Index
TraderSpeak
Volume 1,
v1.1
Volume 1 cd one
1. Adrian Burridge 23 mins
File:
BURRIDGE1.mp3
Private Futures
TRADER: UK
Born: 1948 Years
in the Market: 6
Method of
Trading: Technical, System
It
was obvious from early on that Adrian was different. With his incredible
ability to observe and apply mathematical logic to the market, Adrian is a rare
animal. He makes up his own systems. However, like many creative people, he has
had to grapple with discipline in the market and he has devised a series of
rules and practices that should be useful to any trader getting off first base
in order to cope with the reality of dealing in markets.
2. Valery Ann Moore 1h
Files:
VALMOORE1.MP3 & VALMOORE2.MP3
Private
futures TRADER & Spredbetter: UK
Born: early
1950's Years in the Market: 6
Method of
Trading: Technical, System &
Discretionary
Val trained
at the same time as Adrian. She has the amazing and rare gift of being able to
blend a system with her own discretionary approach, making her a successful
private trader. She has put her finger right on the money (excuse the pun!)
when it comes to men and trading - at least some men. Well worth a listen!
3. Alex
Benjamin 1 ½ hr
Files: ALEX1.mp3 & ALEX2.mp3
Born: 1954 Years in the
Market: 28
Private/Floor/Institutional &
Bank TRADER: BROKER: Alex Benjamin: UK, FRANCE
Method of Trading: Various
Alex’s
ambition to be a stockbroker began at the tender age of five. In the markets
since the mid 70's, it is clear that this man has a great level of experience,
ability and aptitude under his belt. Alex works in one of Europe's largest
brokerages and is a key dealer. As the interview progresses you will experience
the consummate professional at work while he breaks off the conversation to
issue orders and strategies on markets to other traders who are executing them
on his behalf - and in more than one language. Listening to Alex juggle this
while conducting a fascinating interview on different aspects of trading makes
one appreciate the level of skill that he brings to the table.
4. Chris
Antonio 2 ¼ hr
Files: ANTONIO1.mp3, ANTONIO2.mp3
& ANTONIO3.mp3
Floor TRADER, Private TRADER, BROKER:
USA
Born 1959 Years in the Market: 19
Method of Trading: Technical
Main Instruments: Equities, Options, Futures
At college,
Chris became interested in the markets and started on the Pacific Stock
Exchange San Francisco floor. Chris always "looks for
inefficiencies". In his seven
years on the PSE floor Chris went from order entry clerk to Market Maker, and
he describes the mechanics of order processing and how orders were handled and
routed on this floor, where voices once rang out in open outcry. The Pacific
Stock Exchange has since closed its doors. Chris describes the PSE floor during
the 1987 crash, and how he and others reacted. How "quiete" the floor
became and how by Tuesday morning the stock exchanges in the worlds largest
economy had effectively crashed to a halt and how, at last, "bids"
began to appear again on the tape as the markets were jump-started back into
action.
Learn how
the mechanics of market making worked on the PSE. He described how the market
worked then and how it works now. In 1996, Chris set up his own broker dealer,
even though he mainly trades for himself. He describes how he combines
techniques with the use of intuition to decide which technical tools to use. He
relates some of the tricks and techniques used.
Chris
describes how he tailors his trading and options strategies to different market
conditions. Chris is a "buddy
trader". He trades with a small group of associate traders and prefers
this to sitting alone and trading.
"Everything
is always evolving and is oozing toward greater and greater efficiency. So a
lot of the inefficiencies and ways we played in the market years ago simply
don't exist anymore"
"I rely
(now) mostly on chart formations and just price and volume primarily with an
oscillator here or there ... "
"Over
time the tools become dull and they stop working very well ... Even back in my
floor days I could see a lot of the old timers becoming grumpier and grumpier
because their old edges were disappearing."
Extract from
the internet:
It's the
Final Bell for the Pacific Exchange
Pacific
Stock Exchange‑Los Angeles
05/25/01‑
The once‑bustling trading floor, which began as the Los Angeles Oil
Exchange, officially closed its Beaudry Avenue location west of downtown at
1:30 p.m.
A group of
people counted down as the final moments came.
"The
sentimental side of me is very sorry to see the floor go away," Dale
Carlson, a spokesperson who has been at the exchange for 14 years, told a local
newspaper.
"But
there's little value in sentiment in this industry in this age. Most, if not
all, stock‑trading floors are going to disappear."
