472

 I've officially lost over 50% of my investment to date.  At this point, I'm at a loss, pun intended I suppose.  Now, I'm at the point where every loss carries a sting. I'm not waiting for an average of wins. I am now limiting my positions. My SL is only a few pips away from entry. I'm taking something or losing little to nothing.  I'll say more next time if it works. I mean, who wants to listen to someone losing? Not me.

670

 That’s 4.6% gains, which is like saying I was slightly better than 1:1.  What made the difference this week? More discipline is all.  Setting my support and resistance bands continuously throughout the day.  What I learned:

Consolidation occurs routinely. Ride out these moments.  Be patient with your lines of support.  Set it and forget it. Don’t second guess. Go through with it.  When I’m doing it right, there’s no stress. I’m learning throughout the trade when my mind is clear.  

Set the SL and TP based on the lines of support and resistance.  If you’re iffy about the trade, wait for the one with stronger signs.  Study more about the markets if you’re wondering about your trade. Take in information rather than worry.  Looking back at 1H, 4H, 8H, and 1D helps to get perspective, although it still comes down to what’s happening in the moment.  

Only use the trailing stop after being in the trade for an hour or so, and only to secure profit (in the green). If it’s a heartbeat (chart looks periodic), don’t worry about the trailing stop. You should trail a rally up or down.

If you start off strong in the day and get 4% or more, step out for the rest of the day.  All that said, I’ll do a little studying this weekend, and practice these things again next week.  Sunday is my 1^st marathon.

641

 Battered, but not beaten, not destroyed. It was actually a good week of trades, as far as execution. 3 out of 4 trades were executed correctly. The other trade I went "with my gut," and I watched as it betrayed me.  I have been setting up price signals, and that's been very helpful, because I can just put my phone away.  This was the first time I received an alert about my data usage, and it took me an hour to realize it was because I'd been watching the market throughout the day.

I also spent some time studying the Yen this past week.  I learned the US exports ($121 billion) mineral fuels, aircraft, optical and medical instruments, and machinery (including electrical) to Japan.  We import ($180 billion) vehicles, machinery, pharmaceuticals, and medical instruments. We export 10% of the natural gas imported into Japan.  China is a bigger trade partner with Japan.

So despite the losses this week, I am encouraged, and I refuse to give up.  It's the application that I have to get together.  Another positive in this past week; I resisted the desire to simply enter a trade, and I waited for entries. No entry, no trade.  Alright, off to the races.  Until next time.

680

 How did I get here? No strategy.  I lay myself before the court and plead guilty as charged. Despite all my study, I stepped on the court and played against my opponent, trying out moves on the fly.  My defense was terrible, my offense was even worse.  But I had a lot of energy! Looking back at my performance over all on June and July, there are some good takeaways.

I was patient with myself. Even when I fell, I got right back up. Switching from court trial, to basketball,  to chess metaphor, I tried different openings, some offensive, some defensive, to try and gauge my opponent.  And just like in chess, I got beat over and over again.  I have a lot of faith in abilities. I am confident that I can and will win this game.  Now, all the mistakes…

I set out to reinvent the wheel. I wanted to “discover” forex anew, as if nothing I read mattered. I threw technical analysis out the window, got rid of my Bollinger Bands, RSI, and volume indicators. I just looked at candlesticks, changing the time frames repeatedly, and making a decision based on where I thought it was going. Fundamentals? Nope.

I took small profits when I was worried about reversals, and I stuck around when in the negative, hoping for reversals! Yes, I cut profits early, and left positions open to reach the stop losses; backward AF.  I promise it felt so right though.

Instead of only 2 trades a week, as I did with my papertrading for MONTHS, I would go with my gut, jump out and jump right back in.  Basically, I did everything I read was wrong to do.  Most devastatingly, I acted on emotion.  So, with all that being said, it is time to be the professional I have meditated on being for almost 2 years now.  I knew time would fly, and I feel the pressure to get this thing right.

I started reviewing Mario Singh’s 17 Proven Currency Trading Strategies. I also visited his website for the 1^sttime. I like the guy’s resume for sure.  One thing I did right in the past couple of weeks is limit my focus to one pair – USDJPY.  What I did not do was study. Tonight, studying trade with Japan officially begins.

Going forward, I’m taking Mario’s advice in regards to having a specific strategy that tells me what to do; when to enter, when to exit.  This is a direct attempt to remove the emotion out of my trading. Having experienced it, and felt the pain in my pocket, I have an emotionalized desire to keep my emotions out of my business.

What’s the strategy? Oh, I’m coming up with it right now. So, let’s look at other good things that came out of the past 2 months.  I am much more comfortable on the mobile trading app. I can flip from MT4 to Oanda easily, compare spreads with other currency pairs, do some quick analysis, and calculate position size with relative ease. I’m built for day- and swing-trading.  75% of my trades are closed out before the day’s out, and I like that.

I’ll continue trading USDJPY.  I will also maintain the 4% limit of risk.  That takes care of everything except entering and exiting.  “We are how we trade, and we trade how we are.”  

1. Fade the Break – No indicator, straight technical. Identify the support/resistance level, enter when candle’s shadow hits the level, but doesn’t close to break it. Bet that it won’t break it, 1:1/1:2. Use M30/H1 timeframes.

2. Trade the Break – No indicator, close above resistance or below support (breakout candle). SL is ½ the range of the previous support/resistance levels. TP is still 1:1/1:2. Follow the momentum.

3. Trading the News – Rule of 20 – If deviation is >20%, trade in that direction. 0.5% for PMI and .2% for interest rates.

That’s enough for now. There’s plenty to start studying to make next week an exercise in self-discipline.  I’ll start with reviewing the charts, identifying the current support and resistance levels, then I’ll get to the news.  It’s just really beginning, n’est pas?

818

Alright, with less now in the account, I have to keep this one short.  I've had a few successful trades that I closed out before the TP was reached, and that's really been a consistent thing over the last two weeks.  Hitting the SL has decreased, and I didn't have any losses last week.  I do have a trade through the weekend this time, and that's a first.

I watched TopTraders yesterday speaking about understanding volatility to prevent hitting the SL so often.  Also, allowing your trades to go to the levels stated, moving your Stop Loss to secure profits, and decreasing your position size as you get more in the positive.  The one mistake I made on a trade this week was get out too early. I got $12, when I could have gotten $50 if I waited, so my patient is developing.

Going forward this next week, let's see what fundamental announcements are coming this month.

