nhallett

As with any balanced force… ying and yang… pleasure and pain… etc., it’s OPPORTUNITY and DANGER that confronts the trader in extremely volatile times. Since the purpose of a disciplined trader is to keep you mentally and emotionally strong in your trading, I thought I’d offer 4 ‘structural’ tips to stay focused to run your trading plan. “Structural” tips are things that you can do mechanically in your trading to better keep you on the side of calm, cool and collected, as opposed to “inner mind” tips that you should be engaged in all the time anyway… training your subconscious mind to hold the values of a disciplined trader. Knowing you must win the BATTLE WITHIN YOURSELF first, before you can win with the markets. OK, here are some structural tips from ME… a teacher and trader who has been trading for over 30 years and have navigated through 6 or 7 markets in that span as we are experiencing now. TIP 1 AND TIP 2 These two tips go together. Engage in fewer positions and widen your stops. Highly volatile markets have a great tendency to run through stops, intra-day, and then continue in the dominant direction. Witness the 280 point rally in the Dow off the bottom which occurred about 2/3rds into the trading day last week. Many ‘profit protection’ stops were triggered in that reactionary move, taking out (with short profits, likely) all those who entered the day short… only to see big money left on the table as them market made new lows into the close and traded 300 lower in the evening session. It’s tough to get back in once you’re out. If you had a smaller position, you could give these wildly volatile markets more breathing room and you’d still be in. The Big question is always, when is a reactionary move really the start of a reversal? That’s for you and your trading plan to decide. Have this answer in place before you enter the trade. You may want to consider a special “volatile situation” section of your trading plan to guide you through times like we are seeing currently. By taking on fewer positions, and widening your stops to let the market gyrate, has, for me, proven to be a good strategy. I stay in control. TIP 3 DECIDE: Faster profits or Bigger Profits? In highly volatile markets profits come (and go) quickly… sometimes within seconds. Also, volatile markets mostly result in big overall moves (big profit opportunities). I have found that if you trade to take advantage of both types of opportunities, you will not be successful. Why? Because trading for short term profits (intra-day) and trading for longer term profits (day to day in the case of highly volatile markets) rely on two different philosophies. You must choose. If you choose the quick-profit intra-day route, your greedy-mind may suggest that you ‘hold on’ just a bit longer to that ‘quick trade’ to take advantage of what you see a big wave down (or up) coming. That’s a mistake. Follow your plan… whichever it is… and don’t hop from one type of trading to another. TIP 4 If you have been trading for less than 3 years, consider standing aside. It took me 3 ‘high-volatile-market’ experiences over my first 15 years of trading to finally come to grips with the fact that ‘everything will be ok’ when it’s over. In the period we are in RIGHT NOW, in the equities markets, your mind can hop from strong snap-back ideas to the end of the modern world as we know it. Whatever the ‘grand’ picture is, it won’t happen overnight. You’ll have time to adjust to a catastrophe… that’s what the best traders do… they adjust. A new trader, OR someone who keeps making the beginner's mistakes over and over again and never learns, should consider standing aside and ‘watching the show’, from a non-emotional standpoint. What you will learn about human nature (demonstrated by those who have money at risk) will serve you greatly when the next highly volatile situation occurs… and you’ll know ‘this, too, shall pass’ and you’ll enter with greater control. Standing aside IS taking a position… a neutral one… and often that’s the best place to be for a less experienced trader. Finally, just remember the key is to always exercise mental discipline when applying these structural tips. A successful trader is in control of his/her emotions at all times and is not controlled by fear. Know that the market is a math game. It's an exercise in probability and statistics and you must keep the odds on your side, even if, from time to time, it hurts. Norma Hallett can be contacted at The Disciplined Trader

