Why is it that bright, well educated men and women armed with the latest in computer technology, technical analysis techniques, trading software, and superb real time data feeds and piles of mechanical trading systems, can't make money? In the futures markets, between 80% and 90% of new traders do not last six months. This is a horrible failure rate. Compounded over three years it means that only a few percent of traders ever make it.
So are the markets rigged? Are the traders just being sucked in, ripped off, and thrown away? Is there some grand conspiracy to deprive these people of their money? Are the developers of trading systems, trading software, educational material, etc. all dishonest "rip-off" artists? What is going on here?
After over 30 years of watching markets and five years of day trading the S&P, I, too, have felt the joy, gloom curve experienced by traders. I have seen my equity curve go up and then come down, go up and come back down. Each time it came down, I studied harder. I have continued to learn many new and undiscovered things about markets.
I have learned that markets are energy systems. I have also learned that I, too, am an energy system. Anyone who trades a market should understand the market as an energy system and themselves as an energy system.
I think there are several reasons why Johnny can't trade.
Reason number one is that commodity trading is inherently difficult. This is especially true of real time commodity trading. The knowledge and skill required to trade something like the S&P 500 well are equivalent to the knowledge and skill and decision making ability required of a combat pilot or a brain surgeon. Many, many pieces of input data must be collected, analyzed, condensed, and weighed to make a trading decision. Then that trading decision myst be executed swiftly, precisely, and correctly. This is a task that is not easily accomplished by anyone, let alone by newcomers. This level of performance is rarely achieved. Yet it can be achieved.
The second reason Johnny can't trade is that the industry misleads him. Johnny's mailbox is constantly filled with advertisements that tell him that while he was working at his ordinary job, everyone else was getting rich. If he had only bought the Dow when it was at 1000, he would have multiplied his fortune by sixfold today. Or if he had bought gold at 35 and sold it at 800, he, too, would be rich. These ads always tell Johnny how easy it is to make the money. Some of these ads are even true. What they don't tell Johnny is how to keep the money.
The third reason Johnny can't trade is that he needs education. This is compounded by the fact that trading is not a discipline taught in colleges and universities. There is a great deal to know about markets and trading. A serious trader must be willing to invest in course after course and spend the time to master the material before they will begin to understand why markets behave the way they do.
Unfortunately, a trader is like the early barnstorming pilot, who had to not only fly the airplane, but fix it when it broke without tools and without a clear knowledge of aerodynamics.
There is a great deal of good educational material in the industry. There is also a lot of material that is not based upon thorough research or a particularly successful track record. Much of this material is based upon too few samples of data, with conclusions drawn too quickly. Many traders do recognize their need for education. They tend to persist and keep studying and keep working. But this leads to the fourth problem.
Johnny can't trade because Johnny does not understand himself. Like markets, Johnny is an energy system. Johnny will have days when he makes decisions well. He sees the patterns well. He trades well. He makes money. Johnny is happy.
Johnny will have days when he couldn't trade his way out of a wet paper bag. He will rationalize the information. He will place the wrong orders. He will react to the market instead of anticipating it. He will make error after error. Yet somehow, when Johnny gets in this mode, does he quit? No! Like a magnet stuck to a refrigerator, Johnny will sit at his screen and place order after order trying to make up what he lost. Johnny is not in control.
Some people will tell Johnny that he is "too emotional." Johnny grew up being programmed to believe that men did not have emotions. He learned that it was wrong to have emotions. What Johnny doesn't understand is what emotions are.
Emotions are electric currents. It is a scientific fact that
the earth's ionosphere is charged by the solar wind coming from the
sun to a voltage of approximately +300,000 volts [6]. The earth Johnny
stands on is at 0 volts. This means that between the earth and the
top of Johnny's head is a voltage of approximately 240 volts. This
is the earth's electric field. This voltage causes an electric current
to flow through Johnny. That current is over 2000 times as strong
as the currents in Johnny's neurons [1]. Changes in the electric
field can cause 10%-20% changes in the voltage in very short periods
of time [6].
Johnny is trying to operating a 10 billion neuron neural network in that electric field. His brain is completely electrochemical. His brain is completed unshielded from this external field. Within Johnny's brain are the neurons. Each neuron collects a number of inputs, adds them together, and if the value is over a certain level, generates an output signal. These signals are all small voltages. The output signals become our decisions.
