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Questions (Quotes from Ed in Red)	Answers
Sun, 09 Jul 2006 FAQ Typos Here are more typographical corrections for FAQ. I am now up through the current entry. I count about 150 since inception.	Thank you for your careful proof-reading and for your contribution to FAQ. The entries now stand with your corrections.
Sun, 09 Jul 2006 Chart Server Subscriber Dear Sir: My login handle is [Handle] add I wish to be a subscriber. Sincerely.	OK. You are now a subscriber and may access your own personal chart page.
Sat, 8 Jul 2006 Receives Mom & Relationship With Girl Friend Improves Hi Ed, I am noticing that you are replying to e-mails much faster. This seems to indicate a higher commitment to FAQ, congratulations! I am happy to report that since I realized my snapshot "receiving my mom" our relationship continues to improve. At the same time my relationship with my girlfriend improves dramatically. Not once in the past month do I consider breaking up with her, which before was a constant thought on my mind. I am beginning to embrace and celebrate the connection we have. I am working on my other snapshots, before our last tribe meeting I feel that I am not really stretching when making my commitments, so I change my commitments (after I meet all my previous commitments). On Monday's meeting I am reporting that I am 0 for 4 in my commitments. This brings up a lot of feelings. I starting to sense that I am not going 100% in our last two meetings, my life in general seems to be stuck. I am starting to wonder if I am willing to do what it takes. At the same time I feel torn because I feel scared (I am not sure of what, maybe disappointment) but also feel that I want to be more and do more (which also disappoints me). Monday's meeting is the first time that I am not excited to go to the tribe. I don't have any major issues going on at this point besides that one feeling I displayed when I was visiting the Incline Tribe, it scares the c--p out of me, it feels like I am dying. I am planning on reporting back after Monday's meeting. Hope all is well.	Thank you for sharing your process. A Natural Part of Parenting is tying children in k-nots. When you receive your parents you start to untie your k-nots, and theirs as well. In the process, you gain better relationships with your parents and with others as well. Clip: http://www.yogasurfadventures.com/ blog/uploaded_images/ mom%20+%20me-780517.JPG
Fri, 7 Jul 2006 Prison Follow-up Hello Ed: I am going to be indicted shortly, but I wanted to follow up to your original response about the purpose of prison. Your reply was about anger, and my initial thought was "How was this about anger?" when the crime was about fraud and deception. Well, several months have passed, and the layers have been peeled back to reveal a deep well of anger, explained in detail below. I have reflected on your statement (paraphrasing) that "everyone gets what they want out of the market". Here I was thinking that I wanted to make money -- but instead I wanted to expose the fraud of a family that hid dark secrets and pretended that bad things did not happen. I call it the "happy face" fraud. My anger stemmed from two parents that could not acknowledge what they did to me. I tried to save my mother from my father and ended up getting beaten several times. Nothing was ever spoken, and we all lived happily ever after while the kettle was boiling. The blowup was just a matter of when, not if ... And if you cannot trust your parents, then how can you possibly trust anyone, even yourself? Once I meet with the parole officer, I will arrange for a prison psychologist to contact you to see if we can bring the Trading Tribe process into the prison system. Although I have not participated in any Tribe meetings, I see the purpose. While I have worked very hard on figuring everything out, the acknowledgement is not there, and that seems to be the most important part of healing. Sincerely,	Thank you for sharing your process. Prison officials may view TTP to be incompatible with prison culture inside the walls. TTP aims to set you free by acknowledging you while you act out your forms. Prison aims to constrain you and prevent you from acting out. Outside the walls, your parole officer may well support your participation in growth-promoting support groups, such as a Tribe. Prison Life is another form of drama. Clip: http://inquisition.pp.ru/gallery/prison-n01.jpg
