[mister ed]

Great opportunity Aaron. Is it out of line for me to ask you to report back on your impressions etc.? Could be a great help to us all. And you could change your username to Jack Schwager!

[Flojomojo]

Hi Aaron,

If I met him, I'd be interested in how he sees his job changing with the increase in electronic trading. Also what does he think is a pit traders edge is in this changing market structure?

Have a great time in Chicago!

[Sledge]

I spoke with him last night via phone. It was a very nice intro conversation. He spent the majority of the conversation asking ME questions. i.e. How do I trade, what timeframes, how is my mental discipline etc.

We spoke about trading hours and how I tend to approach these markets, what currency pairs I favor. I balanced that with the part of the conversation that I am a retail trader and don't have to accumulate massive lots of position as he does, which I feel gives me an edge of my own. Granted the payout for him is much greater- but I don't have the capital behind me to aquire 500 lots of said instrument.

To answer a question from above. He was a pit trader but has now moved to his home office to trade. I hope to speak with him again about how he transitioned.. although I think that IMO- if he has been a pit trader, their has to be a subconscious part of him that when he sees price action transpire either by bars or ECN "ladder" I'm sure that he can actually "hear" the pit roaring in his mind and can almost transcend back to the pit mentally-- something folks like us that have never been pit traders will not have the benefit of.

He praised my ability to have a plan, sticking to the plan and also my statement of "I take what the market gives me" He noted that "I found personally that when I had an "opinion" of where price was to head next- I lost far more money, than just trading what is in front of me" Thus, this is a confirmation of the statement "Trade what you see- not what you think!"

Overall, for me personally it was an outstanding hour spent. I didn't dig deep into his trading strategies, or get to the real nitty gritty of things. I hoped to accomplish in the conversation that what I have laid out as a trading base- is indeed a viable and suitable approach. He saw no holes in my approach to the market- which was a good feeling.

He took my cell number and I'm sure he and I will be in touch again. He said that anytime I had questions- to give him a call. So this post may end with
To be continued........
Aaron

Originally Posted by Sledge »

To answer a question from above. He was a pit trader but has now moved to his home office to trade. I hope to speak with him again about how he transitioned.. although I think that IMO- if he has been a pit trader, their has to be a subconscious part of him that when he sees price action transpire either by bars or ECN "ladder" I'm sure that he can actually "hear" the pit roaring in his mind and can almost transcend back to the pit mentally-- something folks like us that have never been pit traders will not have the benefit of.

Yeah, that's what I was getting to with my "question from above"...

Really couldn't see him trading currencies on the floor still in this day and age, when it's so much easier doing it remotely. Next question would be whether his trading is still limited to currency futures at the CME, or does he also trade spot FX with institutional/bank desks, given his size?

-fs

[Sledge]

Originally Posted by forsearch »

Yeah, that's what I was getting to with my "question from above"...

Really couldn't see him trading currencies on the floor still in this day and age, when it's so much easier doing it remotely. Next question would be whether his trading is still limited to currency futures at the CME, or does he also trade spot FX with institutional/bank desks, given his size?

-fs

fs-
If I get the chance to ask, I'll weave it in there- because I think it would benefit not only your mind but mine and others here as well. I didn't want to scare him off by having a laundry list of questions to pelt him with on our first call. I can only hope that this will pan out to be a nice, casual, working relationship- instead of a one-shot-deal "interview" type relationship.
Aaron