AUD - Monday 2130, RBA Interest Rate Decision
USD - Tues 0700, JOLTS Job Opening
CAD - Tues 0700, Ivey PMI
JPY - Wed 1800, BoJ speech
NZD - Thur 1545, Electronic Card Retail Sales

As I said before, I won't be trading these events unless I'm a little ways out from the announcement because the spread and momentarily volatility. The goals are to take little profits balancing risk this week.  More to come.  Btw, I'm really enjoying the Oanda platform.  It's so important to profit from a strategy, and I'm here to demonstrate how persistence, courage, planning, tenacity, and vision all contribute to success. When I'm losing (like now), I am reminded that I've learn to fail more and fail forward.  There's no turning back, only moving forward.

882

Over the past 2 wks, my account has dropped to $822.  Yeah, I’m down 180.  Still, I’ve learned a lot and I ended this week on a good trade. As I’ve been trading fundamentals, I have typically been entering an hour or so before news announcements, and holding them for around 2 or 3 hours before my stop loss is triggered.

I’ve traded EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, and AUDUSD.  The 1^st two were the most volatile, so I left them alone this week, and focused on the last two.  After insane movements, and having SLs and TPs that were too narrow, I learned to spread it out more, and I also have decided to stay away from trading when news is about to drop.  To stay from these SL triggers, I’m widening my bands. 

So the two changes going into next week, 1) Trading between announcements, going to back to openings and closings, and 2) widening my bands.  With that, we’ll see how it goes.  I recall now that this was my strategy to begin with when I was successfully papertrading.  Somehow, I forgot what worked for me.  Build strong habits that will last you in good and bad times.  I’m thankful for all the lessons I’ve learned, and I’m grateful for this time. Failures are but iterations toward success.  Remember what doesn’t work and stop it.

I’ve started looking at currency indices.  It’s interesting to see how and when they’re moving together and apart.  Also, noticing how these ultimately create the pairing charts I trade on.  Anyway, I expect my trades to probably hold a bit longer going forward.  Until next time.

$1005 in Oanda

1st week was a learning experience.  We're $5 up so far.  Oanda uses "units" instead of "lots" when creating your position size. I was caught off guard initially, forgetting what "units" meant.  Basically, it's a limiting of your position size based on margin, from what I gather.  It's easy to navigate though. Simply put in your SL and TP in pips, and put in your number of units. You can see the equivalent USD value on the right side of the screen.  Based on the risk calculated, the units can be adjusted.  In the case of lots, you do the whole calculation at once, so you put in SL, TP, and lot size based on one calculation: (balance * % risk) / (pips * 10) = lot size.  Here's an example from the app below, where the risk is about 3.5% based on my account.

I'm confident in my strategies going forward, and I start again this afternoon, with 3 trades planned for the week, formed from fundamental announcements.  It's simple, and it's helping me in many ways, from learning the platform, getting used to spreads, timing, and most importantly, building a routine.

AUD GDP win of $0.20

Today, I was caught up using the Oanda app, trying to set up my position for entrance into a AUDUSD trade. Well, it took me too long and I missed the bullish run I expected. I made $.20.  Go ahead and laugh, it's funny.  Anyway, here are my takeaways going forward.

On the Oanda App, you get a screen something like this. This screen shot is taken from my desktop version, but the mobile screen is basically identical.  In the rush of trying to put in my position around 1700 today, I settled on 200 units.  What are units?  Here's the formula, but the caveat is that I don't think it's necessary to understand it when setting up your position size.

Units = (Margin available * Margin Ratio)/ (Base/Home Exchange Rate) = (1000*50)/(.6921) = 80,000 units.  Now, that's with a leverage of 50:1. Interestingly, I see around 48,000 available units, but this was the formula I found online.

 

To set up my position going forward, here's how it's done:  1st, I set up my risk, 4% of my balance, $40.  From here, I put it in the Stop Loss pips (and Take Profit afterwards).  For instance, today I would have put 15 pips for the SL, 30 for the TP (and it would have worked!).  Then, I would basically play around with Units until the SL at the bottom of the window matches my risk.  In this case, it was around 25,000 units to get to -$37.50.  I would play around it get exactly -$40 for the heck of it.

AUD's GDP growth rate was -.3%.  Because it was down, with no other big US fundamental news coming out today, I expected the USD to be stronger compared to the kiwi immediately following the news. Actually, AUDUSD was bullish before the news even dropped (about 2 hours earlier).  Another note, Pacific Standard Time (PST) is 17 hours behind East Australia.  So I wanted to enter around 1600.  1600 + 17 hrs = 0900.

Finally, US GDP growth rate is determined from 4 main components according to thebalance.com : 

1. Personal Consumption including retail sales
2. Business Investment including construction and inventory levels
3. Government Spending, largest categories being Social Security benefits, defense spending, and Medicare benefits.
4. Net Trade

My next trades will be on the USD and the JPY later this week. Stay tuned.

ISM Manufacturing PMI

One of my potential trades was to be based off the Fundamental Announcement in the US of the ISM Manufacturing PMI.  If the number is greater than 50, it's a bullish indication. It is released monthly, and yesterday, the value was 43.1, up from 41.5 last month.  After looking at the USDJPY, EURUSD, and GBPUSD, it appears that this announcement didn't do much on its own. Quickly, I realized it's important to watch the pairing currency for events as well.

So what is ISM?  It's a survey given out by the Institute for Supply Management to more than 300 manufacturing firms.  The Chair of the Board of Directors is Camille Batiste, Certified Profession of Supply Management (CPSM). She's pretty awesome from what I'm read.

The ISM Manufacturing Index gives equal weight to:

1. New Orders
2. Production
3. Employment
4. Supplier Deliveries
5. Inventories

So what are some of these industries?  They're based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAIC) of the 17 biggest sectors that contribute to the GDP.  The first 2 digits in the NAICS code represent the sector.  For manufacturing, that's 31-33.

There's also a Non-Manufacturing Index that comes out in a few days, but I'm letting that one go. I'll at least look at it.  Today, the AUD GDP comes out. I think that'll make some noise, so I may trade around it.  More to come.

Le Fin et Le Commence

The time has arrived. Here's a pic of my last 2 paper trades. I got out of both a little early based on what appeared to be pull backs (EUR) and a continued loss (JPY). Indeed, they were just that. The balance after 6 months of trading is $144,900. That's 44.9% overall, 7.5% per month.  Moving forward, I am making more disciplined, purposeful trades each week, based on fundamentals primarily, lightly on technicals.  I have already mapped out this week's trades.