Any experienced trader will tell you that being successful is, in large part, a matter of overcoming all the hurdles that get in your way. Now there are two basic types of hurdles: the physical ones and the mental ones… and actually some- times they get intertwined. Let's look at a few of them: ** A big thunderstorm causes an electrical surge or outage. You're in the middle of a trade, and you're scrambling around groping for your cell phone so that you can call the floor directly and have them be your eyes and ears. That's stress, man. ** You've got your eyes peeled on the charts, waiting for the signal so you can pull the trigger. A phone call comes in about something other than the trade you are concentrating on. You know you can't talk, but you don't want to be rude. Well, being polite just may cost you. Trade missed. You've waited all morning for everything to fall into place and you missed it. You're angry. ** Today's a good day. Your primary trade is going well. You're getting close to your target but the RSI seems nowhere near a peak. You don't want to take the profit quite yet even though you're right on top of your price target. Hey, let's let it ride a little and we'll just trail it with a stop. Surprise news and “el dropo” and the market blows through your stop. You feel like a jerk. As you know, I could go on forever. So, what's my point? Distractions to following your system come from outside (lightning and phone calls) and inside (your “feelings” about what could happen). It's your job to MAKE THE COMMITMENT to follow your tested trading system. You've got to be deadly serious about it. Get caller ID so that you take only the calls that you HAVE TO take. Have a contingency plan when the lights go out. Note: I knew a trader that held to the concept of “mental stops”. He was lucky for a while, but when a power outage hit in his part of New York City, he couldn't get through to the floor. The lights went back on in about 15 minutes but by that time he had lost a bundle. His “mental stop” turned to “mental anguish”. After that, he put his stops in… but just for a week and he was back to his old habits. He doesn't trade anymore. The sad part is that the guy had talent. Trading is a business. Treat it like one. You've worked hard to arrive at a system that you can trust… well then, do everything in your power to stay focused on the ONE TASK of following that system to the tee. To do otherwise is to be out of control. Maintain your Focus. Maintain your Discipline. At all times. My best, Norman Hallett

If you're a new trader, you've got to pay your dues. Seasoned traders know this and that's why we love you so much. Look at your charts, mimic the experts, and buy those expensive trade-recommendation newsletters. Dream your dreams. But PLEASE just keep trading, because as you trade, we'll be on the other side, putting your cash into our pockets. I'm not kidding. So the thing is, you don't want to stay a “new trader” for long. What is a “new trader”? A new trader, the way I refer to it here, is either someone who has just begun trading and has yet to make the mistakes of a beginner, OR someone who keep making the beginner's mistakes over and over again and never learns. Most traders that I've come across over my 22 years as a trader and CTA(3 years as a “new trader” and 19 years as a “seasoned trader”) never got out of the “new trader” category. It's hard to transcend. To some, it's impossible and they wind up walking away blaming the “volatility” or the “institutional traders” for their failure. OK, here's the key to taking the leap from newbee to successful trader: Your mental discipline. The fact is, the beginner who's done his/her homework before trading is (largely) using the same indicators and techniques that the successful trader is using. The difference is that the successful trader is in control. The “new trader” is not. The beginner is controlled by emotions and fears and has not learned… I mean REALLY learned… that trading the market is a math game. It's an exercise in probability and statistics and you must keep the odds on your side, even if, from time to time, it hurts. If you've back-tested your system properly… if you've followed your guru's past recommendations carefully… and you're ready to start trading…then you have one job and that is to follow your system like the IceMan. If, over your chosen period of time, the system is not working, then change the system. Never change your commitment to following your system to the letter once you've decided to trade it. All this is MUCH easier said than done. Fears and emotions can easily overtake you. We're humans, not machines. You must TRAIN your mind to be disciplined. That's what seasoned traders do. They train their minds because they know that habit patterns are simply neuro-pathways that are etched into your brain and when one identifies a poor trading habit (and you know who you are) all that needs be done is to train your mind to create a new neuro-pathway to replace the old one. It's science, man, just science. Good trading system and the mental strength to commit to and execute the signals that system gives you is the way of the seasoned trader. Most seasoned traders won't admit it. Why? Yum, yum! My best, Norman Hallett