Fri, 7 Jul 2006 To Outfox Fred, Put Joy in a K-not Hi, I wonder what negative dramas might be the result of failing to feel joy or happiness. If it is the case that failing to feel feelings results in Fred creating ever escalating dramas until we feel those feelings. Would it follow that Fred, with the help of the under Fred network, would set up situations where joy is felt at an intense level to get the subject to feel it, if the subject was reluctant to feel joy and it’s form? It this is the case I wonder what the downside is? Without looking more carefully this might seem to be a great thing? Most examples of TTP are used to show how failing to feel an emotion (frustration) and experience it’s form might result in a frustrating drama (cancelled stops, over trading, losing money etc) I am interested in an example of failing to feel contentment and the drama that might result. If it followed that you were hit with a major dose of contentment, are there positive reasons to ignore that feeling at times? Would perhaps this contentment that is so nice to feel at home going to sleep with some you love, become a drawback if it reduced your ambition at work. I feel perhaps TTP might be more understood from the reverse sometimes as often although feeling are not to be judged good or bad, many example I read are of people failing to feel emotions that commonly are considered bad; anger, frustration, rejection etc with fewer examples of people failing to feel emotions that are commonly considered good. This imbalance can almost look judgmental. I thank you for your thoughts on this.	Joy is a condition that arises from willingness to experience other feelings. People rarely have trouble experiencing feelings they enjoy so these do not tend to form k-nots. K-nots tend to form around feelings people are unwilling to experience. For example, sharing a bed and having sex with someone might be joyous for you - and irritating, or intimidating or even terrifying for someone else. The judgment is not a property of the activity - it is a property of the person viewing the activity. Sex Can Be Ecstatic or Sinful depending on your judgments. Clip: http://www.sex-techniques-and-positions.com/pro/13.jpg
Thu, 6 Jul 2006 Snapshot Process Ed, My Right Livelihood snapshot is: Receive Others. I commit to asking my clients about their feelings and to keep a log of my encounters. When I meet with my clients, I ask them sincerely how they are feeling. I give them several opportunities to express themselves. Most are surprised that I am truly interested, rather than superficially in the standard greeting banter with which we are all familiar. I find that my clients and I understand each other better and that this helps both of us in our relationship. I now extend this process to my coworkers. People smile when they see me coming; I return their smiles. This feels like right livelihood. Thanks.	Thank you for sharing your process.
Thu, 6 Jul 2006 faq question Hi Mr. Seykota, It seems like much of your work focuses on emotions having positive intentions. One example is frustration (if I am correctly, understanding you). Frustration has a positive intention even though it is conventionally characterized as wholly negative. There might be a trader who doesn't like the feeling of frustration that comes from consistently trading poorly, but the frustration might be telling him to manage risk better, or to back-test his system to see if it has a history of viability. If the trader experiences and listens to his frustration, maybe it won't be such a big part of his life any more. What might be the positive intention of lust? I have an inkling that lots of men and women who are married or in committed relationships have this feeling visit them often, but don't really want to experience it. Perhaps some positive intentions of lust include making your lover and you happy through sex, and of course, making babies. These are all wonderful outcomes. But sometimes lust appears during circumstances when experiencing it is uncomfortable, and not experiencing is likewise personally uncomfortable. I'll use a silly beer commercial I recently saw that focuses on a goofy male who is dining with his girlfriend as an example. His challenge for the evening is to block his lustful feelings - to not look at the three hot women sitting at the adjacent table. He struggles and struggles but is able to muster up the strength to not look at the attractive women. For his effort, he is rewarded with a beer. The protagonist of the commercial is a caricature, but his dilemma applies to many real people, myself included. Giving the hot women a good look-over upsets the girlfriend, so lust is avoided. But, ouch, it's