I have Oanda and IG live accounts, starting with $1000 per account.  It is a very fulfilling time to have reached this moment of intention.  I find excitement in my purposeful action, and in my completion of goals.  This will be my strength going forward. Aim high and persist, and subsequently you will be called successful.

38%, upcoming ACTIVE trades, and 44th book review.

Last week, I took two trades with the same strategy as that used before COVID.  The ZAR trade was absolutely in the wrong the direction and was stopped out. that was fine, and the loss for smaller because I went back to 2% trades instead of 4%, feeling very conservative after this run of negative trades. The next GBP  was done with 4%, and no other adjustment to strategy.

This week's trades were much more thought out. I honestly was 100% confident in my trades.  I hedged my bets (4%, 2:1) because the EUR and GBP basically mirror each other. I entered around 2230 PST, which is a little before market opening in the UK, ready for the morning jump.  I had to increase the range of the trade, which translates to less profit.  Rather than 3:1, I had to do 2:1.  Once I lost the GBP,  I just waited it out.  Again, because of the negative streak, I didn't require the trade to hit my Take Profit.   So this week, I made about 3%, slowly getting back into things.

*************************************

At this point, I have less than 2 weeks before I start consistent active trading.  Therefore, I will spend time with a little extra analysis this post to explain what's going to happen.  As usual, I'm putting almost everything on the table.  The 1st thing I will do is see what effect fundamental announcements have had lately.  I'll take JPY, GBP/EUR, and ZAR in that order.

JPY

6April - Monthly and Yearly Household Spending released around market opening. The chart shows a usual jump but a little before the announcement.

08Apr - BoJ speech says bank will help Japan with easing policy.  Yen drops a little bit in 3 hours around market opening.

10Apr - Consumer Index monthly/yearly released. Big drop for 3 hours around market opening

GBP/EUR

01Apr - House Price Index released, HUGE drop for 4 hours at market opening.  Euro generally has cleaner jumps with less noise than GBP.

02Apr - EUR retail sales at 0200. A moderate sell off follows a few hours after release

06Apr - GBP Construction Purchasing Managers Index released at 0130.  Notable rise at market open for 2 hours.  Here's an example of the charts I'm reading in relation to the Fundamental Announcements.

ZAR

14APR - 0230 South African Reserve Bank Interest Rate Decision released. A delayed response at market open but a rise no less (interest rate drops, more supply, value drops, USDZAR goes up... making a little sense).  Come to think of it, I don't have a balance large enough in Oanda (or IG) to trade ZAR just yet.

**************************

That was a good exercise. I realized my MT5 app is set to GMT, while my online economic calendar (on my homepage) is set to my local time.  Forex teaches you to convert times in your head.  Speaking of which, the Oanda App is useful in that way because it tells you market opening and closing times of each currency market when you go to trade them. Following is a list of upcoming fundamental announcements on the same currencies. I'm putting them into my phone to guide some, if not all my trades next month.

JPY

04Jun - 1630 Household Spending, Market Services/Composite

23Jun - 1630 BoJ Summary of Opinions

07Jun - 1650 GDP

Apparently, the economic calendar only provides future dates after the day has passed for the current announcement, so I'll continue this list next week with JPY as well as GBP and EUR. That would take care of the hard work for next month!

************************

Finally, I have finished the Corporate Finance book, written for a grad level course at Brown University.  It was a whirl wind of new terminology and formulaic applications.  I recognized about 50% of the material.  The book speaks to future corporate managers, CFOs, and students.  I enjoyed many parts of it though. Above all else, I have begun developing a mental image of the person I would like to partner with who specializes in finance management.  

Capital Asset Pricing Models (CAPM) and Present Value are running themes throughout, and I enjoyed that part. This book is 14 years old, and it's clear that little has changed in the fundamental concepts of corporate management.  There was little for me to apply directly to my current situation, but I'm grateful for the humbling experience of pushing through the text.  With that being done, I'll rewrite below for the last time, the 44 books on trade I've read since October 2018.  Finally, I feel free to revisit some of my favorites from the list:

1. Energy Trade and Risk Management // Iris Mack
2. *Think and Grow Rich
3. Unshakeable // Tony Robbins
4. The Intelligent Investor //Benjamin Grah
5. How to Day Trade for a Living // Andrew Aziz
6. *Power System Economics 2nd Edition // Daniel Kirshen
7. *Day Trading University // Ken Calhoun (2000)
8. The Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing // Jason Kelly (2010)
9. Profitable Day and Swing Trading // Harry Boxer (2014)
10. *Keene on the Market // Andrew Keene (2013)
11. Money: Master the Game // Tony Robbins (2014)
12. *Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice // Dennis Kimbro
13. The Playbook: Inside Look... Think Like Pro Trader // Mike Bellafiore (2013)
14. Digital Decarbonization // Council of Foreign Relations (2018)
15. Secrets of Antigravitic Propulsion // LaViolete Ph.D (2010)
16. Automated Options Trading // Izraayiezich (2012)
17. Using the Financial Pages // Romesh Vaitlingham (2006)
18. Essentials of Forex Trading // James Chen (2009)
19. *How to Retire Early // Robin Charlton (2013)
20. Naked Forex // Dr. Walter Peters (2012)
21. *Insider Buy - Superstocks // Jesse Stine
22. Commodities for Dummies // Amine Bouchentour (2011)
23. *Seasonality in the Stock Market // Jay Kaeppel (2009)
24. What Works on Walstreet // O'honnessey (2011)
25. The Investopedia Guide to Wall Street (2009)
26. The Innovator's Dilemma (2003)
27. 17 Currency Trading Strategies (2013)
28. MetaTrader 4 User Manual
29. Unlimited Memory // Grandmaster Kevin Horsley
30. Visual Guide to Option Trading (2014)
31. The Complete Guide to Option Spreads and Combinations (2014)
32. Getting Started in Currency Trading (2008)
33. Amazing Forex System (2004)
34. Visual Guide to Candlestick Charting (2012)
35. Forex Trading Techniques (2003)
36. Getting Started in Futures (2005)
37. Project Management Book of Knowledge 5th Edition (2015)
38. Corporate Finance (2014)
39. *Real Leadership // Dean Williams (2010)
40. *Accounts Demystified (2008)
41. Traders: Risks, Decisions... // Willman (2005)
42. Mastering Market Timing // Dickson (2012)
43. Trading Systems and Methods // Kaufman (2013)
44. A 1st Course in Corporate Finance // Welch (2006)