Believe it or not, it's true what they say … visualizing your future the way you want it, is much more likely to make that future a reality. I'm a “doubter” by nature and this notion of visualizing didn't really make much sense to me when I heard about it the first hundred times. I mean, come on! Sit in a quiet place and wish and hope and pray and all your dreams will come true? I think not. That's what my mathematician brain told me (University of Cincinnati, 1973, BA Mathematics). Then I met a subconscious trainer (whom I later married), who sat me down and stated, “Thoughts are things.” OK, what kind of things? I've seen Kreskin and other guys bending spoons with their thoughts… it that what she means? Rather than give you the entire exchange of words (I don't know that I remember all of them, as I was falling in love while I was listening), I'll give you the capsule. According to her, there is this stream of consciousness somewhere up there that if you plug into, and by directing your thoughts, you can harness this consciousness somehow to get what you want (as long as what you want is positive… you can't wish someone a losing trade!). This combined with the notion that time, as we know it, is not linear, we can affect the future from the present through this universal consciousness. That's all I'll say about that. Excuse me while I hug a tree. I'm back. I don't know that I understand all of this, let alone believe it, but I'll tell you one thing I DO KNOW… If you get your brain into an alpha brain wave state and you tell yourself (of have someone else suggest to you) what you'd like to happen in the future, say, the picture of you as a successful trader… you will head in the direction of that picture you've created in your head. At least that's what happened to me, and just about every successful trader I know. There are different ways to visualize. During a quiet time (I know you can't imagine any quiet time.. so start while seated in the bathroom), just see yourself living the Life of Riley (am I showing my age) and having people around you recognize you as that successful trader that everybody is talking about. You can move up the effectiveness ladder (get off the pot?) as you get used to the notion of visualization and get more and more affective with your thinking, but the idea is to get started. Once you start creating pictures of the money-bulging-pocketed- successful-trader-you, you will actually become less likely to allow your emotions to lead you to trading mistakes… because “doing the wrong thing”, like pulling your stops when the market comes close, or not taking your profit when your system tells you to, becomes inconsistent with your picture of who you are. Eventually, if you keep up your visualizations, you become that picture. Now THAT makes sense! My best, Norman Hallett

What would you rather have the perfect trading system or the perfect soul-mate? Don't answer that out loud! I would venture to say that most traders are so “into” their trading that they would hesitate when pondering that question. By the way, the answer is the perfect soul-mate. That's because there is no perfect trading system. The perfect trading system is the right system for you. Let's assess. Are you the Impatient Type? Let me stress here that by impatient, I mean that you don't like the notion of waiting more than, say, a day, to see your trade results. You use logic like “I don't like to stay in a trade overnight, because that's where the risk is… anything can happen in these crazy times.” Or.. “My signals are just as valid with a 60 second chart as they are with a weekly chart and I'd rather be able to keep adjusting.” These things that you say to yourself (valid or not) come from your inner-self trying to move you to comfort. Are you the Position-Trade Type? You say, “The market can be controlled short-term, but eventually the fundamentals come home to roost.” Or..”I'm not looking to eat up my capital in transactional costs. As far as I'm concerned, the trend is your friend and I'll stick with a trade.” Are you the Where The Action Is Type? You tend to think, “A signal is a signal, whether it's on a 2-minute chart or a monthly. When my signal sets up, I GO!” You add, “Sometimes I don't even know which commodity I'm looking at. That really doesn't matter to me. I just care about the technical pattern.” I won't bore you with more types, because they are unlimited. In my coaching of traders for years, these above types were the predominant ones. There is no right and wrong type. There is only assessing which type you are comfortable with perceiving yourself as and then committing to a trading system that reflects that type. There are plenty of winning trading system, of all types, that can be very successful. The best way to have a good system work for you is if you can follow it's signals without hesitation. You are more likely to follow your trading signals if the system “agrees with you.” Now look inside yourself. Then commit to following what your tested system tells you to do! You must win the BATTLE WITHIN YOURSELF first, before you can win with the markets. My best, Norman Hallett

It's why we all signed up for the battle against the markets. In the beginning, we read an article or saw a sales leaflet about a guy who took his last few dollars and parlayed it into millions in the futures markets. It usually involved a simple secret that when revealed to you (for a few hundred dollars), you could have the same success. Most of the time, we would chuck the article/leaflet into the trash as garbage, but at some low ebb in our psyche, the article read like the answer to our prayers. Most of us joined the fray for the “big hit”. Whether we 1-2-3-counted with Ken Roberts, waved with Prechter, or seasoned with Bernstein, we all soon realized that if we were going to stay in the game, we needed something more than desire and a dream… we needed a back-tested system that we could have confidence in. We realized that we needed to take our emotions out of trading and look at trading like a professional… like a job. That doesn't mean we can't have fun, because winning traders enjoy their jobs like no others. So, we either adopted a guru, inspected his archives of trades (that's back-testing, right?) and watched him/her live for a while before jumping in, or we bought software to test a system we thought could work. Our system in hand, we saddle up to the computer. We have stops to defend against losing too much in one trade and we have limits to make sure we take our profits when our system tells us to. After a mix of trades over the first few weeks, we hit on a big one. The news confirms that we are geniuses and we are quickly heading to our profit target. In fact, we're just ticks away. Hey, this heat wave is bigger than anyone expected. There's no way beans are not going to the teens! “I'll lift my limit and keep my eye on it.” Market closes a 5 cents above the (former)profit target. “I'm getting good at this. I'm really developing a market 'sense'.” You decide you'll put a stop right at your (former) profit target, so that if the market backs off, you'll take your profit where you were going to anyway. (OK, reader, you know what's coming). Rain in the plains overnight. Soybeans open 26 lower. Stopped out. Your genius turned a nice winner into a nice loser. What happened? The same thing that happened when you read that original ad that got you involved in all of this… You let your emotions take over. If you're still trading after a few years, it either means you have very deep pockets or you've learned to control your emotions and take every profit your system tells you to. You're going to need them to overcome all the losses… and become the winner you know you can be. My best, Norman Hallett