Imagine that the decision to enter a trade about to be made. Inside the neuron the voltages added together are almost at the decision threshold. Suddenly, an external voltage adds just enough energy to the neuron to make the decision, even though the input data was not sufficient to make the decision.
Johnny just made an "emotional" decision. On days when the external currents flowing through Johnny are extremely strong, he may make many emotional decisions. On days when the currents are weak, his decisions may be sound and "rational."
One result of my research has been the XGO formula[4]. This formula computes the energy being absorbed by a market or by Johnny on a given day. A most interesting thing happened in my own trading. I noticed that my equity curve rose and fell along with the swings in my XGO energy chart. There was a level of energy above which I traded well and below which I traded as if I were totally stupid. Knowing that I was using some of the best software in the world, some of the best analysis methods in the world, and some of the best money management in the world, I found this startling.
I realized a hard, cold fact. I was being driven by external energies as well as by my own. At first it was hard for me to believe that something external was running my equity curve and not me. The more carefully I analyzed the data, the more obvious it became. My equity curve did go up and down with my natural energy curve.
When I looked at the level above which I traded well, I found that my energy curve was only in the "okay to trade" area about 40% of the time. Now this was hard to accept. The data was telling me that I was not free to trade any day I wanted to. Says who? This is America. It is a free country. I fought in combat for freedom. Why can't I be free to trade?
I felt frustrated. Then I recalled a book I had read several years earlier on biocircuits [7]. Biocircuits are an external arrangement of wires that allow a person to draw energy directly from the universe. Biocircuits were researched and used for over 35 years by Leon Eeman and others. They were found to promote relaxation, improve health, and even heal specific ailments. I had also been to Mark Douglas' trading psychology course and had learned many good things from Mark [3]. For years I had used positive affirmation tapes to improve my performance in other areas.
As I researched these areas, I came across the work of Mr. Owen Lehto [5]. Mr. Lehto had developed a technique for measuring energy in foods and for analyzing nutritional needs from saliva samples. I discovered that I could use his measurement technique to measure my own personal energy. So I decided to conduct an experiment.
I wanted to see if I could improve the number of days that I could
trade well by boosting my energy using biocircuits. I first computed
my energy function using my XGO software. I decided to use Mr. Lehto's
energy measurments to verify the result of the experiment. I made
a special affirmation tape and constructed my own biocircuit. For
six weeks, the first thing I did every morning was to lay in the biocircuit
while listening to the affirmation tape. Before I did the exercise,
I measured my energy. After the exercise, I again measured my energy. Figure
1 shows the results.
My energy level before the exercise did follow my theoretically calculated XGO energy curve. This validated both the XGO curve and the energy measurement technique. The XGO curve is shown by line A on the chart. My energy before laying in the biocircuit is shown at B. My energy level after laying in the biocircuit is shown at C. On the average, I boosted my energy by a factor by 2.6. What I had found was a way to boost my own energy level above the level of poor decision making. My experiment was a success. I had a way to avoid "emotional" decisions!
After doing much research in energy fields, and particularly after reading about the effects of magnets on organisms, especially the work by Davis and Rawls [2], I developed a concentration headband. This specially designed headband incorporates a correctly oriented flexible magnet. When I wear it, my own electrical fields in my head are strengthened and my head is somewhat shielded from the influences of the external field. I now never trade without wearing my headband.
I also learned that not only was I being subjected to variations in the earth's electric field, but that I was also subjecting myself to a potentially harmful radiation from my computer screen. Mind control by beaming signals at people is not new. The Soviet Union for years bombarded the American Embassy in Moscow with a microwave signal. This carefully designed signal had devastating affects upon the embassy personnel. When President Nixon visited the Soviet Union, members of his staff housed at the embassy became severely depressed. Many of them broke down and sobbed powerfully, yet they could not explain why.
The science of generating these signals is relatively well documented in public documents. Of course, much more information exists in classified government files. What is known is that a high frequency microwave signal modulated by a low frequency signal in the range of the human brain waves can induce psychological changes in the human brain [1]. These changes can cause depression and severe impairment of decision making ability. The Soviets went so far as to build the most powerful radio transmitter on the planet and use it to beam a radio signal called the "woodpecker." The signal was a rapidly sweeping radio signal modulated with low frequency in the range of human brain waves. Speculation is that this was used to interfere with the mental activity of the free world.