painful to block-out the lovelies, too. This lust emotion seems a little trickier than others, capable of sending men and women into particularly ugly dramas like affairs, on one end of the spectrum, and censorship and crusades against immorality, on the other. Let's say beer man willingly experiences lust. What do you think the positive intention of his experiencing lust is? thank you	Lust is a feeling, a strong desire, usually for sex and sometimes for money or power. The positive intention of sexual desire is to motivate sexual intercourse. Some Western religions consider lust to be a vice. Many people have sexual lust in a k-not. Thus, they tend to act out drama that excites lust. For example, prohibition of sexual thought and display entrains pornography - thereby giving prohibitionists even more license to exercise repression. You might consider taking your feelings about sex to the hot seat. When Platonic Relating Becomes Sinful look for people to buy platonic blowup dolls. Clip: http://www.ibiblio.org/Dave/Dr-Fun/df200507/ df20050714.jpg
Wed, 5 Jul 2006 Possible Loss of Relationship I take the hot seat to address an issue that comes up during the snapshot process. My relationship-fun combined snapshot might not last much longer, and I do not have another relationship snapshot in mind to takes its place. With the encouragement of my process manager I get into forms, ending up in a ball with my arms wrapped around my legs, moving around and back and forth. He senses another form is at work so he encourages me to do the opposite form, to stand up and reach back with my arms. As I do so I imagine myself reaching out to others, risking rejection and ridicule. It raises an emotional pain with no form or color. When I continue to stretch out my process manager asks me if I like it. I say I do not. He asks if I want to continue and I reply yes, but it is not comfortable and I do not enjoy it. But I want to follow the process. My chief happens to mention that he might be leaving for another state in the near future, depending on what happens with his employer. I am filled with the dread of losing this person as Chief since he is the best one we have had in over two years of our tribe's existence. This leads to forms, one of which involves me cursing the employer for taking my Chief away. As if on cue my Chief's cell phone sings "Haaaaaallelujah! Haaaaaallelujah!" It's the employer! But he can wait. We continue on for awhile longer. I address several other feelings that come up related to a new chief. I reach a zero point but no joy point. Those forms now complete, I resume with my earlier forms regarding relationships. After continuing awhile longer, pursuing other forms, I am physically drained. My process manager calls for a check out, after which I fall into my chair and just vegetate for a few minutes. A few days later while pondering an unrelated issue it occurs to me that I need to seek "engagement" since I tend to be aloof with others. I do not lose sight of the double meaning of this observation; I have never been engaged to be married in my life. More a-ha's lead to deeper insights as more possibilities open up. And more issues to take to the hot seat! Thanks Ed.	Thank you for sharing your process.
Wed, 5 Jul 2006 Day Trading for 10 Years - Without a System and Without a Losing Year Dear Ed Seykota l read about you in different books (trend following, market wizards). So l started to check your website and found some interesting comments. My Partner and l trade now for almost 10 years together. Our activates are mainly in [Country] and [Continent] (Stocks and Futures). Our approach is quite short term (day trading) and with little overnight exposure. We don't use any systematic Trading system. We make our decisions based on market information, market monitoring and intuition. Risk management was always a important point in our trading philosophy. During the last 10 years we never had a single year with a minus performance. We made some little losses during 4 months over the whole period. That sounds good, but l am looking for something more: My goals are - find the right way for my life (balanced, calm, powerful, etc.) - learn more about systematic trading (style, trends, etc.) That's why l send ... for the purchase of your book to learn more about your style. l am looking forward to receive your book and in the meantime l will check your website regularly. Best regards PS: Is it possible for a non member to join the workshop in Cambridge?	Yes. Anyone may attend the Cambridge Workshop. See the link, above.
