took us a long time to figure how to handle this but for the meantime, no thank you". I'm getting to like this. All of my biggest mistakes revolve around this pattern of being close and getting the ... but no. To much risk, to much overconfidence, being too demanding, hiding my intentions, actually having something good to offer ...but no thank you and then feeling all the stuff involved with this. From now on I'm going to fail even greater - i.e. I'm going to do everything to show my best, be even more desirable, I'll be more timid, convincing, attractive and I'll show my true intentions, my vulnerability, fear, anxiousness and then I'll hear the "but no" and see how that feels. Can't wait to feel the magnified intensity of regret, sadness, anger, helplessness, rejection, humiliation, resentment, loneliness, fear. Until now, I've been only failing half-way. After all, if I "would of, should of , could of" I would of certainly got what I wanted, it's quite obvious to everyone. No more half solutions, I swear.	Thank you for sharing your process. Your results may stem from intentions you carry deeply in your automatic response pattern programs (Rocks). You might consider taking your feelings of rejection to your Tribe as entry points. In the Rocks process, we role play your situation, in this case rejection, to help you locate a critical incident from your formative years. We then role play the critical incident to assist you in fortifying your automatic response patterns with pro-active resources. If you continue to run your drama in the real world, you may succeed in exciting your critical forms without receiving the support to acquire pro-active resources. Rejection can be a Game in which you attract a thumb and get it to press down on the top of your head. Clip: http://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/ users/04/audrey/op-art/rejection.jpg
Sun, 24 Jun 2007 Acknowledges Help see: Thanks For Your Time Dear Mr. Seykota, Thank you very much for your response. I admit that it is difficult for me to acknowledge help from someone, although I do reluctantly acknowledge help, because I feel it is what I "should" do. You mention you use Java in a response to an old post on Tue, 25 Feb 2003. Thanks again for your help. I am sure I will be e-mailing with questions in the future. Also, I attach a document I completed with a teacher of mine containing instructions for practicing meditation. I have found that meditation has helped me, and thought it might be useful to Trading Tribe members for personal growth. Also, I will be attending my first TT meeting in [City] in July. Look forward to it!	Thank you for sharing your process. You might consider taking your feelings about helping and receiving help to your Tribe. Helping and Receiving Help are fundamental to life and to the Trading Tribe Process Clip: http://byebyemold.com/service_areas/ca/ images/helping_hand.gif
Sun, 24 Jun 2007 Guys That Are Not So Serious Dear Ed, Your poem of Jun 21 moves my heart, too. Somebody wrote to me today: "There is a hardly a woman in my life that I ever forgot." This was his answer to my enrolment for an event for traders. I wished there would be more of this around me. And do note that I am still running after the guys that are not so serious. Just note this and write it down. All the best for you and your family.	Thank you for sharing your process. Deep and automatic emotional response patterns (Rocks) determine the signals we send to others. These signals attract and shape our relationships. We typically send these signals prior to and independently of conscious awareness. The TTP Rocks Process is a way to identify our Rocks and to supplement them with constructive ways to respond. In this way, we replace Medicinal Rocks -- that shut down emotional responses -- with Pro-Active Rocks that attract and shape situations we like. One of the Many Forms of Marriage People with compatible Rocks tend to find each other and enter cross-medication gridlock Clip: http://www.helloworldblog.com/ 2005/03/index.html
Sat, 23 Jun 2007 No Variation Dear Mr. Seykota, I appreciate your site very much. I believe I know when to hold a stock and I know when to fold them but I am not sure about no variation in my system. I cannot believe you have kept your site priceless and over the years have printed everything. All the best.	OK.
Fri, 22 Jun 2007 Fork in the Road Ed Says: In the Rocks Process, we locate Medicinal Rocks (that respond to emotions by making them go away) and we replace them with Pro-Active Rocks (that respond to emotions by generating productive activity). The Positive Intention of Feelings seems to emerge when we share them. Sometimes I visit FAQ to know what's going on and then I get inspired to share some something. Which do you think is the positive intention of being divided between two paths which are seemingly opposite to each other and yet needing both? This is my case, for instance, with regard to Magic and Christianity. I was brought up in a Christian family and I feel emotionally attached to it. On the other hand, over the course of my life, I feel also attracted to the Magical path. I feel strongly divided between the two. Isn't there a middle path?	You may already be on the middle path: namely, contemplating the fork in the road. You may be able to resolve your position by taking your feelings of division to your Tribe. Depending on Your Point of View You might see one road or two. You might even see the fork as part of the road. Clip: http://www.mikepaulblog.com/ blog/index.php?m=200606
21 Jun 2007 How to Feel Better: Name the Feeling Hi Ed, Thought you might find this interesting. I'm looking forward to your next book release. Name that feeling: You'll feel better - Yahoo! News by Julie Steenhuysen Thu Jun 21, 12:31 AM ET CHICAGO (Reuters) - Putting feelings into words makes sadness and anger less intense, U.S. brain researchers said on Wednesday, in a finding that explains why talking to a therapist -- or even a sympathetic bartender -- often makes people feel better. Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070621/ sc_nm/brain_feelings_dc	Yes, I concur. Talking about feelings tends to dissipate them. In The TTP Rocks process we motivate expression and concentration of feelings by encouraging display of physical forms.
