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Strategies & Market Trends : DAYTRADING Fundamentals -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TraderAlan who wrote (9900)	8/21/2000 4:14:11 AM
From: -	Respond to of 18137

Show report, Aug 20 -- Alan, that was an excellent ONLINE TRADING EXPO report. It was a totally enjoyable event for me, both personally and with respect to the terrific trading community resources available to tap there as well. Here's my report... I most enjoyed spending some quality social+fun time with both old and new friends from the thread including yourself, Tony Oz & his lovely wife, our esteemed threadfounder Eric, FFtrader (Greg), Dave Alexander (Dave is a major wit - he cracks me up big-time), Brandon & Toni, Dotti (Carol), Oz, the MBT crew, and my apologies to all the others that I'm forgetting to mention. Continuing the dinner event was a great idea Eric, and provided a venue for many of us to say "thanks" to yourself, and to Mr. Farley for your massive contributions over the past year in keeping the content quality/level up there so well here on the DTF thread. The quality of the conference sessions was quite good in my opinion -- a remarkable improvement compared to last year. Tim and Jim did a very good job of picking speakers, setting constraints to limit marketing pitches, and keeping the material presented in the "useful" department. I had a chance to spend some time with Carla and her team, who did all the logistics for the show - they are a blast and not much gets by them. I attended as many conference sessions as time would allow; including John Murphy on T.A., Shane Murphy (formerly the U.S. Olympic team's performance psychologist) on trading psychology, David Stendahl on trading systems and money management, Charles Payne on market and stock analysis/trading, etc. I also spent a lot of time working the show floor fairly hard -- according to a plan I developed over the past month, right up until they closed it at 3 today. I was gathering missing information from a list, grilling people and/or vendors that I had pre-targeted, and listening to relevant booth seminars and testimonials. For example at NeoVest, where I've been a First Alert customer for about 2 years - I was in their booth writing filters with Jarrell twice for close to 3 hours, they were just great to do that. I took many questions to the tax-related vendors there and gained much new in-depth knowledge in that department. Picked up about a half-dozen new books from various sources before all was said and done, and ordered cassette recordings from the 8 sessions that I wanted to attend where there were scheduling conflicts (they provide you with all the slides; between that and a cassette it's as good or better than "being there"). I took digital photos of many of "the masters" in action (including trader Alan and Tony Oz) which I will be emailing to them. While visiting my old friends at www.tradingmarkets.com and getting pitched to convert to a lifetime membership, they decided to include me in a group of ~8 traders that will get to spend ~an hour or two with Jay Leno "up close and personal" at their in Las Vegas conference (mid-October). So, you may see me as one of the traders getting roasted on Leno this fall <g>. Oh yes, the Saturday PM trader's dinner. Unfortunately, although I was looking for Eric, Alan, and Tony I didn't find them before it started (arrived a few minutes late)... ended up at a relatively boring table over against the right wall of the ballroom. You recounted the hilarious situation with QCharts so well... the other thing going on there was, whoever was running the PC for Nisson wasn't very good at guessing the index symbols... after about 5 minutes of that, I was the only one at our table having trouble avoiding cracking up (you had to be there, I guess). It was just so cosmic, since QCharts has caused me endless grief, and here was the Candlestick Guru getting totally hosed over and over by QCharts, starting to sound like Woody Allen! This went on for like, ten or fifteen minutes before he finally put himself out of the misery by just giving up. Poor guy, I've had similar problems when doing large group work and it ain't so fun when you're in the hot seat :)) Overall, very hard to complain about the past three days! -Steve

To: TraderAlan who wrote (9900)	8/21/2000 12:59:46 PM
From: Threei	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18137

That was some report... got me mouth-watered. I am turning green envying you guys... :) I was also informed by spies planted about you Alan, questioning my very existence <GG> - well, as soon as I get freedom of travel I will prove I exist in some very definite way. Dunno how yet, but I will come up with something very convincing :) First idea was good bottle of vodka, but then I decided I wanna talk, too :) Vadym

To: TraderAlan who wrote (9900)	8/22/2000 12:15:08 AM
From: Dotty	Respond to of 18137