Wed, 5 Jul 2006 Objectify the No Dear Ed, I got the book today and immediately started reading the book. Quoting the book from page 25 under the heading Judgment -"We validate the 'no'. I invite him to objectify the 'no' (his judgment) as another form." Please elaborate on how can I invite the sender to objectify the 'no' ? Regards	Ed: I wonder if you are willing to experience the feeling. Hot Seat: No. Ed: Good! I wonder if you are willing to get into it and experience the "no." Hot Seat: Well, OK. Ed: Great! then keep saying "no" ... and turn your head like that ... yes, put your hands out more ... really get into the form. At this point, Hot Seat has a new object: her form of no. No Takes a Form and becomes an object you can take to the Joy Point. Clip: http://www.ci.new-bedford.ma.us/ PSAFETY/POLICE/sayno.htm
Tue, 4 Jul 2006 Clients Ed, I have found this good quote at http://www.turtletrader.com/cta.html : Clients seldom understand. Managing money for clients is hard. Clients usually don't understand Trend Following and will often panic and pull out just before a big move that could make them a lot of money. Clients are impatient. They often put money with a manager at the wrong time and just as often take it away at the wrong time. Clients may request an initial system adjustment. They want Trend Following changed in order for them to invest their money in the first place. The manager is then faced with a difficult decision: take the client money and make money through management fees (which can be very lucrative) or trade as originally designed. Obviously, trading a trend following system as originally designed is the optimal path in the long run. More Client money doesn’t mean more success. Trying to trade millions upon millions of dollars for clients is hard to do. Trend Followers always had their best returns managing less money. I think that the average investor, including myself, out of hunch, cannot feel comfortable or tolerate more than around 30% drawdown. So, I work with my system and money management to keep the probable drawdown around this figure. I also feel that this ultimately limits the potential for higher returns and that there are no secrets to improve the equity curve volatility and risk/reward ratio other than good diversification, market selection and sound money management. My system converges towards a mix of personal preferences within my current possibilities, such as the markets I can and like to trade, the technique I like to use, my long-term intentions with regard to risk, reward and reliability. It sounds very simple. By the way, as I have already said before, I think this is what TTP has the best to offer: clarity. Thanks for the support. I also wait for the next opportunity "window" to tell the girl I flirt with I wish to date her. I feel that "celebrating" the knot about sharing feelings to women is much difficult and overwhelming than doing it for real. Although I am very busy with other commitments I also decided to undertake Visual C++ as a casual hobby.	OK. I am transporting my software from C++ to C#.
Tue, 4 Jul 2006 Step by Step I write a testing engine that replicate exactly the results in TSP section. It can also make tests at a portfolio level, so I wait to compare them with TSP. In the meantime, I wonder if you can clarify the value of the optimization process. TSP is the motivation to study more. Thanks a lot. I plan to follow all the steps to became an Associate and give something to the community finally: the limit I feel is to live in Europe and with no people around to share the path.	The optimization process helps you find the parameter set that gives you the historical simulation with the highest ratio of compounding profit / largest percent drawdown. If you want to connect with people of like mind, you might consider attending the London Workshop
Mon, 3 Jul 2006 Dealing With His Anger Ed, I just finished reading the book. Thank you for writing it. Recently, a friend gets angry with me. Normally I can't stand people getting angry with me and go into a defensive funky mood. This time, I hear his anger, cherish it and even tell him his feelings are important to me. He cools down right away and I feel much better about it. He tells me what irritates him is my jabbing at him and I get it and I let him know that I know I do it and I promise to work on it.	Thank you for sharing your process. If you have trouble keeping your promise, you might notice whatever feeling comes up while you are trying not to break it - and take that feeling to the hot seat. Starting to Get Close and then jabbing your partner is a good way to excite his anger and may indicate you have some k-nots about getting close. http://www.avant_derniere.blogger.com.br/ jab%20martin%20cooper.jpg
Mon, 3 Jul 2006 Swedish Tribe Here is the documentation of the Swedish Tribe. Best regards,	Welcome Stockholm Sweden !