*my favorites

Well, come to find out, I miscounted my written list of trade books, so I had to sprinkle the list with other books I've read in the same time frame that were indirectly relevant to my business endeavors; the motivating books that continue to feed my mind.  That's enough for today.  Later.

down to 48%

Humility reigns supreme and compulsions are identified clearly.  Granted, the forex markets have been much more volatile, and hence more difficult to analyze with the routine methods.  Few fundamental announcements have been made, and the bullish and bearish rallies were more sporadic.   I made 4 extra trades as I became more familiar with Oanda and IG brokerages for my live account.  All that to say, I was less concerned with the results from trades this past week. The only thing I'd say I did well was size my positions. I noticed the importance of anticipating the volatility.  Utilizing candlesticks on the H1, H4, and D1 charts helped the most.  I have another strategy in the works for the live account. It's more of an improvement of my current strategy to manage risk and increase probability of success.  What else is a strategy suppose to do?

I also received good info from an old friend who's been trading in the stock market for a few years now. The resources he provided proved to me yet again that the skills gained in learning charts translate  across markets. There's a reason why so many books spend chapters on chart reading strategies (technical analysis).  For options trading, I see technical analysis being more beneficial, and I've been listening to more options talk toward that end.

The Corporate Finance book is going well. The most interesting topics have included Net Present Value and capital gains taxes (less than normal income taxes).  There are great exercises at the ends of each chapter, and I haven't attempted any of them.  A simple read through was sufficient.  Small businesses fail because of "overconfidence, relativism, and compartmentalization," all which translate to ignorance or a lack of understanding.  You have a good team to see around corners for you, see ahead, and apply lessons from history.  With growth, there has to be a growing perspective and awareness of everything that can impact your business.  I can see the importance of projecting the sales of products, including sunk costs, production costs, contracts, etc.  You have to be see the profit in scaling your sales up and expanding your market reach.  The current chapter hits on Financial Statements. I want to take away a lot from this one.

I'm in the final stages of this academic workout regime, visualizing what I routine will look like in the future. This may be the week of finality.  Until next week!

67%

Another 2 weeks have past, balance up to $167,000. Last week was great, things worked out like I'd hoped, hitting 70%. This week, I started with a bad trade, and so I cut my losses with the 2nd, not allowing it to reach the TP (and the market didn't so I lucked out there too!).  Thankfully, there's a lot more in the works now. I stepped into the Stock Market and made some quick profits over the last month, which is a 1st.  I'm taking some of the lessons learned in forex and applying them to my RobinHood account.  Still, I'm on the surface with my analysis. To reach efficiently, there is no escaping extensive, consistent research.

Looking around, there are so many professionals I'm noticing with MBAs in Finance and Business that have been exposed to and worked in and around these markets. The only thing I would desire from their experiences are the relationships; seeing people formulate novel ideas from the same lectures and books I've listened and read through. Beyond the relationships, these individuals are still human. Meaning, they like most students, are looking for a job after college. Many want to be told what to do to make their lives easier.  They are looking to sit back and take a break from the rigors of academia and get that cushion job. Even more, I'd like to be around that minority of students that are staking their claims as entrepreneurs. Better still, I want to partner with them.

As for the majority of those graduates,  I want those individuals to work with me. I'll carry the vision if they can handle some of the "easy" work that their curricula has prepared them to tackle.  I can and will employ such individuals if and when my business requires such.  So, yeah, I'm looking more into the inner workings around these investment banks, proprietary firms, asset managers, etc.  Here are the trades from the last couple of weeks below.

As for the book, I haven't touched it for a couple weeks, but this weekend I should make some ground.  Until next time. By the way, you like my new logo? We're moving. June is fastly approaching.

up 59%.

Alright, this is after 2 weeks of trading.  Last week, I was in the negative. 2 bad trades, and I decided to do one more that I was more confident with.  Afterwards, I was only slightly negative. The lesson was to stick to trades early in the week, as they have proven to be more reliable for me.  No big news or fundamentals played a part. With the COVID-19 pandemic, I anticipate more factors that go beyond the normal sessions. Traders' feelings and institutions are at a different place. Paying attention to the areas most affected - Italy, Europe, and the US - makes me more aware of all that factors controlling the currency of a nation.

GDP for GBP (2300 on wednesday) reports are coming out this week. Pay attention to the effects.  Nothing else really to report.  I was able to successfully make trades with the South African Rand this week (although I lost it), and oh yeah, I've become more aware of my SL:TP ratio. It was up 1:3 instead of 1:2 this week. The routine of limiting my profit margin has been removed going forward.  I'm risking the same amount, 4%, and I'm making trades that I am confident will provide larger returns.  Until next time. Balance: 159,000.

49%

Below you see another example of why it's important to paper trade. I messed up SL and TP on the EURUSD.  One pip is .0001, so instead of an SL of 11 pips, I placed it at 2. There is slippage in prices that you have to be aware of when placing these orders. I generally check the location, do the math, and place the order within a minute or so. If you take too long to execute, volatility can work against you, especially if you get your pips wrong like I did. 

So I said hey, let me get back in there. Ha, I placed the ordered right, and ended up wrong twice; and the EURO just kept dropping.   The next day, I decided to jump back in because I was confident I wouldn't make the same mistake again.  No big news fundamentally btw, on MT5 anyway. We're still in the mist of madness with COVID-19.  Anyway, JPY (.01 per pip!) went well, and again, not wanting to settle for a negative week just yet, I jumped in yet AGAIN the next day.  That was way too much risk, and I felt it. The risk was present because I became emotionally involved, which is the wrong way to play.  Overall, good week though.

I started my last book First Course in Corporate Finance, and it's deep.  Present Value starts it off and it exhausts that subject. There are a lot of formulas initially, but going slowly through the table of contents, there are some interesting subjects coming up that I have actually not read much about so far.  Nothing else to report. Deep breaths.  Stay aware.

Completion of book 43, 45% gains to date

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I finished Trading Systems and Methods (2013) by Perry Kaufman today.  What a mammoth.  Some interesting topics for me included regression analysis, RSI, and my running favorite, seasonality.  This book really covers it all when it comes to both fundamental and technical analysis. Later in this post, I rewrite one of the quotes just for reinforcement and repetition, although I have mentioned these topics in previous posts.  By the end of this book, I felt like I'd finally reached a point where there are much fewer 'new' concepts.  That is to say, I can distinguish what is "traditional" regarding trading.  When something new appears, I can at least compare it to some other idea, indicator, process, analysis, or term I’ve seen previously.  