In the early
20th century, there were more than two dozen U.S. stock exchanges. Today ‑‑
in an era when trading in cyberspace is making bricks‑and‑ mortar
stock exchanges less and less relevant ‑‑ there are seven.
5. Melissa
Arden 49 mins
Files: ARDEN1.mp3
Floor /Institutional TRADER, BROKER,
Exchange Rep: AUSTRALIA
Born: 1964 Years in the Market: 19
Method of Trading: Technical
Main Instruments: Futures, Stocks, Options
Melissa was
born in Cheshire in Northern England but moved to Australia at a young age. At
20 years old she started work in Sydney for Bain and Company, a prominent
Australian stockbroker. After joining the options team at Jardine Fleming and
starting to trade successfully for her own personal account, she became an
options market maker on the options floor of the Australian Stock Exchange. Melissa
speaks clearly and wisely about the psychology and approach necessary to be
successful in trading, and how to deter success from going to the head. She
also speaks about the transformation to electronic markets in Australia, as
well as options strategies and the workings of an options market maker,
including her "get on with it" approach to life in general and the
challenge of dealing in a male dominated environment.
On the
options floor she was one of three "girls" amongst 150 men. She
believes being a woman in the male dealing environment is an advantage.
Melissa's pro positive approach to life serves as an inspiration to us all.
Many pearls of wisdom are revealed throughout the length of this fascinating
48-minute interview. After doing options, she worked on the Sydney Futures
Exchange for UBS. And now she actually works for the Aussie Stock Exchange
itself. Interesting and informative listening.
6. Mike
Battle 1 ¾ hr
Files: BATTLE1.mp3, BATTLE2.mp3,
BATTLE3.mp3
Floor/ Upstairs BROKER, Private /Pro
/Floor TRADER UK
Born: 1965 Years
in the Market: 22
Method of Trading: Technical
Main Instruments: Futures, Stocks, Options
Mike Battle was dubbed by a fellow
in the market as "Britains Best Trader".
He made a
calculated decision to get into the City and decided not to return to school to
take his "A" levels. As a result he witnessed the end of the London
Stock Exchange floor and, at a young age, was thrust in as a market maker with
a book worth millions. Promotion came quickly for Mike as London moved from
floor to electronic market in one of the biggest market changeovers in history.
Mike tells the story of his career in the City as only a true- blood like Mike
Battle can.
The second
half of the interview deals with practical trading advice as well as clear
insights into the techniques that put Mike into the 'supertrader' league
including details of his multilayered money management strategy.
Hearing
Battle speak about trading is truly to hear the mind of the consummate, driven
professional at work. Low ego. On the job. No messing about. Battle does Battle
in the market. Take no prisoners. Well done Mike.
7. George
White (name changed) 14 mins
Files: WHITE1.mp3
Private TRADER: UK
Born: 1947 Years in the Market: 5
Method of Trading: Technical
Main Instruments: Futures
White has
kept "very much to simplicity". He trades a handful of stock index
futures and gives a sobering view of the industry and of trading. George
describes how "people are given the wrong impression or the wrong
information right from the very very start".
George has
clearly spent some time at the school of hard knocks and has a cautious, if not
a pessimistic, view of trading - which is not uncommon in our time given the
amount of mediocre, or worse, advice, training and software doing the rounds at
ridiculous pricing.
8. Peter
Steidlmayer 1h 8mins
Files: STEIDLMAYER1.mp3
Floor TRADER: USA
Born: 1930's Years in the
Market: 40+
Method of Trading: Technical -
Something & somewhere new
Main Instruments: Commodity Futures
"Opportunity is evolving to a
different model"
With over
forty years of floor trading behind him and, without doubt, one of the great
influences on the way we think about markets today, Peter Steidlmayer scopes
out the state he thinks markets are evolving towards and how to trade this.
9. Tony
Stein (name changed) 46 mins
Files: UX1.mp3
Private TRADER: UK
Born: 1952
Years in the Market: 18
Method of Trading: Technical
Main Instruments: Futures, Spreadbetting on Equities
Although he
gets off to a slow start, Tony soon warms up to describe how he trades equities
using spreadbetting and what he calls the classic "cut and handle"
pattern.
10. Gerald Celaya 1 ¼ h
File: CELAYA1.mp3
Professional ANALYST,
Institutional/Private TRADER: USA. UK
Born: 1964
Years in the Market: 18
Method of Trading: Technical
Main Instruments: Bonds, Forex, Futures and Stocks
What's it
like to have thousands of technical traders in banks hang on your words every
day? Ask Gerry! Then, after years of being on the line, you are assigned real
millions and a proprietary trading group of your own by a major American bank.