Thu, 21 Jun 2007 Wants to have a Heart-Connection with a Man Ed, This poem speaks to me. I'd like to be someone's very best thing. Do you think this is possible? ----- I {Heart} My Wife by Darlyn Finich "I {Heart} My Wife" the bumper sticker read in the window of the pickup truck ahead of me at the red light, and I burst into tears for no particular reason I could explain to the crossing guard on the corner or even to the man driving the truck, who looked quite ordinary, and did not realize those four happy words could rip a woman's heart out under certain circumstances, when she's one man's abscessed tooth, and another's dirty little secret. Then I stopped to wonder, as I blew my nose and wiped my eyes, whether the man had bought the bumper sticker at all, or if his wife had perhaps stuck it there, in the window behind his head, as a message to women like me, whom she surely knows are sitting at every red light in every town, wishing they could one day be someone's very best thing Source: Poem: "I {Heart} My Wife" by Darlyn Finch, from Red Wax Rose. © Shady Lane Press, 2007	Perhaps you are weeping around the bittersweet question if such sentiment can ever emanate from the heart of a man. Perhaps in some deep place you are still holding than only a woman can fully comprehend a woman. As long as you hold that tighter than you hold your man you are likely to burst into tears with no particular reason. ----- You might consider taking your feelings of wanting to connect on a heart level with a man to your Tribe. You may notice that men (and women) who practice TTP get pretty good at connecting on a heart level. TTP tends to promote heart connections It Takes Two to Tango and the two have to be willing. Clips: http://www.rockforddiocese.org/ search/Heart2Heart-lg.jpg http://www.gainesvilletango.org/ 25-snapshots-of-argentine-tango-lessons- classes-workshops-training-and-parties- in-gainesville-north-central-florida.htm
Thu, 21 Jun 2007 Trends see previous Hello Ed: You are my favorite of the Market Wizards, I often tell my students. I was surprised however that you mention trends do not exist! Perhaps I am just missing something, that’s all. I find that trends are not an idea, they are a true, real force, or energy which we can understand. I suppose this is the beauty of living in 2007. With all our information technology, we have no excuse to understand the markets any less than the generations of traders that preceded us. We can now see trends, in High-Definition J . They used to be imagined. It’s a beautiful thing. The difficulty most market participants have with trends is that they have a singular idea of what the trend is. They take a chart, identify some series of higher-highs and higher-lows, or apply a moving average, and thus develop a fixed singular idea of the market’s trend, probably limited to direction only, rather than behavior driven by many other factors unseen on the chart. There are many forces, or “trends” that act on the market all at once. These trends or “energy” do exist in multiple dimensions of time and related markets. The “trend” in any given measure of time is likely to continue with that behavior until acted upon by the force of larger trends from larger time frames. They are also interrupted by trends in related markets, through cross-market translation of support and resistance. Often it is a combination of trends in larger time frames and trends in related markets that develop a single market’s trend structure in one given time frame. This can be understood on a more dynamic level, well within our thinking capacity. And so the market unfolds from the past to the future through those perpetual collisions in trends. And then of course there is the present, where the past and future collide, as we attempt to eliminate the innate ego and primitive reaction, and perform the unnatural so that we can actually pull a profit even we are dead wrong. Or perhaps it’s the market that went dead wrong, and we make money out of its wrongness. Or lose. And then, Risk Management, the management of the trends in our account balance through some conscious modulation of size, duration and frequency. It’s really the only “trend” we can control, and it is very real, definitely not an idea. Ok, this is long! So sorry. I want to thank you, for “everyone gets what they want.” Perhaps I can thank you in person one day.	Trends are not force or energy. Simple Proof: The unit of measure of trend is velocity, such as dollars per month, miles per hour or cycles per second. The unit of measure of force is the Newton, or kg-m/sec². The unit of measure of energy is the Joule, or kg-m²/sec². You seem to be trying to fit the notion of trend into the causal (fundamental analysis) model by saying that trends "cause" things. Trend Followers tend to "go with the flow" and follow their systems. The causal model may serve trend followers excuses for abandoning trend-following discipline.