I woke up in Chapter 14: Behavioral Techniques, when it said: “Short-term systems are more likely to target investor behavior than economic factors because, over a few hours of one day, the influence of macroeconomic policy and long-term trends is very small." I believe that the combination of investor behavior in lieu of fundamental announcements is quite powerful. The news items that affect prices the most are stated as:

•       Release of economic statistics (PPI and CPI for inflation, retail sales, balance of trade, employment and initial claims, consumer confidence, housing and refinancing).
•       Action by the Federal Reserve or other central banks to change rates or change their bias (the way they express future policy).
•       Changes in the money supply that indicate easing or tightening.
•       Government reports on commodities production and inventories.
•       Unexpected news or price shocks, such as an assassination or terrorist attack
•       Trade negotiations, agreements, legislation, and occasionally rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court that affect business.
•       Weather and natural disasters, such as the Japanese earthquake, or a hurricane that affects the sugar crop or causes large payouts by insurance companies (or COVID!)
•       In-depth studies by the Wall Street Journal.
•       Front-page news articles and dominant television coverage of high prices, strikes, etc., and their potential effects on business.
•       Market letters, research reports, and comments from accepted authorities, major brokerage houses, and influential organizations.

"[T]he CFTC releases its Commitments of Traders (COT) report each week. It tells the distribution of holdings among large and small speculators and hedgers as a percent of total open interest."

Throughout the book, there is an emphasis on labels like “contrarian,” among others that distract from learning what tools can be employed to make a profit.  Quite simply, the book is filled with tips and information useful only to the individuals seeking positions at well-established institutions.  Often, I read thinking, “that would impress somebody if you pop that out in conversation,” or “I would think that perspective could potentially make me money,” even if I’m not exactly sure how.  

And OMG, I’ve heard enough talk about the golden spiral/ratio for one lifetime.  I’m a lover of all beauty in mathematics, and this is still just ridiculous to me, but so is astrology as a serious subject in trading. The takeaway is the power of people to self-fulfill their prophecies.  This is also in Ch. 14 on behavior. It was good stuff.  I had no idea there was “Financial Astrology Software.”  What a world. The question going forward is how prevalent it is and what's the trend on ignorance in the trading population.

In Chapter 23: Risk Control - “Long-Term Capital Management, a home for some of the smartest

financial minds, believed they could engineer the risk out of each trade by explaining

away all of the previous price shocks, then failed to survive the next price shock. Without

including these larger, infrequent losses in the performance profile, trading accounts are

likely to be undercapitalized.”  There were a few nuggets like this that I just ate up.  Overall, I give the book a B.  Although it was a huge book, and impossible to absorb all the topics on the same level, it is a great reference, something to go back to again and again.  The amount of stats, geometry, algebra, and even differential equations speaks to the depth of knowledge presented.  

So, let's see, that's... 43 books. The last and final book, A First Course in Corporate Finance by Ivo Welch (2006).  This is also a huge one. We'll see what I can get outta this one.  Laterz.

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Here's last week's profits, bringing my balance to $145,044.  Note, I had two trades back to back because I had entered the TP wrong the 1st time, and I saw that it was a huge rally, so I jumped right back in correcting my error, and took a 5% win overall.

I’m going up to 4% risk from here on out because my time to go live is coming soon, and I need try a few more things, sooner than later.  Quick calculation, if I take 10 trades, risking 2% for SL, 4% for TP, let's say I'm successful 50% of the time.

5(.04x) - 5(.02x) = 5(.02)x = .1x.  That means I'd gain 10% on my capital (x).  So odds are in my favor if I'm correct only half the time!  I just had to point that out.  Now, what if I increase the risk to SP of 4%, TP of 8%:

5(.08x) - 5(.04x) = 5(.04x) = .2x = 20% gain.  The risk makes it important to be more accurate because I can bleed my account sooner. Oh my goodness.  

4 more trades, 38% total

11 weeks into 2020, and my balance is at $137,700.  This is encouraging to say the least. 38/11 = 3.5% a week. The strategy is staying the same. The last couple of weeks have been rough, so this week was refreshing.  I placed both trades one after the other. When the sell of GBPUSD ended up positive, I started to look at the USDZAR trade more closely.  Coming from a rough week, I wanted to end on a positive note. Once I had gone beyond 4% profit, I jumped out.  In retrospect, it was a good decision because the ZAR switched direction within the next hour, far from hitting my TP, but instead went all the way up to my SL.  I had placed the trade incorrectly again. The ZAR moves hella pips, and I had a lot size that would have destroyed my account if the trade went south (north?).  That being said, it pays to watch when you have time as a swing trader.  I was in and out within 4 hours.

Onto fundamentals.  European Central Bank (ECB) put out a lot of important indicators today including: Deposit Facility Rate Decision, Interest Rate Decision, and Marginal Lending Facility. These 3 are released monthly.  Personally, the corona virus's impact is more interesting to me considering the effects on airlines, trade with China and Europe, lay offs, and the media storm.  I'm looking for big volatility across the board.  That will be next week for me though as I've done my 2 trades for this week.

The current book I'm reading is Trading Systems and Methods by Perry Kaufman (5th ed.) 2013.  It's deep into technical analysis, so I'm familiar with everything so far, about 1/5 of the way into it.  I can definitely feel the difference in applying strategies, and actually creating a plan of action.  Book #42 is almost through.  

-3 trades, down to 26% overall

3 trades this week in the negative as seen below.  This was a different week as I was on the East Coast, but I think the timing was coordinated accurately to enter at the market openings.  The first one, USDJPY was entered around 1530, so it lasted 3.5 hrs. EURUSD lasted from 0900-1315, so 4.25 hrs, and the last USDJPY lasted 10hrs.  

Checking the fundamental announcements JPY, USD, and EUR for this past week, nothing jumps out.  What’s interesting the is the USDJPY jump that I noticed. A quick look into some forex news and it some analysts attribute the rally to the political scene in America. 

Beyond that, I’ve been looking into Oanda, IG, and other forex brokers this week.  A good review of their legal disclosures has been very helpful in understanding who to go with in the near future.   That's my assignment next week along with continuing in the same procedure.  The balance is $125,671, which is a 26% overall gain so far.  