Thank you Alan & Steve for putting it all so well(the Expo..what else) And thank you Eric for making a truely great dinner happen. I hope it becomes an ongoing tradition with many more DF members joining in for a long time to come. For some extraneous info on the Expo: overall it seemed bigger, more orderly than last year's…a little like a car show maybe - there was even a Mercedes raffle up for grabs… An area with 3 live L2 demo shows blasting all at once was pretty daunting… The best freebie givaway was perhaps Tradecast's yellow & black leopard carryall… easy to spot everywhere :) Seminar attendees all got a tutorial sylabus the size of the yellow pages that you had to carry w/ you to all the courses :( plus all the other stuff you picked up along the way… The good part that Steve mentioned, was all the slide/ref material was in there so you could just pick up the audio tapes for any you course you missed & you got the full picture… Overall it was an inspiring and energising experience. Best of all was networking with other traders and putting faces to nicks of net friends and making new ones in this odd profession we are all persuing here :) dotty

To: TraderAlan who wrote (9900)	8/22/2000 12:16:30 AM
From: Dotty	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18137

Thank you Alan & Steve for putting it all so well(the Expo..what else) And thank you Eric for making a truely great dinner happen. I hope it becomes an ongoing tradition with many more DF members joining in for a long time to come. For some extraneous info on the Expo: overall it seemed bigger, more orderly than last year's…a little like a car show maybe - there was even a Mercedes raffle up for grabs… An area with 3 live L2 demo shows blasting all at once was pretty daunting… The best freebie givaway was perhaps Tradecast's yellow & black leopard carryall… easy to spot everywhere :) Seminar attendees all got a tutorial sylabus the size of the yellow pages that you had to carry w/ you to all the courses :( plus all the other stuff you picked up along the way… The good part that Steve mentioned, was all the slide/ref material was in there so you could just pick up the audio tapes for any you course you missed & you got the full picture… Overall it was an inspiring and energising experience. Best of all was networking with other traders and putting faces to nicks of net friends and making new ones in this odd complex profession we are all persuing here :) dotty

To: TraderAlan who wrote (9900)	8/22/2000 1:50:16 AM
From: pig4xmas	Respond to of 18137

<<The booth babe culture was in full force but taken down several rungs. There is no other way to say it but many of them looked like cheap trash. Last year, it was sort of perky and athletic while this year was silicone, black vinyl and wondering about their evening jobs.>> Dadburn it, I knew I made the wrong decision to go to Vegas instead. As for being directionless, it's too bad it's held at what is traditionally a down time for the markets. Maybe early November would be better.

To: TraderAlan who wrote (9900)	8/22/2000 8:26:25 AM
From: Eric P	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18137

