With a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA, both from Columbia University, Earl Erenler thought trading would be a piece of cake.

“Like everyone else, I naively thought with my intelligence, I could easily be a profitable trader,” he says.  “Little did I know what I was getting myself into.  I found that trading profitably was a tough nut to crack.” 

For 15 years, Erenler searched for the right methodology while working in strategic planning & analysis departments domestically and internationally for Fortune 500 companies.   By his own admission, his trading was mediocre at best.

“I read many, many, many books on trading, used a number of charting software programs and programmed a lot of different trading systems into these charting programs,” Earl says.  “I could not find one trading methodology that worked consistently and across a broad range of markets.”

Things changed dramatically for Erenler in 2007 when he finally read a book that made a difference.  “Master the Markets” by Tom Williams introduced him to Wyckoff Volume Analysis, and a new vista opened.  Within a year and a half he left his day job to trade full time.

“My trading has been profitable since then,” Earl says.  “Applied properly and to liquidly traded markets, Wyckoff Volume Analysis is a solid trading methodology.  Since Volume Analysis works in all liquid markets where accurate volume data is available, I can try to identify the best trades in terms of risk-to-reward ratios, regardless of which market sector the trade is in.”

Erenler’s dedication to Wyckoff Volume Analysis is strong, but that hardly makes him a One Trick Pony. “The Wyckoff methodology involves analyzing the interaction not only of volumes, closes and ranges of individual price bars, but also of rallies and pullbacks,” he says.  “As filtering mechanisms, I also use seasonality, economic and business cycle considerations, and inter-market analysis.

“I am constantly seeking to test new ideas to incorporate into and improve my trading.  I still attend seminars and buy DVDs to expand my knowledge of the Wyckoff Methodology.  I am the type that can never rest on my laurels.”

Earl typically spends three to five hours analyzing 30 commodities on an end-of-day basis, planning his next position trade, and assessing whether current market moves are sustainable.  “That’s probably 15 too many,” he says, “but hey, I love doing this stuff.”