Experience and About This Program

This program was created after years of steady trading and logging of unique findings. For those of you that do not know me, this page is intended to provide you with a general overview to my background and how this website came to be.

This website, while grabbing the help of several others, is largely a culmination of my work. More material is expected to flow into it as time goes on yet the material provided herein is the result of a struggle to learn how to trade properly when surrounded by nothing more than standard or otherwise conventional trading knowledge.

While developers have made this site aesthetically pleasing, for myself, it is all about the content and allowing you to better understand the nature of what it is you are trading, day in and day out.

Firstly, I have never been comfortable with posting my resume specifics online and for all to see. Those who are more personality driven might feel more inclined to do so but I remain largely discreet and prefer to let my work speak for itself. Members of this site will of course get to know me more personally.

This being said, I do have many years of professional experience in the financial industry. I have worked in several capacities over the years, the last 9 of which have been in trading. I have completed Series 3 (National Commodity Futures), 30 (NFA Branch Manager), 34 (Retail Off-Exchange Forex) FINRA examinations, as well as worked directly with regulatory bodies with several different businesses. These days, I work with what most people would consider a proprietary trading firm, working with in-house money and backed by tangible assets, not just investments.

My experience in the financial industry started approximately 14 years ago, when I was hired as a trading assistant / analyst on the Risk Arbitrage desk for a top 5 investment bank based in New York, NY. Following 3 years of employment, I moved into an analyst position for the FX desk of yet another bank located in Manhattan. It was at this time that my interest in trading began to take off, and I opened a personal account in order to begin gathering more experience on my own time.

Not long after I was hired at the the bank, I received a rare opportunity to work for a large hedge fund based in Stamford, CT. I took the opportunity and stayed there for approximately 3.5 years before going on my own and launching a fund with a sole partner as a CTA (Commodity Trading Advisor).

When I am asked about how this experience has attributed to any understandings in terms of how I trade these days, I answer with one word: accountability. Working with other people’s money demands respect, professionalism, and honesty. Most of what I know from a technical basis, that I believe allow me to get to the level I am today, was self-taught by going against the grain of common beliefs. I am as good as I have ever been, and I believe it is simply a function of me spending so many hours doing one specific task, over and over again.

My brain is wired more like an engineer as opposed to a theorist. At the same time, I realize that I have an understanding for crowd mood, as this a major component of any discretionary or quasi-discretionary trader. Of course, much of this behavior can be calculated and quickly observed in price. I believe in assembling all the parts, and executing with as much precision as possible.

Why This Site Exists

I have been maintaining a blog of my work for approximately 8 years, and the majority of the work is a log of my findings.  I found a hobby in writing about my findings and experiences, and attracted a mixed crowd of readers with a similar set of goals. I found out quickly that people were looking for structure, but I did not have the time to prioritize any kind of educational platform because I tend to become very wrapped up in my work.

And so I began referring people to other services, which offered a mixed bag of headaches. The biggest issue is that most of these training platforms do not actually teach people how to trade better, but found that instructors have a knack for bureaucracy and wowing an audience. So while performing a rundown of “how insiders trade” or other forms of fundamental analysis that is ultimately impractical to an individual trader, people leave with a brain full of theoretical ideas, minus the application. I found out the hard way that many of these folks simply do not trade, or do so very poorly. Or, they simply lack a passion for this and end up going onto other forms of work.

And so I prefer to not refer people anywhere than have them waste their money on something that I know lacks value. The people may be nice, but it does not mean that the service will truly help people to trade better. At the same time, I have no intent of going anywhere and so I began building this website in 2015.

This site differs from my blog in a few ways:

1. Structure. This is a planned, tiered training program.

2. More in-depth explanations of concepts

3. Various concepts not discussed on my blog.

4. Priority support. I make myself available to answer questions.

5. Flexibility with new content. It is my aim to fill any gaps that may exist in the process, as quick as I can.

If you ask why I do this at all, then I would say that the answer tends to come once you get to know me. My father was an engineer and my mother an educator. I spend much of time on volunteer activities and genuinely appreciate helping others. At the same time, the sheer volume of people that would pass through my website was simply unmanageable.

Of course, with a paid platform, I am able to expand in the online sense and open up the doors to other means through licensing (as the purchaser) with other third party providers. This has always been a desire of mine but impractical as a blog in and of itself barely maintains enough revenue to support itself.

With other personal obligations, my time is indeed valuable these days and so I simply need to attach some form of a price to it. And everybody wins in the process. The trader can benefit from a meaningful mentor relationship and I am able to get my work published to the world.

I ask that, if you are interested, please evaluate the work and understand what it is that you are getting into here. I have the best intent in terms of your well-being and so if you have interest in the commitment, then I welcome it.

My Current Situation

My trading day lasts from approximately 7:00am to 2:30pm EST (pit close).  I work on a small trading desk that primarily trades energy (PJM, MISO, ERCOT, Natural Gas and derivatives on such, etc.). My current situation allows me to trade a range of instruments, primarily currencies, index futures and natural gas futures. While I started on the interbank market, most of what I trade goes through an exchange these days.

Most support requests will be handled after the close. I offer a number of ways to get in touch with me, found in the members area. I ask that you simply be respectful of this block of time and while I may handle written requests during it, it will not be a normal occurrence. Members will receive priority support, of course, and I will add new materials should it deem fit. I am very flexible in this sense.

And a Personal Note…

I just want to thank you in advance for your consideration. While I realize there is a great deal of materials written for this industry, I have spent countless number of hours to arrive at what I have found to be the most flexible and adaptable means of chart analysis. These concepts can be crossed over into a range of disciplines and I am confident that we can improve your trading by taking some basic steps.

All the best,

Steve

Start typing and press Enter to search