I finished book #42(?) this week, Mastering Market Timing (2012).  It was all about technical analysis. One interesting take-a-way involved using the same indicators on large and small time frames.  Also, I enjoyed the discussion on previous bottoms and tops throughout the years; bear from '80-'82 sticks out, and of course the crash of 2008/. It's interesting to explore the different analyzes given toward the same event from multiple perspectives. Overall, everything's clear in retrospect, all taken with a grain of salt.

5 trades - 23.9% gain

Interesting last two weeks.  Here's the snapshot below with a few tidbits to mention. So, I traded JPY, EUR, and ZAR.  A mistake became very favorable for me.  The lot size divided by the pips was a little off.  Instead of a 22 pip move, it was 220 pips; an extremely volatile pair.  Looking at the fundamental indicators, there was ZAR news that showed Mining production numbers (y/y and m/m) in the red and Gold Production numbers in the green.   EUR indicators were few, but many USD indicators were positive.

Balance is $132,000, so it's been a fortuitous February.  Until next week.

-1.2%

Alright, here we go! If you're new to my blog, I suggest starting at the beginning, L'esprit Superior.  A lot has happened and will continue to happen. It's been a few months, but there's lot to learn and understand as we continue to go forward.

As seen above, I did 4 trades instead of 3 this past week. I got excited.  I missed the market opening on the USDJPY trade. Otherwise, it can be seen that although I made the other trades at the right time (before market open), they didn't close in the same 1 to 4 hour window I expected. That's ok though, I'm going to do the same next week.

To address the previous strategies I was using, Trend Bouncer and Trend Rider, I have to address technical analysis. There's more interest right now in market fundamentals, as discussed in my goals for the year.  So yes, I'm quite aware that I switched focus, and this was due to my research and study.

To conclude, my running percentage now is (1.0397)(.988) = 2.7%.

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I finished Traders: Risks, Decisions, and Management in Financial Markets (2005), and here are my take-a-ways. As a letter grade, it gets a C+.  Full of anecdotes, much talk on the psychology of traders and managers. It provided great visualizations of proprietary firms, the working environment, employee/management concerns, and career progression.  

A forex trade has a natural 50/50 probability (1/2).  That's terrible risk.  Managing risk should mean I get the probably up around 95-98%.  If I do 8 trades with a 95% probably of getting it right, that's (.95)^8 = 66%.  If I get it up to 99% accuracy, that's (.99)^8= 92%!  So, even being really confident and accurate, it's difficult to get the numbers in your favor.  I'm mindful of this going forward.  Looking at and understanding market fundamentals I feel can be a game changer.  The technical analysis camp is strong, however, and I'm well aware of how the idea is sold. I have seen less on fundamentals, and I wonder why people are afraid to gain that perspective. For me, it's quite exciting!

My trading skills will provide me an opportunity to partner with prop firms. I'm going to start a perfect relationship (balanced, light-hearted, disciplined, passionate, and humanist) with the perfect mentor some time this month.  Also, I'm gaining inside information from within the trader community.

The next text, #42, is Mastering Market Timing (2012), which it seems may be emphasizing technical analysis. We'll see.

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Finally, here's the forex info I've looked into this weekend.  Some info I've listed in previous posts, but now the info is going deeper into my consciousness.  The top 8 currencies follow. In MT5, I've set up currency pairs with USD for all of them.  The goal going forward is to watch them all.  I may make more than 2 this week, just to see experiment with the others and see the spreads.  Speaking of spreads, I placed a trade during a rally last week, and immediately I saw my profit in the negative. The point? It's best to place trades before a big move because it's cheaper. The bid/ask prices "spread" when that currency pair gets moving.

The time is when the market opens (PST) and the deadline for me to enter trades

1. USD - US dollar (US, Singapore, China..) - 0630
2. EUR - Euro (24 European countries) - 23/2400
3. JPY - Japanese Yin - 1600
4. GBP - British Pound (UK) - 2400
5. CHF - Swiss franc (Switzerland) - 0630
6. CAD - Canadian Dollar - 0630
7. AUD - Australian Dollar - 1500
8. ZAR - South African Rand - 2300

The breakdown of my 24-hr clock:

• LSE - London (GBP)
• SIX - Zurich, Switzerland (CHF)
• FWB - Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Germany (EUR)
• MOEX - Moscow, Russia (RUB)
• JSE - Johannesburg, South Africa (ZAR)
• TADAWUL - Saudi Arabia (SAR) 
• DFM - Dubai (QR)
• JPX - Japan Exchange Group (JPY)
• SSE - Shangai Stock Exchange (CNY)
• HKEX - Hong Kong (HKD, CNY, USD)
• SGX - Singapore (SGD, USD)
• NSE - Mumbai - Nation's Stock Exchange of India (INR)
• ASX - Sydney, Australia (AUD)
• NZX - Wellington, New Zealand (NZD) "kiwi" dollar
• BMBF - Sao Paulo - B3 Brazil Real (BRL)

It's interesting to see which currencies are being traded on MT5. I will soon understand what relationships exist beyond the platform, and which countries simply do not trade with one another.

(1) trade, 1-.002 = .998

This trade was a mistake in calculation.  The movement from 1.10865 down to 1.10836 is .00029. that's 2.9 pips, not 29 pips.  My stop loss was set for approximately 30 pips.  Because of that, I divided by 300.

Calculation: .02(105,000)/(10*30) = lot size = 2100/300 = 7 lots.

This mistake was a good one considering I lost the trade.  Anyway, I also switched shifts this week, so my schedule is out of whack. I went to make a trade last night around 2300, and realized that the markets were already closed.  Therefore, 3 trades to come next week.

My running interest rate is (the current)*(this week's return) = 1.04*.998 = 3.79%. If I started with 100,000 it would be 103,790 at this point.

P^1.0379 = P^(r^7)
r = 1.0379^(1/7) = 1.005 = .5% per trade, if they were all made consecutively.

If I make 2% a week, that's 1.02^(1/2) = .99% a trade if made one after the other.

If I make 1% a trade for 4 wks, that's 8 trades, 1.01^8 = 8.2%

2% a week for 4 weeks, 1.02^4 = 8.2%

Let's go to 52 weeks!  1% a trade for 52 weeks: 1.01^104 = 281% if trades are consecutive!

2% a week for 52 weeks: 1.02^52 = 280%.

