For years, I have updated this website on a casual basis with a spotty approach to my findings, the way I trade, and heaps of other random material related to active trading. And while it has been no doubt rewarding (I wouldn't do it otherwise) it also poses some issues as a general trust in me gets translated into action by a wide range of individuals.
That's good and bad. Good because I don't preach trading ultra watered down or ultra-simplistic means of analysis to novice traders, but bad because I understand that perceptions vary and anything I say can be misinterpreted at any moment in time.
Many people have asked me if I ever offer any other forms of guidance. The answer is always no. I have always done this as a hobby and have little interest in pursuing other endeavors beyond beyond trading. I specialize in something, and like it that way.
When you stare at charts, data and financial news for 7-8 hours straight, finding the time to update a newsletter or website is next to impossible (or at least it is for me). That's why when I see these other types of folks out there I scream “bull” on a regular basis because the math simply doesn't add up.
I started working on a desk of what most people would consider a proprietary trading firm approximately 6 years ago (even though we don't call it that), and began trading the only truly “chartable” instrument in-house: natural gas. The bulk of work that goes on in this office is fundamentally driven, and rightfully so. The main product is energy which is heavily reliant on infrastructure either running smoothly / wreaking havoc or weather models. Most of what is traded here can barely even be charted. Natural gas, however, follows completely different rules, those which mimic what most people see in other markets, such as currencies.
And while I know my methods aren't common (they shouldn't be “common” for anybody….this is money making 101) there are definitely digestible and able to be learned. I suppose I never realized how well this could be done until I started working with this group.
I started working on a series of presentations to help things move along. It kept growing to the point where I has a ton of materials stored and plenty of room to keep adding more. So I changed the look of the presentations and started creating lectures. The initial intent was to make these as open as possible, until I thought about what my life would look like after it got published. When I update frequently, the number of requests coming in can be overwhelming. Tack on a very long lecture series and I can only imagine what the outcome would be. I really don't think that any but a very small fraction of people reading this truly understands what my schedule looks like.
This is not to mention I have never liked making videos, which is why my YouTube channel resembles a desert.
The fact is, I could not have assembled this 5-10 years ago. Not only have I personally progressed substantially in terms of skill through discovery, but teaching is a craft unto itself. Teaching others with something that actually works in practice is actually extremely difficult. Explaining the concepts behind trading one thing, and they are all over the internet and beyond. But getting people to actually perform is a completely different task. Trading consists of two primary skills: comprehension of knowledge and execution. There is zero chance, when starting from scratch, anyone could predict someone else's aptitude of either.
The work is centered around a framework for reading raw prices and volumes, which can of course only be useful with any range of strategies. Any calculated strategy (which I also implement regularly) can be refined by identifying price, thus crowd, behaviors in and of themselves. There are of course other sections dedicated to other facets of trading, but I have found over the years that many of these come naturally with an understanding of how prices can, and tend to behave.
I am regularly adding more content where it belongs in relation to the structure, and would consider it my “book” of sorts. The original intent was to drip it online over a period of time, but at least for me, that's impractical. I can't donate that much time and effort to something when I have so many other things to do, so I'm making it reserved for those who are looking for a more structured background.
I assembled it in a way that would allow me the time to respond to more casual requests and maintain doing what I currently do (trust me, you wouldn't want it otherwise). And so I got in touch with a developer who built what ended up being an incredible new website for me, and threw everything up there and thensome. I have been adding to it gradually over the course of the past few months.
So, is this for a fee? Yes. There is simply way too much time that I'll be investing in order to make this happen pro bono. Teaching people to trade is not like taking a dog for a walk. It takes a tremendous amount of time, effort and plenty of concentration. I'm making myself available after the energy close (I trade mostly on exchanges these days) to answer questions, take an occasional call or anything else in reference to the material. I am also more open to discuss trade ideas, something which I turned away from on this site a very time ago. I used to post trades, and the longer and better the trade history got, a snowball effect kicked in and the requests became very overwhelming. And so I stopped doing it.
If you ask why I even bother doing any of this, then the answer is twofold: 1. I am still regularly asked for referrals for structured learning. Literally every time I have reached out and attempted to do this something bad happens and I usually find out that in the case of these educators the emperor wears no clothes, or lacks a passion for it and drops out of the game. 2. I can. I am in a position where I am content with my current schedule / position, and made sure to structure this site in a manner that would allow me to directly respond to questions and requests, while essentially outsourcing all of the logistics.
Also, having been plagiarized so badly over the years, I feel that it is about time that I stamp my name on many of the concepts and methods that took years to accumulate. It is rewarding, but frustrating. When I see my unique work, which took years to accumulate, rehashed by others and watch these people charge substantial amounts of money with no credit to myself, its hard to stomach. Putting yourself in my shoes is the best way to look at it.
I could have easily made this more simple or released it via some crazy promotional process, but trust is everything and so that's why we are doing it this way. I have already had a test group digging through the content over the past few weeks and their inputs have been extremely valuable thus far. Several other lectures are already slated to be added soon.
For the naysayers, I hear you. It is not my style to fall into a stereotypical category but then again, I don't think I do. And I believe I have dedicated way, way more than a fair share of hours spent for what most people would consider “overdoing it” over the years. This is something which I truly enjoy doing and glad I did. The bulk of my time online is spent on this site these days.
1 on 1 support is available. I regularly take calls to go over the good, the bad and what's to come.
So that's all. Rant over. Here is the website, and thank you all very much again for your continued support:
Best regards,
Steve