Wed, 20 Jun 2007 More Cow Pies See: previous What a response to my pile of poop FAQ! I smile when I read non-trader type comments. This person clearly has issues around their inability to follow a trading plan. I see you attract quite a few non-traders, who wanna be; I wonder why you don’t screen them – this way FAQ would consist of questions and comments from traders.	You might consider taking your feelings about provoking people to your Tribe as an entry point. Provocation in Sports Zidane’s head-butting of Marco Materazzi earns him a red-card rather than a winner’s medal as a farewell from the game. Physical contact is not the provocation for the reaction; the two are exchanging words when Zidane stops, turns, walks back towards the Italian and knocks him down. The reaction is so out of character for Zidane that it’s likely that Materazzi pushes some button deep inside Zidane. Provocation in Sports provoke: 1. To incite to anger or resentment. 2. To stir to action or feeling. 3. To induce a fight. Latin: pro-, forth; + vocre, to call; Clips: http://tonykaron.com/2006/06/06/what-do- they-of-football-know-who-only-football-know/ http://members.aol.com/ttoutpost1/ Jane_Burgess_Net_Serve.jpg
Tue, 19 Jun 2007 Losing Money as Medication see: The Positive Intention of Quitting Thanks for posting my last FAQ. I think seeing it there for me to refer to when I need to will help me to stay the course of quitting. I’m afraid there is a mistake though when it says I have a net worth of £170,000 there should be a minus sign in front of it! Since quitting my direct access account and not following the market so closely all my relationships, including one with myself improve. Quitting this medication has made me realize two things: I am ‘depressed’, using your definition; ‘Depression is a state in which the subject feels inadequate and despondent’. This sums up how I feel in such a perfect way now I know what I’m facing I relax a little. I now concentrate on finding a way to feel less inadequate; I intend to do this through helping other people and receiving my loved ones. At least three times each week I dream of my father who I work in the same building with but don’t communicate well with since he left my mother. I have frustration he won’t stay with us and can’t see why he’d want to go down the road he does when it seems to make him so unhappy. My Dad is a self made business man with a good business and above average level of income. Like me never feels he’s done well enough, this ‘never being satisfied’ feeling is a recipe to feel inadequate and a fast route to ‘depression’. I medicate with drama driven trading. He medicates through a drama driven personal life. It seems that there is a history of this in males in my family. I want to be the one to break this cycle. Thanks for your insights. I hope I find the courage to join a tribe.	In the Rocks Process, we locate Medicinal Rocks (that respond to emotions by making them go away) and we replace them with Pro-Active Rocks (that respond to emotions by generating productive activity). You might consider examining your statement (finding a way to feel less inadequate) to determine if it is Medicinal or Pro-Active. If it is Medicinal, you might still be avoiding some deeper issue, perhaps sadness and frustration about your father leaving. You might consider taking your feelings to your Tribe. Losing Money may serve as medicine to cover up deeper and earlier forms of sadness. The Positive Intention of Feelings seems to emerge when we share them. Clips: http://tykesontrikes.com/gallery.asp?image=0 http://pstripes.com/korea.htm
Mon, 18 Jun 2007 Rock Process Experience from Incline Village Dear Mr. Seykota: Since I feel so brand new. I wanted to create a new email. Flying from to Incline, all I had in mind was Fear. However when I met Ed, Fear disappeared. I thank you and other members for tremendous commitment and receiving during Rock Process. The role playing becomes instantly natural as it was really happening. Members seems to grasp it's role instantly. It's very hard to describe the Rock Process on email however I can tell you this whether it's just happened what happened but when I came back from Incline, my biggest position had a best week since the day it went public. In this case it was [Symbol]. I bought more on Friday and today and trying to buy as much as I can. I also bought [Other Symbol] @ 125 and the stock tanked to 118 and now it's back to 125. !! Thanks to risk management. I have easier time identifying laggers in my portfolio as well. Taking bad money and moving it to good with total conviction. I thank you for stressing on the word " VISION" during the snapshot process. VISION is a powerful word. Thank you for reminding all of us ... I was pretty sick the whole week last week due to stomach virus. Despite this I managed to have productive week. I lost couple pounds since I couldn't eat anything, this may be a drama to achieve my Body Snapshot. I notice from other members FAQ that members benefit from various Aha's from Role Playing the characters during Rock Process. I like to be part of more of Role Playing. I took a picture of my self overlooking the Lake Tahoe to symbolize this visit. It was a super fun after all. Thank you Ed and other members for great evening. Friendship is wonderful. I want to become regular members for Incline Village or where ever you conduct the meeting.	Thank you for sharing your process. We Assimilate Medicinal Rocks during terrifying events. Medicinal Rocks help us shut down our feelings quickly and automatically even before we are consciously aware. The TTP Rocks Process identifies Medicinal Rocks and replaces them with Pro-Active Rocks. Clip: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/pictures/ image/0,,-1090329538560,00.html