Sounds like you're living proof of a successful and disciplined trader! Thanks for the feedback!

You've done your homework. Countless hours of seeking out the right guru (or piecing together your own system). Weeks of monitoring your guru's daily trade picks (or paper-trading and back-testing your homemade system). You've done it by the book. No seat of the pants trading for you! OK, now you're confident. It's time to put your money where your homework is. You've had your coffee and your first trade signal is before you. Confidence high. Trade made. First loss. Not a problem. You understood before you started that successful traders both win and lose and “losing is part of the overall winning”. You've also heard more then once that “successful traders don't win on every trade.” Moving on, still confident. Next trade made. Another loss, but this one hurt your pride a little because you got stopped out early in the trade, and then the market rebounded and would have hit your profit target if you weren't stopped out. You double check. Yep, you placed the stop where your trading system told you to place it. You kind of had a feeling that the early weakness in the market was just profit-taking from the previous day's trading, but you're trading a system and you must stick to it. Wounded, but resilient. After a good night's sleep and a few mouse clicks, your new daily trades are in front of you. Hey, this one looks good! It's a little bit more risk than yesterday's trades had, but look at that profit potential! With a smiling face, the trade is executed. With a nice start to the trade, you're feeling good and you've moved your stop to breakeven, just like your system said. Surprise piece of news - market reverses - blows through your stop - an “unexpected” loss. Is something wrong with the system? Has the overall market “personality” changed, affecting your system to the Core, rendering all your back-testing irrelevant? Your confidence turns to doubt. You decide to “watch” the next trade… I mean, isn't it wise to make sure the system gets back on track before you “throw good money after bad?” Isn't that what a conservative trader does? Trade watched. It wins! In your head, you beat yourself up a little because you know that when you started your “live” trading, you made an agreement with yourself to take the first 10 trades “no matter what”… and here you wimped-out and missed a big winner that would have gotten you even. What's happening?!! What's happening is that you are out of control. Your emotions are ruling your trading. The above scenario plays out in every trader from time to time.. newbee and veteran alike. The winning trader senses what is happening and nips it in the bud. The winning trader spend time EVERY DAY, working on “the discipline of trading”. Reads a chapter in his favorite psychological trading book, scans the “ten commandments of trading” that hangs on the wall over his/her desk, listens to his/her mental training software for futures traders… Something… Every Day… before trading begins. There are many more losing traders than winning traders… and it's seldom about the trading system. In my career, I've come across at least 50 systems that I consider A+, yet I know for a fact that MOST traders that have traded on these systems have lost. Why? They were not in control of their emotions. Are you? My best, Norman Hallett

"Paper trading can be super beneficial to work out the foundation of your trading system, however once making the switch to live trading and those new level of challenges come into play it becomes a whole new game." I definitely agree with you! You can do everything correctly during paper trading, but it's a whole new challenge once you start trading with your hard earned money.