In other words: "do it yourself
now! ".
lastly,
ending up with your own research house, writing for major banks and brokers
and just plain ol' trading for your own
account. Gerry's seen it all, been there and done a good deal of it - from
senior analyst at MMS (Money Market Services) to American Express Bank, and
Chase, as well as meeting clients in countless banks on different continents.
Celaya is every bit the well rounded professional while retaining his
effervescent modesty and sense of humor.
11. Claire
Holden (name changed) 22 mins
Files: CLAIRE1.mp3
Private TRADER: UK
Born: 1965
Years in the Market: 5
Method of Trading: Technical
Main Instruments: Futures
Having lost
existing careers through back injury, Claire and her friend jointly decided to
take up trading. They trade together intraday, mainly on the DAX but also on
the S&P futures, via electronic platforms like PATS, spreadbetting
companies and via the telephone.
Claire
describes how they went from "the adrenalin rush" and "fear
factor" of early trading to the development of something better.
12. Erland
Goar 34 mins
Files: ERLAND1.mp3
Private TRADER: UK
Born: 1964 Years in the Market:
5
Mthod of Trading: Technical
Main Instruments: Futures
Erland Goar,
from Edinburgh, worked for many years in the back offices of funds and
investment houses in Edinburgh, Scotland. After attending a technical analysis
course in London, he began his own trading career, which took him from wannabee
trader to full time day trader and finally to part time end of day trader.
He describes
how this works in his favor in spreadbetting with Deal4Free which is his
favored way of trading.
Goar cut his
teeth trading at home from August 2001 onwards, which took him through coping
with the aftermath of September 11th 2001 in the financial markets. He
describes how he adapted his trading from just "going in" to waiting
for "setups" - in other words he has turned into the stalker and
hunter waiting for the markets to hit a certain price and "setup"
before "going in".
Erland uses
a host of free internet sites now for trading rather than paying for access. He
describes how trading is now a profitable "hobby" and an
"interesting pastime", which is enjoyable rather than being any
longer a thrill.
He is a living
example of someone who has modestly found his place in the trading world -
perhaps something more of us should strive for.
13. Keith
D 20
mins
Files: KEITHD1.mp3
Private TRADER: UK
Born: 1943 Years in
the Market: 3
Method of Trading: Speculative
Main Instruments: UK Index & Stock Options
Classic and
somewhat sad story of failure in the markets, where individuals may speculate
their own and then the money of others on the gamble to make money. Keith
describes his fascinating trip through the London options markets in the late
1980's as he traded his money away and eventually stopped trading.
Listen to
this story and take note.
14. Mark
Codd 21 mins
Files: MCODD1.mp3
Spec/Floor/Arcade TRADER: UK
Born: 1975 Years in the Market: 10
Method of Trading: Speculative
Main Instruments: Futures
Witness to
the end of floor trading on LIFFE and the rise of what are known as the
"arcades". These are places around the world where (sometimes) hundreds
of traders sit and trade the futures markets together, renting desks with all
the toys - at premium rates.
Mark
describes the days and atmosphere down on the late LIFFE floor as well as the
potential profits and training offered at an "arcade", where
potential traders are turned into active traders after six months of rigorous
training, including time on a simulator.
Codd shows a
world where private meets professional and fuses individuals into money-making
machines.
15. Sean
Downey 4h
Files: SHAUN1.mp3, SHAUN2.mp3,
SHAUN3.mp3, SHAUN4.mp3, SHAUN5.mp3, SHAUN6.mp3
Private TRADER: Commodity BROKER,
Analyst, Money Management - UK &
AUSTRALIA
Born: 1964 Years in the
Market: 15
Method of Trading: Technical and Fundamental
Main Instruments: Futures, Options, Equities
" You don't tell the chart: the
chart tells you"
Sean talks
over four fascinating hours.
The
following sections are broken into six files that make up his four hours and
give an indication as to what is on each file:
SHAUN1.mp3
His first
year in the markets was spent in the back office at Rudolf Wolff, perhaps the
best known commodity firm in Britain at the time. From there he moves on to
broking and trading coffee and sugar, as well as "prop trading"
(proprietary trading).
"One of
the reasons I got put in the dealing room so early was because I could handle
my drink … A lot of business was done down the pub …"
"Their
idea was to lose money for tax reasons … (however) I couldn't seem to lose; whatever I did"
"They
didn't teach you anything. You sank or swam very quickly"
Sean
describes what it took to survive in a dealing room. What helped to eradicate
the divide between the "upper classes" and the "east end"
and what it takes now to get into markets.