Mon, 18 Jun 2007 Commit to One or Two Hello Ed, I am an aspiring full-time trader, and while I am currently a control systems engineer, I have been developing myself over the last 7 years, mostly via observation, trial & error (hard knocks), but also by reading a massive amount of literature from traders I respect. In order to move to the next level, I am now at a point where I psychologically want to commit to one of two avenues, that I perceive as mutually exclusive in terms of the focus that it will require going forward. The one is, for lack of a better phrase, systematic trading, and the other, discretionary trading. Now I know that all good trading involves rules that should never be violated, but that still leaves scope for taking trades on a discretionary basis vs. systematically. I was wondering if being overly mechanical (if there is such a thing) in one's approach might consign one to "average" performance, as opposed to discretionary decision making leading to "maximum" performance. If some elements of discretionary trading is indeed required for attaining one's maximum profit potential in trading, what types of elements would this be, and how would a trader ensure that discretion leads to consistent results within acceptable risk parameters, and not a blow-up?	Thank you for sharing your process. You might consider taking your feelings about dilemmas to your Tribe. Dealing With Dilemmas may serve to distract you from dealing with your real issues. Clip: http://vnuuk.typepad.com/photos/ uncategorized/dilemma.jpg
Sun, 17 Jun 2007 Disappointment Dear Mr. Seykota, I have started writing a stock analysis and testing tool about four years ago. For the first two years, I did not tell anybody about this project. Later, I thought it would be better to share it with someone, so that he can be helpful in discovering some areas that I might be missing. The first response I got was yawning and disbelief. I told about this to a few other friends and I got the same response. They told me that I was wasting my time, trading is gambling, you cannot develop a mechanical system to beat the market. I was pretty disappointed and for the last two years, I could not develop anything. I was so productively working on it before that. I wish I had not told it to anybody. I feel like that I am kind of a person who is unsuccessful in human relations. I made a big discovery about myself recently. I was having some job interviews and I was not able to answer even the simplest questions that I knew so well. I figured out that when someone tries to challenge me or look down upon me, I just shut off. I cannot respond rationally. I think I take everything personally. I now realize that the people I have problems with fit into this category. When a person treats me arrogantly, I just label that person as a bad guy and I never can have a good relationship. I have read many trading books, developed a very nice testing platform, but now I just cannot continue and get the results. I know that I should filter out all the noise around myself, but I do not know how I can do it. I think I have correctly diagnosed myself. I know that DIM approach does not work. My problems are probably coming from my family in my early childhood days. Could you give me an advice on how to fix my problem? I should just discard the people who try to condescend me. I should just have self-confidence in me. I do not know how I can do it. Even though I figured out this, I cannot say that I am still successful in filtering out the noise around myself. I appreciate your work and wisdom.	Thank you for sharing your process. You might consider taking your feelings to your Tribe. Setting up for Disappointment can be part of a deep and automatic response pattern. Clip: http://www.lightalongthejourney.com/ Images/disappointment.jpg
Mon, 18 Jun 2007 On Cow Pies and Games Dear Ed, I finish reading FAQ (Tue 22 May 2007) - "Wants Cow Pie" and I instantly think that the person who wrote this has 'some cheek'. I imagine that if I had to answer FAQ's, I would tell this person where to go. I would say, "Stop your foul whining, spare me your sarcasm and if you don't like the way this website (or TTP) is run then go to another website that you DO like" I quickly realize (after my initial outburst of course) that this is exactly how drama in my life escalates. I'm now caught up in 'the game' with this person as I respond and engage in this person's issues which have now become issues for me. This then invites a reply back and then it's 'on.' The 'problem', as I see it, is that this person tells me (via the FAQ post) how he/she feels but I'm not willing to receive these feelings. Of course, now that I reflect on the situation I can see the game playing out, but at the point where it begins I am unable to see this and I flip out. I lack the necessary wisdom (at this time) to not buy into the drama. The difference between your reply and my reply to this person's FAQ is that you are willing to receive this persons feelings where-as I am not. I don't enjoy participating in these types of games but I sometimes am unable to help myself. Obviously, on some level, i must enjoy it ... after all every one likes a game don't they?	Thank you for sharing your process. You might consider using the Rocks Process to re-program your gut reaction to people who provoke you. Fighting can settle questions about property ownership. Bristling in response to a minor provocation can indicate a Medicinal Rock. Clip: http://www.defenselink.mil/transformation/ images/photos/2005-04/Hi-Res/game01.jpg