Therefore, averaging 2% a week should work out just fine :)

The strategy for next week is the same as this prior week. Trades will be made at market openings.  Here's the market clock (PST) image I'm using. I really want a physical clock just like this, but this is just as good. Ultimately, I'll know it by heart:

So, I'm entering at 1500-1600 for USDJPY, 2300 and 0530 for EURUSD and GBPUSD. I'm sticking to those because of their potential for volatility.

And here are the most important events coming:

1. US New Home Sales - Monday 0700
2. US Core Durable Goods Orders - Tuesday 0530
3. US CB Consumer Confidence Index - Tuesday 0700
4. US Pending Home Sales - Wed 0700
5. US EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change - Wed 0730
6. US Fed Interest Rate Decision - Wed 1100
7. US FOMC Press Conference - Wed 1130
8. UK  - Bank of England (BoE) Interest Rate Decision - Thur 0400
9. UK -  BoE Governor Carney Speech - Thur 0430
10. USD GDP - Thur 0530
11. JPY Retail Sales - Thus 1550
12. EUR GDP - Thur 2230
13. EUR GDP - European Union GDP Fri 0200 

From my reading, I hear both sides, "Avoid trading the news," and "Anticipate the movement."  Basically, it's the old fundamental vs. technical analyzes arguments.  I'm in the camp of mixing the two, hence my strategy in trading based on anticipated volatility (from technical analysis).  Still, it's important to know what big news is coming.

The bold ones are ones that could effect me this week.  So Tuesday and Thursday can be some interesting days.  We'll see what happens, yes?

+2 Trades

Before going into my successful trades, the book, Accounts Demystified (2008) was completed today. It's one of the better books of late that will stay on the shelf for future reference.  It defined a corporation differently, and brought perspective into shaping balance sheets, P&L statements, analyzing corporate statements, and even discussed ways that corporations design statements for their benefit. By the end, it was clear that these tools were needed.  It's one thing to go "by the book," and have integrity. It's another thing to understand the purpose of the rules and procedures in place.

Unlike the analogy of someone sitting at a stop sign when there are no cars in sight in any direction, it isn't an issue of "doing what's right when no one's looking."  It's not an issue of integrity, patriotism, etc.  A better analogy is advertising.  Well-designed Financial statements can be your biggest marketing tool to investors, and therefore can lead to expansion of your business.  More so than the ideals of the company, the mission statement, etc., when the numbers look good, people want to buy in.  If I'm selling something, the least knowledgeable person about that product is the worst off.  Some people can watch infomercials and spot what products will fail after a week's use, and others fall victim to the new, shiny toys, and watch their investments depreciate to $0.  Similarly, you have to be able to break down a company's finances with a few glances at their statements, knowing the tricks of the trade, what should be further analyzed, etc.  Simply put, great book.

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Two trades, entered before the market openings on Monday.  For GBPUSD, it was around 0400, for USDJPY it was around 1400.  Actually, times are on the snap shot, so a little before that.  

So this week's average was 5.5/2 = 2.75%.  Obviously, this is a new demo account. I recently got a new phone, couldn't find the login info for the other demo account, and started over. Results will be the same though. At the end of the year, a starting balance will be chosen, say $10k, and each percentage week to week (52 total) will be applied to the balance consecutively. Matter of fact, let's start that now:

Week 1: 2.5%
Week 2: (1.2%) - Negative percentages in parentheses
Week 3: 2.75%

x^[1.025*(1-.012)*1.0275]= x^[1.025*.988*1.0275]= x^1.04

Therefore, so far I've made 4% profit on any starting investment.  For $10k, that's $400 bucks profit.  Still, I'm choosing my position sizes based on risking 2%/trade or less for my SL.  The TP is set first, based on what kind of movement I'm deciding on.  For example, "GPBUSD going up 20 pips." That's my TP. SP would be 20/(2 to 2.7) = 7.4 to 10 pips.  Position size is then (.02)(100,000)/(74 to 100) = 20 to 27 lots.  Wow, I've never had a position that large... As you can see in the snapshot, 14.50 is my highest so far. That's with closing before the TP is reached. Babies crawl until they're tired of being on their knees!

(4) Trades

In the negative this past week. 4 trades were done on GBPUSD and USDCHF. They were conducted around 4am PST. Trading around 2300 PST has proven more profitable because of the time difference. The negative trades were also due to the volatility at those hours before the close on Friday.  Trading earlier in the week will prove my strategy in the next couple of days.

No forex news was reviewed, and the trades were for around 20 pips.  I utilized the buy stop strategy. Because of the volatility, having set up buy stops in both directions (buy/sell), I was unable to close one after the other was processed. The market was so volatile (or my range so small), that all the deals were processed and market fluctuated in both directions bringing me negative all around.  Lessons learned the hard way.  I'll review these more today, as well as spend a few minutes seeing what news may be coming out in the next two days.

As far as books go, Accounts Demystified is a great book, written by an English guy, referencing pounds the whole way through. Still, the understanding of American accounting is explained also. Therefore, it's a unique perspective I'm glad to have stumbled upon.  It's not a very long book, so the plan is to finish it this coming week.  That is all for now.

$100,000 paper money

Seems appropriate that the last account was unaccessible. Regardless of the balance, the percentages matter most.

  

The GBPUSD trade started to drop off. I expect movement within 1-3 hours on these trades before they level off or reverse direction. It was a safe play.

The USDCHF trade was done with no monitoring after it was placed. It hit the TP, and that's the best case scenario.  So, the $5488 profit is 5% per 2 trades, or 2.5% per trade.  I'll take that. Week 1, check.

Going into next week, I'll be using the same strategies, and actually get into the books. I have yet to start them.

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FOCUS:

I was planning on pursuing an IT certification because I had taken some classes in the subject a couple of years ago.  Are you a trader?  Yes, but in case I was looking for some position in the future, it would be a nice resumee builder.  

No sir, that's the wrong line of thinking.  For one, I have a career in place right now, and I have areas of development already in place to help move forward in that endeavor.  That is PLAN B! I'm working to develop my business, my PLAN A.

So, forget the CompTIA+ cert. There have been hours spent pursuing completion of courses and training that I thought or was told would be beneficial.  The takeaways from all these courses were the same:

1. I can learn anything I want.
2. Anything learned will mostly be lost if months go by without accessing the information.
3. I can make time for anything I put my mind to
4. It's easy for me to acquire knowledge, the change would be to develop skills in applying it.