Mon, 3 Jul 2006 Love Doesn't Pay see FAQ July 1, 2006, Hard to Get Ed Says: Playing Hard To Get still requires some one else in the game. Yes. I guess I offer plenty of opportunity for the "some one else" and I myself play out our own love dramas. There is an obscure facet of myself that has a deep disbelief about (romantic) love, as if "love doesn't pay."	OK. If Love Doesn't Pay you might consider collecting up front. Clip: http://forums.autoweek.com/ servlet/JiveServlet/download/ 14-15186-323525-8048/hooker.jpg
Mon, 3 Jul 2006 Drama Diary K-note Book I find that sometimes my suppressed feelings don’t hang around long enough for me to register what they are. This can be a problem when looking for K-nots to work on. A bit like your guy in the restaurant who doesn’t let him self feel anger and has his bread roll stolen (Boy would I be angry at that!). He might not feel that anger is his K-not as it only pops in to his head for a second before he suppresses it and remains passive to the invasion. He might feel he doesn’t have a problem with anger, as he isn’t an angry kind of a guy. During a typical day I feel lots of emotions and some I allow myself to feel and some I don’t. Because it’s the ones that only pop up quickly and are buried that cause the dramas long term I feel I need to find a way of tracking these feelings down. I introduce a drama diary! It’s a little note book (or K-note book if you like) I carry it around and in it I write down the fleeting feelings that I quickly bury, I do it as soon after they occur as I can - as often these feelings pop up so briefly before I send them back to the pump unfelt that when I come to work on myself I can’t remember what they were. After one weekend of keeping the diary a clear trend becomes clear. I bury my feeling of frustration and impatience. It is evident when I am in traffic and I get a pang in my stomach and clench my teeth together. When the check out queue in the supermarket is longer than I’d hoped. When I hear how people I went to school with are doing in their career compared to me. When I see guys my age driving cars I like but can’t afford. I wave away these feeling so quickly with logical explanations to the onlooker I might not seem to be the least bit frustrated but that seems to be the emotion I bury deepest. I see this manifests itself in my over-large positions as I rush to catch up to where I feel I ought to be. I trade too frequently in an attempt to speed up my journey to great wealth and get frustrated at the smallest loss on the way which often result in cancelled stops, averaged losers and trading against the trend. My commitment now is to embrace my frustration, clench my teeth till my jaw muscles hurt and feel that sinking feeling in my stomach and shortness of breath and turn my frustration in to a new ally that will keep me from being complacent about being successful, keep me hungry to work and to learn and help me reach my goals. Thanks for your help in my finding my buried feelings and converting them from saboteurs to allies.	Thank you for sharing your process. You seem to have an excellent grasp of the theory of TTP and seem innovative in its application. In Incline Village, during our Snapshot Process, feelings usually come up during our presentations of evidence of keeping our commitments. We log these on the spot for the Tribe meeting that follows. Some of us also keep a feelings log, similar to yours, that associates with any activity in which we detect drama. I don't see any mention of you taking your issues to the hot seat. I assume you are not yet a Tribe member. The difference between trying to deal with issues on your own and dealing with them in a tribe is like the difference between sex manual and sex. Reading About It and thinking about it are not the same as doing it. Clip: http://www.jlynstudio.com/ Nude_With_Book_op_800x600.jpg
Mon, 03 Jul 2006 Cannot Be Present at the Open - 2 see Cannot, FAQ 29 Jun, 2006 Hi Ed, Thanks for your response, it is spot on and makes me think hard about my priorities and what is really important to me: right livelihood. I tend to over-commit to numerous events time and again and have difficulties with being upfront and turning down less important events even when I know I cannot participate. Saying NO does not come easy to me, probably a result of my intention to come across as Mr. Nice. The market has recently served up a hefty fine for this weakness. Regarding my attendance at the open of the workshop I have wiggled out of my professional commitments, to my surprise much easier than I expected, simple honesty and reasoning works! I am now working on my travel arrangements and I confirm that I will be present at the open. Regards,	Thank you for sharing your process. You are, evidently, already present and taking on the work of the Tribe. *What do you mean, you think you do?* Commitment allows the members of a team to go ahead and make commitments knowing that all the other parties are sure to deliver on their promises. Clip: http://empoweringmessages.com/ cartoons/ThePowerofCommitment.shtml
Sun, 2 Jul 2006 Reporting - 4 see Reporting - 3, below Ed, Thank you for your help. My wife is an excellent receiver, and I chose not to include feelings that e-mail. All the best to you and yours,	OK.
