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Michael Cook
Michael Cook is not likely to overreact to sudden movements in the market. After all, when you have executed transactions valued at tens of millions on institutional trade desks, you’re not likely to be rattled by a three-tick swing in the e-mini S&P’s.
Cook spent 10 years on European trading desks as a market maker and senior trader with various banks and hedge funds, specializing in debt instruments and emerging markets. He holds degrees in Internation . . . READ MORE |
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Joe Duffy
To Joe Duffy, trading is simple. Not that he claims to have it all figured out. Duffy has been a full-time trader for
more than 25 years, and he says he’s still learning and picking up new ideas all
the time. But in the end, anything
he adds to his trading repertoire has simplicity at its core.
“Simpler is almost always better, but simple solutions are rarely obvious,”
Duffy says. “I have ideas in my
systems right now that I can write . . . READ MORE |
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Earl Erenler
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 and analysis departments domestically and int . . . READ MORE |
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Carl Futia
Undergraduate degree from Yale, masters in mathematics and PhD in economics from
U.C. Berkeley, dissertation on “Information Costs and Rational Economic
Behavior.” Sounds like the perfect
blueprint for the education of a trader.
No so much, according to Carl Futia.
“It hasn’t helped,” says Carl. “My interest in math and markets stems from the
same source - a fascination with patterns.
But trading is not something for which an education . . . READ MORE |
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Marko Grcic
Living in Zagreb, Croatia, Marko Grcic is no stranger to natural beauty. He lives just a short ride from the Sava River along the southern slopes of scenic Medvednica Mountain.
But isn’t finding beauty in the futures markets a bit of stretch? Not for Grcic.
“As an active windsurfer, I have always been amazed by nature,” Marko says. “What sparked my interest in trading is the beauty and elegance of the natural laws I can see in the markets every day. There is a unique mixture . . . READ MORE |
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Ed Keefer
In real estate, they say it’s location, location, location. In trading, Ed Keefer says it’s
patience, patience, patience.
“For ten years I wanted to be in the market at all times, thinking there’s
always a chance to profit,” Keefer says.
“I learned that in the forex market you profit from waiting, not trading. You cannot be in the market all the
time. I have learned it is best to
wait for the . . . READ MORE |
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Craig Kendall
Craig Kendall graduated from Washington & Lee University in 1978. He received his CPA license from Maryland in 1981 and from Virginia in 1991. Kendall received his Series 6, 63, 65 and 3 Securities Licenses in 2001 and currently maintains his license as a Registered Investment Advisor. His business experience includes over twenty (20) years in the finance, accounting and investment banking industry. Craig is the owner and manager of Kendall & Company, CPA, and Financial Investments, Inc. He . . . READ MORE |
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Tim Mazanec
Chartered Market Technician, Commodity Trading Advisor, fund accountant,
interbank trader, senior strategist, senior researcher, media spokesman, web
site corporate advisor, risk management consultant, proprietary trader… Tim
Mazanec is a financial industry Man for All Seasons. Now he adds “WorldCupAdvisor lead
trader” to his extensive resume.
“I think my previous roles provided me a great understanding and appreciat . . . READ MORE |
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Rob Mitchell
Rob Mitchell is not your average professional trader. He made his first trade in 1978 when he bought stock in AT&T, but didn’t get serious about trading until he experienced his first losses in the market. That loss sparked an intense interest in trading and motivated him to never let that happen again.
Rob graduated with honors from the University of South Carolina with a degree in experimental psychology. He took a position with Dean Witter as a broker but soon became dise . . . READ MORE |
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Seth Okun
We don’t call him the E-mini Doc for nothing.
Seth Okun is bona fide board-certified-podiatric-surgeon-turned-E-mini-S&P
trader. It’s probably safe to say
that he is the only registered Commodity Trading Advisor in the world who has
been published in a medical journal on the topic of “The Cortical Shelf of the
First Metatarsal in Base Wedge Osteotomy” (Journal of the American Podiatry
Association, 1984).
. . . READ MORE |
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Brady Preston
When Brady Preston was in boarding school in the 11th and 12th grade, his peers thought he was a little off-kilter. “I don’t think they ever really understood what I was doing,” Brady says. “When the other kids were up on other floors, I was in my room programming and learning about trading systems. I have burnt out a lot of computers over the years.”
Preston’s trading began at age 16, when he sold his Honda CR 125 motorcycle for $1,100 and bought corn options with the . . . READ MORE |
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Tim Rea
If you’re looking for a locale that can facilitate your development as a futures trader, take Tim Rea’s advice and look beyond the Richmond-Nelson Region at the top of New Zealand’s South Island.
Nelson is the country’s geographical center and its second-oldest city. It is long on extraordinary scenery but short on traders. In Rea’s neck of the woods, wineries outnumber traders.
“The average person on the street doesn’t pay much at . . . READ MORE |
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Tony Ritenour
When the housing market took a dive in 2007, many felt defeated.
Tony Ritenour was not one of them. The
developer of large estate-style homes had a thriving business until it ran into
the brick wall of the housing crisis, but getting through those difficult times
inspired him to be more aware of cycles -- and ultimately led him to the trading
screen.
“Those days were very difficult, but without some past difficulties I would
never be where I . . . READ MORE |
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Kurt Sakaeda
In 1995, Kurt Sakaeda was discussing trading over a drink with a friend. “I told him there can be no advantage to trading on a seasonal basis,” says Sakaeda. “If there was an advantage like that, a large investment firm would find it. Then they would saturate the market and drive the advantage away.” Kurt’s friend replied simply, “How do you know if you haven’t done any of the research?”
After months of study, Sakaeda had done the research. H . . . READ MORE |
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Sam J. Sego
Working for a retail forex brokerage, Sam
J. Sego learned exactly what not to do.
“I witnessed first-hand the mistakes most
traders make and it really opened my eyes,” Sego says. “Consistently trading for small
winners while letting losers run… going for profits of 10 to 20 pips but letting
losses go 100 or more… having no exit plan in place for a stop order prior to
entering a trade… over-leveraging, and in som . . . READ MORE |
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Bill Sullivan
Broad experience in the futures industry – pit broker, independent trader, proprietary trader – led Bill Sullivan to the conclusion that the retail customer needed help.
“I realized that there had to be some kind of bridge between the retail trader, the software developer, the Introducing Broker and the FCM (Futures Commission Merchant) so that each understood what each other was doing,” says Sullivan, president of software development firm Continental Tr . . . READ MORE |
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Andrea Unger
Andrea Unger loves juggling numbers, except when the numbers are used to identify human beings.
Unger spent nine years as a middle manager for a major corporation in Italy. He enjoyed putting his mechanical engineering degree (University of Milan) to use in the workplace, but he didn’t enjoy the harsh realities of mid-level management.
“I had 30 people working under me, and I saw how people can be treated like numbers,” Andrea says. “The maneuvers I saw in business were . . . READ MORE |
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Lee Weaver
Lee Weaver’s passion for technology and technical analysis may have stemmed out
of his first job as a computer salesperson, but after six years of working in
the corporate world, he yearned for a more rewarding career.
“I knew there had to be a better way than trading hours for dollars,” Weaver
says. “I had to find a way to leverage or duplicate my earning power.”
It was in the late 1990s when Weaver first delved into the housing business and
formed . . . READ MORE |
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