"Hedge
funds definitely seem to remain the old school tie…"
Sean saw a
story relating to the shortage of cotton due to floods on the Yangtze River in
China. This caused him to get long of soyabeans before the Chinese even began to
buy to fill their shortage. Hear the full and fascinating story of how Sean
made over 20x his money in beans in 2003.
"There
are lots of connections to do with different markets and its important to try
and connect those markets together and be ahead of it ...."
Hear this
amazing commodity trader at play.
"What
should have gone up, didn't go up and it must go down. I know it sounds
silly! Major tops and bottoms are
invariably made on those sorts of stories."
Sean
describes a break on the cotton market. The why's, what to watch out for and
what to do and what not to do.
Sean
describes his options strategy. He holds seminars on options strategies and is
a former options market maker ...
On options:
"I
never ever sell naked on options - ever .... I trade those one week to two day
(to expiry) options nearly every week but I use technical analysis ... I would
thoroughly recommend it. There is nothing worse than trying to cover a short
options position that's gone wrong."
Various interesting
options strategies are described, including combining options and futures
trades together to maximize income.
Mental agility and the importance thereof is described
by Sean. For his mind, fast moving markets are a necessary target. Otherwise
it's "boring".
"I
actually purposely go to the markets that are the most volatile ... I tend to
move to where the volatility is ..."
On money:
"I
learned that money is not a passport to happiness necessarily...that there are
much more important things ..."
SHAUN2.mp3
"Nearly
all the methodologies I use are my own.
I don't do technical anaysis from a book. Its all my own theories, my own
custom studies, my own patterns ..."
Sean
describes that he found someone in his own firm (head of the Short Sterling
desk) who was so consistently wrong that Sean would consistently make money
from taking the other side of that person's trades.
The Internet
and the Commodity Trader
Sean uses
some of the stranger more professional sites on the net to analyze possible
acreage yields on soybeans.
"Certainly
China is a huge example of where they will not tell you anything till they've
covered themselves."
"The
powers that be don't want you to know that information."
SHAUN3.mp3
* Long term future of the US$ and the rise
of the Euro.
"China is the driver of the world
now."
* Interesting theory on the 1987 stock
market crash.
* "Kodak is terminal .... Its
difficult to see them turning round."
* "I'm a big fan of fair value ..."
SHAUN4.mp3
After his
stint as a private detective, despatch riding and setting up a specialist
travel agency, Downey ended up working at Reuters on the Globex project - one
of the worlds first electronic order routing systems. He then worked in a
specialist role on Schwartzatron (the Reuters options product), Reuters
Technical Analyst as well as the new versions of Reuters Terminal and Excel
programming. He talks about his time at Reuters and the company culture, and
how "they were too slow in the late nineties".
Could
Reuters be the Kodak of the datafeed world ?
After leaving Reuters he joined CQG (Commodity Quote Graphics Inc) in
1991. He describes himself in a "pseudo sales support" role, helping
to promote Market Profile to the CQG customer base.
He describes
how "A lot of the analysts are stuck with the old clichés and ... the real
technical analysts tend to be ... in some of the smaller places where they are
given the opportunity to be more specialist and really sit down and go through
it ..."
The Role of the Computer
Downey
describes how he couldn't possibly do his job and trade as many markets without
the central role of the computer. He describes how the computer is
comprehensively employed. How he trades (what is prioritized) and how he does
not "finesse" his orders. Sean can have up to 100 separate and
concurrent positions running at one time.
Time Frame and Risk
* Linking time frame to your risk
profile. Fixing Volume & Risk.
* Taking emotional attachment out of the
trading decision.
* How a day trade can become a
"strategic trade". Dollar / Yen example of how an intraday signal
developed into a weekly.
" You
don't tell the chart: the chart tells you"
What do
people "in the know", know early?
From recent
electrical blackouts to the Budesbank, Sean highlights how "there's always
a leak". Often there are clues in
the charts!
The role of
VOLUME. Sean gives multiple examples.
Several intriguing uses of volume information are highlighted.
How does
Sean place orders and why he DOES NOT use electronic order routing!
"I will
freely give away my methods"
He describes
his personal analytical market methods, which lead to his trading.
His views on
why "Fibonacci doesn't work anymore". Which markets still work.
Which
indicators he uses.
Details on
this file include the importance of long-term intraday data. Examples given.
SHAUN5.mp3