Sun, 2 Jul 2006 Associates Program Suggestion. Dear Ed, My suggestion about the Associates Program is that we follow a proven "back tested" business plan, set up one fund and make a real commitment like these guys ... http://www.jwh.com/ http://www.clicklive.com/NYMEX/ symposium_2003/rzepczynski.htm We just use our own trading system. Well ... that is my snapshot anyway. Sincerely,	Thank you for your excellent suggestion. The Associates Program is an incubator - an extension of the Trading System Project (TSP) - a support vehicle for traders who want to move forward on the track to managing an actual fund. For these individual traders, I feel your suggestion is appropriate, to the point, right on target. I am unable to locate an exact back-test for the overall Trading Tribe, TTP or even The Associates Program as they are all, by design, innovative and evolutionary. The Pioneer's Reward is sometimes a tail full of arrows and sometimes some pie-in-the-ear. Clip: http://www.greerarizona.com/ images/pioneers.jpg
Sun, 2 Jul 2006 Reporting - 3 see Reporting - 2, below I just had a nice hot seat about your tattletale response. I look to be apart of a group that has exceptionally high integrity, and when I see this type of trader associated with you, I don’t see exceptionally high integrity. I learn.	Hmmm ... I wonder how you able to convene a Tribe during a holiday weekend, get on the hot seat, deal with an issue and then report about it without mentioning any of your feelings or about getting to the Joy Point, all in about an hour. - - - -- Many people like to claim some or another type of association with me. To view the qualifications for becoming a TT Associate, see the link above. Believing all claims that people make is consistent with poor risk control, perhaps having anger in a k-not. Gullibility associates with poor boundary management and indicates anger k-nots. Clip: http://www.offthemarkcartoons.com/ cartoons/1999-11-22.gif
Sun, 2 Jul 2006 Reporting - 2 re: Reporting, below You give the same answers over and over again. You attach a picture to my last post with the words “You’re a tattletale.” It seems to be written by a child. You might want to add “neener, neener, neener”, as to make the response complete.	If you wish to complete the item, you might (1) explain the importance to you of my seeing this trader (2) voice your concern directly to the trader (3) take your concerns to the hot seat. The Neener Corner Per your request, here are three neeners: 1. Neener: an interjection typically intending to taunt, ridicule, or boast. No thanks to you, but I was able to score the last tickets to the show tonight, and you're not going with me, so neener! 2. Neener: Southeastern slang - a noun describing a 9-mm handgun. Yo, flash that neener and peel a cap on them fools! 3. Neener: a nickname for Jeannine. Hi Neener!
Sun, 2 Jul 2006 Swearing Hi Ed, A favorite saying I have is: The past is history, the future's a mystery, now is a gift, that's why they call it the present. I am always a now kind of person. It takes me a while to dust off the files and access the past. I now remember my mother chewing out my dad about his language after he is hanging out with some of the guys in the neighborhood. He stops swearing in the house and around the family. I never swear. I have more of a propensity now I am noticing. I don't think I like the restriction on even myself any longer. So, I am in another h---of a mess. D--- it! I am not being facetious here, I mean that. I decide a number of months ago to quit telling jab-jokes. I do not succeed entirely yet, but I am much more aware. I am sure this satire is veiled anger, but CM is talking, not Fred.	Thank you for sharing your process. We do not access the non-existing past. We access memories of the past. You might consider taking your feelings about language to the hot seat. George Carlin (1937 - ) George Carlin is a stand-up comedian, actor and author, famous for his irreverent attitude and his observations about and use of profane language. Many consider him to be a successor to the late Lenny Bruce and one of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time. Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck. Carlin's Routine: Seven Dirty Words: http://www.erenkrantz.com/Humor/ SevenDirtyWords.shtml Clip: http://www.comedy-zone.net/images/ people/comedians/carlin-george.jpg