It occupies a chapter in just about every trading book ever written. It's been preached by every lecturing market guru since the Aden Sisters danced to the music of the gold market. Go ahead and hire a personal trading coach and likely the second thing he or she will utter will be these chosen words (right after “Futures trading is speculative and only risk capital should be used.”)… and those words are, “Limit your losses and let your winners run”. OK. We've been told. But you didn't have to tell us. It makes perfect sense. “On a roll”… “Go with the flow”… “Ride the wave”… “Get out while the getting's good”… we've heard both sides of those golden words massaged in numerous different phrases. We get it. During my trading and coaching days, I would re-visit students that I trained weeks or months previously and low and behold I would discover that many of them were actually doing the opposite... letting their losses run and limiting their gains. After a while I wasn't surprised… I would go into a refresher visit EXPECTING to see “limit/run rule” repeatedly ignored. I would ask the students “Why?”... There were many different stories but one main theme… all the traders, in some way, had gotten out of emotional control. During their trainings, I had made sure that they did extensive back-testing on their systems and I did that because I knew that the more they tested and saw that their system would have been successful, the more they would TRUST in the system and have the strength the follow its signals, especially through rough periods. Apparently simply back-testing and seeing “would-have-been” results wasn't enough to keep these traders in emotional control. What I had been missing was that these traders were taking the losing PERSONALLY! These new traders had been seeing losing trades as reasons to let negative thoughts into their heads. A loss would mean that all the articles they read about “gambling” futures traders may be true. All the family accusations that they were crazy futures traders … well, that could have some merit! This kind of negative thinking (as well as other forms of futures-related negative thinking) makes it so you don't want to take a loss. If you take a loss, maybe your that much closer to that idiot futures trader that you've been accused of. So you enter a trade (after, say, coming off a losing trade)and it starts to go south. As the market heads for your stop, you start looking around at the news, or a chart of a “sister” commodity that's showing strength, searching for an excuse to make it OK to lift your stop. Found it. “Hello… Cancel Bean Ticket 4154.” Stop Canceled. If the market comes back, you'll be the smart guy or gal that made the right move and turned a loser into a winner. What you really just did, however, is turn a potential winner into a potential loser.. YOU. You may have had a winning trade, but you will lose in the end. It's not about YOU. It's about THE MARKET. If you don't take your emotions out of it, you don't have a shot. You must see yourself as a trader not someone who is becoming a trader. There's very little room for mistakes in your trading. Leverage makes sure of that. If you are going to play in the Big League, you have to do act and do what the Big Leaguers do… right from the beginning. Do all you practicing on the paper-trading playing field. Once you put your money up, you either do what your tested system tell you to do or pick a different profession. If you're not training mentally, you're not giving yourself the best chance laughing in the face of your relatives! My best, Norman Hallett Subconscious Training Corporation

There are only a handful of people who give a darn about supplying traders with a way to be more disciplined and focused in their trading. I'm one of them, so I think I know why there are so few of us. Heck, I'm in the business of supplying traders with a tool to help improve the mental side of the trading equation… the “human” element. With (what I think) is such an important service, why am I out here virtually alone? A couple of reasons. First, although most traders will admit that the mental part of trading is key to winning in the long-term, most believe they can “gut it up” and just “shake it off” when negative emotions and behaviors rear their ugly heads. They don't need a shrink. They know what they need to do and by-cracky, they'll do what needs to be done without any help! I call this the Macho Syndrome. So, I get resistance from those that need it most, the emotionally out-of-control trader. Second, a common mindset is that the primary key to being a successful trader is hooking your wagon to a guru or trading system and then following that system to riches. The problem is that all (even great) trading systems experience draw-downs and you wind up blaming the system for losing rather than doing what is painful for some… blaming yourself (for not having the courage to trade through adversity)! So here I am, preaching pain. “It's not your system, it's you!” To the trader with low self-confidence, those words can cut like a knife. “How about paying more attention to the mental/emotional part of trading?” To the trader with low self-esteem, I'd be accusing him/her of having something wrong with him/her. Being the Shepard of the mental/emotional aspect of trading is not an easy job. But it's rewarding. For those who start paying REAL ATTENTION to the mental part of trading, results can improve rapidly. They start saying, “How can I improve as a trader? “How can I make sure that the only variable to losing and winning is my system and not me?” When was the last time you asked yourself these important questions? It's not all about changing your system; tweek, tweek, tweek. My guess is that it's about changing YOU. So, for me, I love what I do. Can anybody hear me? My best, Norman Hallett