Expo Trip Report I got home last night after traveling east all day. It's good to be home, but I had a very enjoyable trip. One of the highlights of the trip had to be the thread dinner on Friday evening. It was the largest gathering we have had to date, with nearly 25 people in attendance. I enjoyed the self introductions around the table, where each of us had a chance to share a little about ourselves with the group. My only disappointment with the evening was struggling with a little jet lag and having to call it a night at about 10PM. I was worn out... I'm already looking forward to meeting with an even larger group from the thread in New York in February. One interesting note: It was pointed out that our thread dinner had one tutorial speaker at the first Expo (Tony Oz), two speakers in New York (Tony, Alan) and three speakers at this Expo (Tony, Alan, Eric). Steve (Palo Alto) has already expressed interest in joining the group and being a speaker in New York... Eventually, our thread may constitute the bulk of the Expo tutorial speakers... The Expo exhibit area was much larger this year than at the original Expo in Ontario. Altogether, there were roughly 130 exhibitors and 3000+ attendees, versus the ~80 exhibitors and ~2300 attendees last year. The Expo seemed to be a great success. The larger number of booths and longer duration (three days, versus two) seemed to make the exhibit area less crowded and more inviting. For me, the biggest disappointment of the weekend was networking dinner Saturday evening. The food was mediocre (considering the $65 price tag) and the panel discussion was somewhat boring and poorly moderated. I eventually left before the panel discussion ended. This discussion was good for some (unintended) laughs, as pointed out by Alan and Steve. I was able to sit in on parts of many of the tutorial, including the ones given by Alan, Tony Oz and Rogan LaBier. All of them seemed to be informative and well received. This was my first Expo with a speaking role, and I was wondering whether I would be nervous as my hour approached. One of my fellow speakers suggested that I imagine MYSELF naked, but that didn't seem to help <g>. Overall, however, I enjoyed giving my tutorial to ~85 people. There was plenty of questions and was a fairly lively bunch. About a dozen folks stayed afterwards to ask a few more questions. I plugged our thread shamelessly, but didn't feel the slightest bit guilty about it, since it is great... and free to read. Another interesting note was the TradePortal drawing for the new Mercedes. Apparently, they had about 1600 people that filled out entry forms for the free drawing and the big event drew a large crowd. You needed to be in at the drawing to win. Anyway, with big fanfare, they drew the winning name and... drum roll, please... The 'winner' was not present. After a minute or two and no one stepping up to claim the prize, they drew another name... Still not in attendance. I would guess their were several hundred people crowded around, but they continued drawing names for almost 30 minutes, until finally, the 13th name was drawn and some excited individual stepped up to claim the car. I heard this story secondhand, since I was unable to make the drawing. I was very relieved to hear that my name was NOT one of the first 12 called... However, the drawing definitely seemed to be a great success for Merrick and the folks at TradePortal. I'm looking forward to the next gathering in New York. -Eric

To: TraderAlan who wrote (9900)	8/22/2000 12:37:26 PM
From: davealex	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18137

I had a great time at the Expo getting together with the thread people, and I want to thank everyone for making it extremely enjoyable. Thank you for organizing this, Eric. It would not have been the same had we all just decided to try to "find" each other. The chance to meet and hang with the people from this thread and the "MTrader Mafia" is really the reason I went. I had gone to NY and gotten my fill of pitches and hype from the floor and seen that most tutorials are rehashes of published material. The expense is only worth it to me if I get to see what makes people tick and ping their brains, including the speakers after their sessions. I was floored by Alan. He's pretty much the only person I have met who can talk more/faster than me and still be interesting (and Palo Alto is the only one I have met who can talk slower than anyone and still be interesting -- he has you hanging on every sentence, just waiting for the inevitable punch line!) This was also the first time I met Tony Oz -- he was hilarious. After having been to his tutorial in NY and reading all of his books, I had no idea what a truly funny guy he is. All the war stories make talking to Tony worth its weight in gold. If he tires of trading, he can always book a stand-up gig at Caroline's in Times Square. I chat with Brandon and Toni every day, but I certainly get a lot more out of it when I don't have to type to talk. Brandon is a lightning bolt and never fails to tell it exactly like it is (when he's making a point with his hands, put your safety goggles on or you may lose an eyeball) -- "You want the truth? You can't HANDLE the truth!" Toni will kind of sneak up behind you with commentary that takes a second to get -- but when it finally hits you, you're rolling on the floor! Together, they make quite an awesome team. I got sick Saturday night and was feeling rotten Sunday, too. I think it was the Nachos Grande in the bar. (Alan, you are lucky you passed...) I spent the night in my room, and was truly upset that I could not join in Jay's event -- which was happening in the pavillion 20 feet outside my sliding glass patio door. I could tell from the laughs and hoots that you all had a good time there! But I'm kind of amazed no one threw anyone in the pool. :-) Best Tutorial - Rogan LaBier (if he and Brandon got together there would be some sort of nuclear explosion...) Worst Tutorial - Tom Busby (old school Deep South former-military-numbers-guy-turned-broker mostly pitching his school) Scariest Moment - When the Pristine guys reached in their Armani coats for business cards and I thought they were going for the 9mm... Most Disappointing Moment - When I found out Threei was not going to be there to have a vodka-drinking contest with us. I can't wait to spend even more money in NY to blow off the exhibits and sleep through the tutorials. It will be well worth twice the expense just to hook up with you guys again. Dave