Sun, 2 Jul 2006 Reporting on Another Trader I know this tribe member. He has a relatively poor trading system, and since no one in the Tribe is allowed to talk about trading systems he thinks it’ll all work out because his intention is to make money and get wealthy. So he begins trading this poor system with his and other peoples money and begins to lose slowly. Over time he creates a losing track record and he sticks with this losing system (because following the system is so important); he thinks the system could be a winner if only (fill in the blank – more money, bad timing etc … ). He can’t go anywhere to talk about his trading system, his tribe doesn’t allow it and he doesn’t trust strangers, so he just continues trading. Here’s the kicker. If his track record gets bad enough, he’ll just close the fund and open a new one … Yikes. I think it’s important you see some of the people who call you mentor, maybe you’re too busy to see it yourself.	I do not understand the importance to you of my seeing this trader - nor do I understand the intention of inhibiting talk about trading systems. If you have concerns about another trader or about the management of a particular Tribe, you might consider voicing your concerns to the other parties directly. You might also consider taking your concerns to the hot seat. To Stop a Tattle Tale ask him to talk directly to his target. Clip: http://robertmunsch.com/ somethingspecial.cfmbookid=122
Sun, 2 Jul 2006 Weeding I have feelings of confusion and sadness that I take to the hot seat. You have not completed the TSP section of the website. I speak with fellow traders who are using TSP to create a trading system. Now you begin a trading tribe associates program, and you say one of the requirements to be a member of this is to have a fully back tested trading program. Why don’t you finish the TSP section, which helps others create a system; then offer the associates program? One trader in particular I work with, he takes feelings of frustration to the hot seat, he waits patiently for TSP to continue its trend, but then he sees this new associates program and now takes feelings of anger to the hot seat. He looks to your website for direction, now, he looks no more. We lose another tribe member – and I wonder who weeded him out. I recommend you finish TSP before you continue the associates program.	FAQ does not answer why questions. See Ground Rules, above. TSP (The Trading System Project) is, at this point, a series of exercises to give system designers some examples against which they can test their software results to the penny. The Trading Tribe Associates Program is community of Traders, Investors and Support Personnel who commit to living with high integrity, high intensity, and excellence - who wish to generate high profits for each other and for themselves - and who wish to commit to a win-win, mutually supportive long-term relationship with the Trading Tribe. Some people who work through TSP may become TT Associates. Some TT Associates may work on projects appropriate for TSP. For more information on the TT Associates Program, see the link above. You might consider taking your feelings about weeding to the hot seat. Weeding Eliminating some of the brown helps promote more green. Clip: http://www.push-pull.net/how%20to6.htm
Sun, 2 Jul 2006 TTP For Couples Ed, I am trying to get my marriage to a place where my wife and I share our feelings with each other and listen to each others feelings. She says that she thinks that is a destructive way to have a relationship and she is not willing to do it that way. She is really upset because I have told her such things as, "I feel like I don't need a woman in my life," and "I feel like I do not need her to be happy." I am willing and intend to take these issues and feelings to my tribe. I just wonder if you have any suggestions on the topic.	Thank you for sharing your process. This is a very important topic for couples. A marriage is like a Tribe in that it can be a crucible in which to contain personal growth. A marriage may, however, not be a big enough crucible to contain itself melting. For example, if partner A attacks partner B, then partner B may be unable to continue receiving and the session turns into chaos. If you wish to conduct TTP in your marriage, you might consider appearing, with your wife, at a Tribe meeting and take turns on the hot seat. In your case, "like I don't need a woman in my life" is not a feeling. It is a threat and an attack. In a marriage, receiving usually strengthens the bond while trying to process manage without invitation may weaken it. A Graphite Crucible Contains Gold While It Melts A crucible cannot contain itself while it is melting Clip: http://www.search.com/reference/Crucible