HAVING A SUCCESSFUL TRADING PLAN is STEP ONE to becoming a consistently successful trader, AND… it is actually the simplest part to accomplish. The tough part, for the vast majority of traders, is to control your emotions enough to run your tested trading plan without DOUBTING IT MID-STREAM. NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT… I’ve recently developed a concept called “Flashpoint!”™. The Flashpoint! for a trader is the moment in time where a trader makes the decision to either follow his/her trading plan command (good) or make an excuse not to (bad). In essence, all a trader does is make decisions at Flashpoints! … the plan gives you a signal, you take it (or not). Then after, say, taking the signal, a stop must be placed at a specific place according to plan.. another Flashpoint! A successful trader follows his or her plan without fail, where every Flashpoint! results in a decision to follow the plan… without hesitation. For most traders (every trader?).. this is a learned ability. Miriam Webster defines ‘flashpoint’ as… “a point at which someone or something bursts suddenly into action or being” WOW.. that’s perfect for a trader! OK… now I have a question for you…. “What Stops YOU From Making the RIGHT Decision Every Time (the decision to follow your trading plan)..when you reach a Flashpoint! ? I know that MOST of the time you may make the right Flashpoint decisions. But WHEN YOU DON’T.. what’s the reason? You see, your answer is VERY important. The market is not a forgiving environment.. and all it takes is one bad decision to ruin your trading results, and in extreme cases, even wipe out your account. Please dig deep and share your thought below.

You read about the Gurus of trading. There’s a group of them that started with their last few dollars and ran it up to millions because of a simple strategy they can teach you. There’s another group of Gurus that claim hard work, long study and signing up for their newsletter will lead you to where you want to go. All Gurus want you to “learn from their mistakes.” They ask, “Why should you make all the mistakes I’ve made, when you can benefit from my experiences?” Now being somewhat of a Guru myself, I think there IS a certain truth to this query, but not the way you probably think. Other trader’s experiences can make you aware of what to expect as you embark upon your trading. Knowing what to expect should translate into having less “blindside” occurrences. However, when you come across the forewarned learning experience, emotions will come up. These emotional situations (fear, overconfidence, freezing) are up to YOU to handle. Here, if you’re going to be a successful trader, is where the learning takes place… in dealing with your emotions so that you can follow your trading plan. If you blow the situation, your supposed learn from it and go on. And learn from it, you must... or even the best trading system won’t save you from doom. Your Mental Toughness is going to be the key to whether you make it or break it as a trader. I know of two MAJOR things that you can do to develop your Mental Toughness for trading. The first is to keep a journal. I know that sounds like work, and who wants more paperwork at the end of the trading day? However, soon after you force yourself to start writing down your day’s trading experiences; you will see the power of the technique. It becomes the place where you will be honest with yourself. You’ll find after just a week or so of keeping a journal of your trading experiences, mistakes and all… especially mistakes… that when you are confronted with a trading situation that you blew before… in the back of your head you’ll know that if you do the same stupid thing again you’re going to have to report it to yourself…in your journal and… THAT will give you the strength to “do the right thing.” That’s the power of keeping a journal. Whether you just buy a spiral notebook (like I do) and start writing, or you make it a religious experience and buy something leather-bound… You will find that the discipline of keeping a journal, is a practice that will flat-out make you a better trader. The other way to get Mentally Tough is to train your mind with as much intention as exhibit when you test and run your trading system. There are a few psychologists I’ve bumped into over the years that seem to have enough of a handle on what training is … so they may be qualified to help a trader. But I prefer the process of literally programming the mind for discipline and focus, via putting the mind in an alpha brainwave state and then submitting the right suggestions to it. If you were to learn the simple rudiments of self-hypnosis, that, in my opinion, would be a great way to go. This way you could tell yourself exactly what you wanted! This is what Tiger Woods does for his golf game. Why not do something similar with your trading? Mental Toughness is my business. Make it part of yours. Keep a journal. Feed your mind. BIO: Norman Hallett is the co-founder and CEO of Subconscious Training Corporation (STC), headquartered in Parkland, Florida. STC develops state-of-the-art mental training programs, including The Disciplined Trader Intensive Program. Over his career, Mr. Hallett has developed numerous successful startup companies, including the investment firm of Hallett Commodities, Inc., and the Introducing Broker operation, NCH Commodities, Inc. Mr. Hallett holds a BA in Mathematics from the University of Cincinnati. His fascination with the investment industry lead him to grow several firms in his 21 year career in the financial arena. His high-profile style resulted in him being a frequent guest of the Financial News Network and culminated in his popular radio talk show, "Risky Business", which had a strong 5 year run.