With that, my approach to trading must be adjusted.  The goal of 44 books is to satisfy and conclude the routine I've developed through academia of reading and study.  The marginal adjustment is building more action items of application and practice into my daily routine. Ultimately replacing the time spent reading specific books with reading or listening ANYTHING else.   This starts with the 2 trades a week.  We'll see where it leads.

2020 Plan of Action

Alright, With the conclusion of 39 or 44 books, there is a push to wrap this up.  The remaining books will be,

1. (Long Term) Accounts Demystified (2008)
2. (Wall Street) Risks, Decisions, and Management in Financial Markets (2005)
3. A First Course in Corporate Finance (2006)
4. (Swing) Trading Systems and Methods (2013)
5. (Trading Bull) Mastering Market Timing (2012)

That was difficult to narrow down. To recap, this is a conclusion to a self-constructed fundamental curriculum for trading of forex.  These books should be completed by the end of June.

At the same time, I will be placing 2 trades/week all year long. For my current MT5 account, my profit is -$750, with a balance of $4126.  This is after 3 months of trading this account (the other started around July) with a total of 26 trades, 8/26 gaining a profit.

All other goals are into the B and C priority categories.  They are still important, yet they are more contingent on where I am, what work demands, etc.  Many circumstances can keep me from:

1. Writing book on Linear Algebra
2. Running a half marathon
3. Taking another grad level class
4. Memorizing Fundamentals of International Banks and Exchanges

... In that order.  

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I'll take a brief moment and reflect. I ran 398 miles since July of 2019, on my way to a half marathon in February. I have decreased consumption of things bad for my body; through my mouth, eyes, and ears.  My goal is to continue that decrease and become the best me I can be.  It has been difficult to fight off the urges perfectly, and I'm encouraged by the progress made so far.

Family and home life are also improving.  I'm working on increasing my dreams, positivity, and actions toward my goals.  The B and C priorities take a back seat to goals I have with family, including but not limited to, 

1. Increased smiles and happiness in the home
2. Maintaining healthy diet
3. Supporting wife's business 
4. Building complementary curricula for daughter
5. Maintaining long distance relationships with family members

Alright, I hope these words inspire.  Off to a jog...

Corporate Finance

Finishing up the latest text, Corporate Finance by DeMarzo (2014), a lot's to be taken away.  This is book 38/44.  Familiar terms of present value, internal rate of return, real options, etc. were comforting in the context of corporate structure. More exciting were the interviews done with different employees of major companies and firms.

Directors of Finance, Chief Financial Officers, money managers, Professor of the International Financial System, Treasurers, VPs, Directors of Corporate Development and Strategic Planning, CEOs, and the host of institutions they represent fill the pages with insight into how financial discussions develop in those circles. I was surprised at the simplicity of the questions. "Describe how you manage Stanford's $16.5 billion endowment."

Now, the answers to these questions speak to the relevance of the topics discussed in the chapters.  For me, the sea of terms and ideas exist as a detailed picture in my mind. The picture has life, vegetation, the sea aforementioned, the sun and sky are visible, and there I sit admiring it all. The realization, however, is that this picture is a virtual one, a human construction, indeed the antithesis of nature.  The picture isn't refreshing. To take a deep breath, hear the birds around me, and take in the wonder of nature. That is the desire in my studies, to learn and appreciate more.

Corporate Finance allows me to see the importance of having partners with a routing in the international financial system.  Similar to having watched many foreign language films, I can recognize the language now. It's a little easier to hear one who speaks the language of finance fluently.    The question is who among them will be useful to me and ultimately the world in the future?

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I'll include another book I recently finished, Real Leadership by Dean Williams. So, that's 39/44.  By the way, there are plenty of books I read concurrently that don't make the list (i.e. historical, motivational, scientific). This one, though, gave me a lot to move forward with.  I was impressed with the language, the breath of research and anecdotes, and the general perspective of the author.

It relates to my pursuit as a trader as well as my goals going forward.  Dean Williams traveled across the world, consulting different leaders who faced a broad range of problems.  He analyzed their responses to situations, and compared them to leaders of the past.  Most importantly, through all his research and development, his desire to assist humanity shined through every critique and analysis he offered. It is unbelievably inspiring to learn about social and political systems extensively, through the eyes of one who loves humanity.  This precursor is often lost in the literature on trading or anything financial for that matter.

The passion for people to be happy and better their situation and their communities still  lives in me.  Hearing the desire in words on a page is like hearing my mom's voice in a crowd.  The book was nourishment, feeding that passion, and provided a blueprint for creating the perspective, bending the narrative, and taking the reins of one's life.  In all areas of study and development, that is the goal for the days ahead.  He talked about 6 challenges leaders face. I memorized them as "McDonald's CAT" (MCDCAT): 

1. Maintenance
2. Crisis
3. Development
4. Creative
5. Activist
6. Transition

He also spoke on "counterfeit" leadership, which I found to be very bold and even controversial to some. I completely subscribe to the ideas he offered, although I know some who wouldn't make that distinction because of the bureaucractic/political backlash they'd receive within their own organizations.  Basically, there are plenty of leaders (and parents) that believe in their style of leadership.

I offered this analogy to my cousin.  There are those who work off the model of "shepherd and sheep" and others subscribe to "partnerships".  The difference being in the former, people see themselves as either the one leading or the one following. Likewise, they put others into the categories as well.  If you see yourself as a sheep, you say, "Hey, you're suppose to be leading me! What's your problem? Tell me what to do! Clear a path for me to get this done! Help me out!"  And if you see yourself as a shepherd, "Hey, get back! I'm the leader! Follow me!  Shh!! Accept what I'm telling you!  You must understand, I'm called for this. Stay in your place!"

For the partnership, regardless of your position, you say, "Hey, I have an idea.  What do you think?  Let's move forward this way. Let's stop here for a minute.  I don't like that idea.  What about this?"

This is a generalization by far, and often the perspectives overlap in many situations.  The point is seeing leadership as a position with different responsibilities rather than something that gives you more power and control over people. Likewise, recognizing your power in ANY position you carry.  The CAT, forklift, or crane operator has a skillset that can literally destroy buildings, but they are trained to use the power wisely.  Likewise, traditional "leaders" must be trained in the same way.  The responsibility to maintain the corporate culture should be stressed bottom to top and top to bottom.  

D. W. gave me an appreciation for the human capacity to shape our corporations with the right mindset, and revived my belief that will indeed improve and continue reforming older, more outdated political and social systems.

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I'll save my goals for the next blog entry.