Sun, 02 Jul 2006 Trading Tribe Book - Please Bubble Wrap It Dear Ed, I really enjoyed reading the TT book - I am thrilled by the idea of "letting it all out", rather than talking endlessly. I'd never heard about this before, so it does seem a little weird at first - but I like it. A trader friend had recommended your book to me and wanted to lend it to me; but I said, don't worry about it, I'll buy it right away. And here's a point of criticism that I have: do you think you could wrap the book in a layer of bubble-wrap before sending it out in a US mail envelope? It is so beautifully and tastefully made that it hurts to see it arrive with damaged corners. All the best,	Thank you for the suggestion. I like bubble wrap - especially stomping on the bubbles. Unwillingness to Allow Children to experience pain may put them at a disadvantage. Clip: http://www.theage.com.au/news/ education-news/cottonwool-kids-must-burst- bubble/2005/09/30/1127804656026.html
Sat, 1 Jul 2006 Liberation Hi Ed, I resist system trading. I trade a loose (one "o" away form "lose") system. I am now profitable, but experience drawdowns that I feel are unacceptably large. Years ago, I trade no system at all (other than my gut or the last book I read) and am barely profitable. On Friday, I go into a forward bend and feel a sense of panic, some part of me feeling stuck and fearing that I will run out of air. I feel this often in forward bend and usually just pull out of the pose. This time, although I want to get out of the pose / form as fast as I can, I know (thanks to TTP) that I must stay in it, to experience the feeling. So, I stay in the bend. Today, I see the connection between my resistance to system trading and my panic in forward bend. I fear feeling stuck. And, so, of course I feel stuck all the time. About a year ago, in response to an e-mail I sent you about sadness, you suggested that I take the feeling of being stuck to the hot seat. I am amazed by and grateful for your insight, and will again take the feeling of being stuck to the hot seat. Finally, I am moved by June 20 FAQ: Associates Program in Action My fear around being stuck in a system is somehow alleviated by reading this FAQ. I have a fear of being wrong, and in reading this exchange I find the author's freedom in admitting his mistake and your offer of support liberating. Thanks, Ed!	Thank you for sharing your process - for being willing to set others free. The More We Help To Set Others Free the more free we ourselves become. Clip: http://4umi.com/escher/Liberation.jpg
Sat, 1 Jul 2006 Hard To Get Ed Says: You might consider telling your friend your feelings - in this case, that you want to date her. That is a nice compliment for her. If sharing your feelings and / or talking to women does not come easy for you, you might consider joining or starting a Tribe. Talking my feelings to women does not only not come easy for me, it doesn't come at all, except for the ones who have found a way to my heart.	OK. Playing Hard To Get still requires some one else in the game. Clip: http://members.tripod.com/ CarolandKids/Playing_hard_to_get.jpg
Sat, 1 Jul 2006 Consistently Inconsistent Ed, Examining my life and the lives of others I see the most successful are just consistent. The best traders are dedicated every day, the best golfers play 18 holes great not just 13 or 14. I have flashes of brilliance and dedication whether it be in business, sports, diet, exercise or trading. Where I see the difference between great achievement and average achievement is the ability to stick to it during the drawdown or slow or boring times. How have you handle long drawdowns or times that you were not dedicated to your trading plan, exercise plan or diet. Any thoughts or suggestions?	Yes, a long-term winner usually has a good system and sticks to it. You might consider bringing this issue to your Tribe and / or looking into the TT Associate Program, above. Sticking To It is as important as having a good formula. Clip: http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/ sillymolecules/sticky.gif
Sat, 1 Jul 2006 Monthly Asset Report Hello Breathwork Support Team! As of July 1 AUM are about $1.15MM. Though the last couple of months in the market have been a bit tough performance-wise (down 3.8% net for May, and down about 1% in June), I am raising a bit more money each month. The strategy is working fine, it is just one of those times in the markets where my clients and I get to experience a drawdown for a little while. No biggie. I attended the MFA conference in Chicago in June and it was wonderful. I met lots of new people there including having several meetings with institutional allocators. I intend to attend more of these types of events and continue to raise the visibility of my firm. I am back on my fitness plan after slacking off for a while as I reported in my last missive. My body is responding to my actions accordingly. I commit to continue to report my assets under management to you, my Breathwork support team, on the first of each month until I reach $5 million under management. Thanks for your support!	OK.