Your computer monitor generates a "rapidly sweeping radio signal modulated by low frequency." In other words, Johnny may be trading badly because he is being mesmerized by his computer screen. The screen is a stun gun and Johnny's been stunned. This mesmerizing effect has also been noticed by the well-known trading psychologist Van Tharpe.
Fortunately, we have found a simple and effective solution for this. This screen radiation may be effectively trapped with four small energy traps placed on the corners of a computer screen. These traps are simply tuned circuits which trap the signal and dissipate it as heat. Using Mr. Lehto's energy measurement technique I have found that these traps could change a screen from a negative 130 energy points to a positive 100 energy points. Applying these energy traps to all the electronic devices in my trading office changed the office reading from -2000 to +800.
We have also found that it is extremely important to monitor your own vitamin and mineral levels. After having a saliva test, I found that I was low in key minerals, in particular magnesium. Working with other traders and other people, we have found that many people are extremely low in magnesium. Many people are also excessively high in calcium. This creates a chemical imbalance which definitely effects the behavior of a person's neural network. Magnesium supplies conducting ions in neurotransmitters, which are critical in the brain chemistry. These are important for conducting signals from one neuron to the next. Calcium, on the other hand, acts as an insulator to prevent conduction of electricity. Excessive calcium is often due to low magnesium, although there are other causes. It is extremely important for Johnny to have his trace minerals in balance.
So maybe Johnny can't trade because he doesn't understand the care and feeding of the neural network between his ears. Every trader who sits down to trade has the world's most fantastic super computer between his ears. Those 10 billion neurons are capable of extremely powerful pattern recognition, decision making, and trade execution.
But Johnny needs to give that brain a chance. To help traders we offer a Trader's Energy Kit which consists of an Energy Charging Kit, a Concentration Headband, and 8 energy traps. With this Johnny should be able to trade better.
What, may you ask, has been the effect on my own trading? The first change I have noticed is consistency. I make far fewer losing trades, and I have almost eliminated the "stupid" trades. The second effect I have found is that I can take the market or leave it. I do not feel magnetically attracted to it anymore. I feel absolutely zero emotion on a day I don't trade. If the market screamed a thousand points on that day, I simply don't care. When I do trade, I have found that my focus is far sharper. I no longer believe that the short I just put on is the beginning of the Crash of the Millennium. I take my profits more quickly. In my last set of 20 trades in the S&P I raised my account 50%. My goal is 100% consistent execution of my rules.
I firmly believe that to trade well Johnny must be persistent, study hard, and learn to manage himself. The things we have discovered about Johnny as an energy system have been extremely helpful. Hopefully it will shorten our time to total trading success. I recently asked a very successful trader how long it took him to learn to trade successfully. His answer? It took him 20 years. So maybe in five years in day trading the S&P, I have learned enough to understand why Johnny can't trade, and I have learned what it takes for Johnny to trade well. So if your ambition is trading, perhaps you can benefit from what we have learned.
Now I picked on Johnny and did not mention Jane. I am well aware that there are many female traders. I am also well aware that females have an extra layer in their brain. This is a physical, biological fact. It is a higher order layer that supervises the lower layers. Men simply don't have this layer. So maybe Jane can trade better than Johnny. She accepts emotions. She has this extra computing layer to better handle them.
Whether you are a Jane or Johnny, you must cope with the external electromagnetic field and it's effects on you. You must cope with the manmade electrical fields around you. If you do this, study markets thoroughly, equip yourself with good tools and techniques, and are a bit lucky, you can succeed as a trader.
[2] Davis, Albert Roy and Rawls, Walter C., Jr.,
[3] Douglas, Mark,
[4] Hannula, Hans, "Cashing in on Natural Energy",
[5] Lehto, Owen,
[6] McCormac, B. M. ,editor,
[7] Patten, Leslie and Patten, Terry,
Trading Energy Aids
Energy Charging Kit ................................... $72
Concentration Headband ...............................$36
Energy Traps.......................................$20/set of 4
Personal XGO chart for 1 year ..................... $36
Trader's Energy Package of Charging Kit,
To see a list of our other products, click here.
(need headsize in inches)
Headband, and 1 set of Energy traps ........ $120
(save $28)
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