Sun, 17 Jun 2007 Thanks for Your Time Dear Mr. Seykota, Do you recommend any particular book for teaching myself C++? Also, are there any other languages (computer languages, that is) that you recommend I learn? I see that you list C# under "Books" and that you yourself use Java. Thank you very much for your time.	Code seems to be migrating toward C#. Hmmm ... I wonder what evidence you have that I use Java. I notice you thank me for my time. I do not own any time or dispense it to others. I wonder if you dare consider what it is you are really receiving from me and acknowledging - and if you are willing to share it with others. Time Can Be a Proxy for something you don't want to mention. Clip: http://wwp.daylight-saving-time.com/
Sun, 17 Jun 2007 Questions Hi Ed I am in the process of reading back through the FAQ’s and have a few unrelated FAQ’s to ask You were asked on the Thu, 30 Nov 2006 about your early mentors and you replied Through Reading Books: Nick Darvas Bernard Baruch Jesse Livermore Arthur Cutten Sergei Rachmaninoff Milton Friedman I was curious as to why Nick Davis’s first book “How I Made $2,000,000 in the Stock Market” (circa 1957) was not on your Favourite book list? As it is usually mentioned just after the old turkey in trend-following classics 2. There would appear to be a lot of similarities between Nicolas Davis’s trend trading systems with its use of boxes to define the high and low prices extremities over a certain look back period and Richard Donchian’s weekly rule system. Do you think it is possible that one influenced the other in their system design or do you feel that it is just coincidental? 3. In your interview in Market Wizards you stated that you were influenced by Richard Donchian’s weekly rule system and that Richard Donchian “was doing very thing by hand” back in those days. Richard died in April 1993 so he must of known that his ideas had been proven and accepted and were being widely used by the trading community as a whole. Given your personal collaborating with Richard in the early 1980’s to code and test some of his ideas on a computer, did he get a kick out of your interest (and others) in his ideas? 4. All of my back-testing simulations to date tell me that weekly trend-following systems out perform daily trend-following systems in most if not all performance measures and yet Richard Donchian’s weekly rule system is nearly always converted back to be a daily system, would you agree or have I overlooked something? 5. Edwin Lefebvre’s classic 1923 book Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (the ‘Old Turkey’) which chronicles Jesse Livermore’s adventures and misadventures has been mentioned several times on FAQ as being the bible for trend-followers and I have read the book several times and enjoy each and every re-read so I purchased Jesse Livermore’s 1940 book titled “How to trade in Stocks” a few years back and was disappointed to find out that “The Livermore formula for combining time element and price” was some sort of pairs trading system rather than Jesse’s usual bold trend-following style. Jesse committed suicide on the 27th of November 1940 which must have been within months of the books release. Do you know if this book was written in one of his many broke periods (possible as a way to raise funds) as it seems to be way out of character for him? 6. On the Fri, 25 May 2007 you replied to my previous question regarding a well known authors claims about you by informing me that “The back cover of [Names]'s latest book carries a bogus endorsement from me”. There is a book on your favourite book list which carries a one word endorsement from you; can I assume that because that book is on your list that the one word endorsement is genuine? Thanks Ed for your continued help and support to the Trend-following Community	You might consider re-writing your questions in terms of how you feel. Some People Medicate Their Fears about of connecting with others by asking intricate questions rather than by sharing how they feel. Clip: http://www.phirebrush.com/ fullview.php?id=1481
Fri, 15 Jun 2007 F-healings Ed, it would seem that FAQ emphasizes that TTP is the process of fully feeling emotions. if "now" is always in perpetual motion, then e-nergy is the driver of our concept of "time". If "time" is a concept of our memories, then e-motion is the process of driving "time". ----- the shep - herd stands in the valley or peak to observe the surroundings. the S - heap will graze in the fields; the flock will follow. when the shep - herd sees the S - heap out of sight, the shep - herd will call the flock back. the s - heap will always live as s - heap . the shep - herd is the guide to where one wills the s - heap to live.	You might consider noticing how you really f-heal about e-nergy, e-motion and s-heap.