I was there both Sunday and today, Monday. It's always entertaining and gives me a chance to chat with people I know, meet other traders and see new things offered to trading professionals like us.
I thought that this year there were less of everything: vendors, visitors and gadgets. I am not sure about this last thing (not having seen any "official" numbers) but the place seemed less busy (although relatively cheerful) and with far fewer new products than several years ago.
At the same time, out of the many free seminars and presentations that I always like to attend, three stood out for me: Toni Hansen's on position trading, Oliver Velez' on his new venture (Velez Capital Management and his Trade For Life offering, a very interesting idea that seems to be catching on fast) and Deron Wagner's ETF Trading methodology and related products. I thought they were great talks and interesting offerings; and both Deron and Toni, imo, presented extremely well.
Of course, I also think that Oliver should get his own TV talk show, because the man is such a natural. As usual with him, two things happened in my brain: I loved his seminar AND I didn't learn anything new... he's the best at doing that. He has a lot of interesting statistics, like % of breakouts that pan out at first, and % of breakouts that eventually pay you money) but he doesn't tell you where he got them from, etc, etc. Oliver is Oliver, and that's what he will always be. The truth is that I love his books and tapes and several years ago I really learned a lot at his 3-day Pristine seminar; and so I sort of owe him. Oh well.
Pristine was also there and worked hard to catch people's attention. Being a graduate and all, I like what they do and what they offer. Unfortunately, there seems to be animosity between them and the founder and half owner of the firm, Oliver, which surprised me and bothered me to hear some of the negative comments made in private. Oh well again, the business world can be vicious, right? That's why I left AT&T to become a trader 10 years ago - can't stand office politics.
I spoke for about 30 minutes with John Person and I thought that his trend/pivot emini trading software (runs on Genesis data) is reasonable. Same with Ed Barsano of CoolTrade, although I was already familiar with the product, which, imo, has potential. Same with the iDayo Indicator, for those who like that type of investing/trading, and the Thinkorswim company: I have done very well with RedOption strategies autotraded by the TOS people... good and cheap.
I asked a few questions at the TradeStation booth and also at the Fidelity booth and they both told me to "call and get someone who knows." They appear to send mostly salespeople to these Expos - but I already knew that... it's just that every year I hope that it will somehow change The NinjaTrader people were there in full force and their product is getting better and better. About Felton Trading, VectorVest, Best Choice and Ablesys, I know enough to purposefully stay clear.
Well, in summary, not one of their best, but an interesting way to spend a day and a half, and for me it's only a train's ride from home.
I was there both Sunday and today, Monday. It's always entertaining and gives me a chance to chat with people I know, meet other traders and see new things offered to trading professionals like us.
I thought that this year there were less of everything: vendors, visitors and gadgets. I am not sure about this last thing (not having seen any "official" numbers) but the place seemed less busy (although relatively cheerful) and with far fewer new products than several years ago.
At the same time, out of the many free seminars and presentations that I always like to attend, three stood out for me: Toni Hansen's on position trading, Oliver Velez' on his new venture (Velez Capital Management and his Trade For Life offering, a very interesting idea that seems to be catching on fast) and Deron Wagner's ETF Trading methodology and related products. I thought they were great talks and interesting offerings; and both Deron and Toni, imo, presented extremely well.
Of course, I also think that Oliver should get his own TV talk show, because the man is such a natural. As usual with him, two things happened in my brain: I loved his seminar AND I didn't learn anything new... he's the best at doing that. He has a lot of interesting statistics, like % of breakouts that pan out at first, and % of breakouts that eventually pay you money) but he doesn't tell you where he got them from, etc, etc. Oliver is Oliver, and that's what he will always be. The truth is that I love his books and tapes and several years ago I really learned a lot at his 3-day Pristine seminar; and so I sort of owe him. Oh well.
Pristine was also there and worked hard to catch people's attention. Being a graduate and all, I like what they do and what they offer. Unfortunately, there seems to be animosity between them and the founder and half owner of the firm, Oliver, which surprised me and bothered me to hear some of the negative comments made in private. Oh well again, the business world can be vicious, right? That's why I left AT&T to become a trader 10 years ago - can't stand office politics.
I spoke for about 30 minutes with John Person and I thought that his trend/pivot emini trading software (runs on Genesis data) is reasonable. Same with Ed Barsano of CoolTrade, although I was already familiar with the product, which, imo, has potential. Same with the iDayo Indicator, for those who like that type of investing/trading, and the Thinkorswim company: I have done very well with RedOption strategies autotraded by the TOS people... good and cheap.
I asked a few questions at the TradeStation booth and also at the Fidelity booth and they both told me to "call and get someone who knows." They appear to send mostly salespeople to these Expos - but I already knew that... it's just that every year I hope that it will somehow change The NinjaTrader people were there in full force and their product is getting better and better. About Felton Trading, VectorVest, Best Choice and Ablesys, I know enough to purposefully stay clear.
Well, in summary, not one of their best, but an interesting way to spend a day and a half, and for me it's only a train's ride from home.
Belated thanks to everyone who attended Doug's presentation in New York. At the risk of being labeled as spam here, if you're interested in a copy of Doug's slides and an overview of the 3-2-1 approach, send me an email at heather.swanson@trademaven.com. And thanks again for the kind words. . .it's been a while.
The NinjaTrader people were there in full force and their product is getting better and better. About Felton Trading, VectorVest, Best Choice and Ablesys, I know enough to purposefully stay clear.