Q01.    Can you define all the indicators on your charts and how to use them?

Q02.    Do you use exclusively the charts in your own trading, or do you use other methods, too?

Q03.    What timeframes do you use in your trading?

Q04.    I heard that the Market Profile ® does not/never did work / is impossible to use / is out of date / is the Holy Grail of trading...is that true?

Q05.    Do you give specific trade setups?

Q06.    How can you follow so many markets so thoroughly?

Q07.    Can I actually make money off of the information you provide?

Q08.    Can I trade part-time and still make a living?

Q09.    I am new to this stuff and pretty intimidated by all those letter-things on the chart - can you go into a lot more detail about the Market Profile ® and how it is created?

Q10.    Can you recommend a good broker?

Q11.    What kind of broker should I use, a real live human being, or an electronic order interface?

Q12.    What data feed and software programs do you use?

Q13.    What is your view on the current state of the futures industry and where it is leading - is there still a chance for the little guy?

Q14.    Should I buy some expensive software or something to help me trade better?

Q15.    Why didn't you just buy some expensive software instead of creating these charts?

Q16.    What technical specifications do I need to be able to use your service, as I am not too computer-savvy?

Q17.    I am interested in buying some of your charts for some historical contracts...do you offer any old chartbooks or anything?

Q18.    Have you written a book or any articles for any trading magazines, and if so, what is the name of it, or what issue and date is it/are they in?

Q19.    If you are such a great trader, then why do you need to sell these services?

Q20.    Who designated YOU expert on this stuff?

Q21.    How long have you been trading?

Q22.    What is your trading background?

Q23.    Are you hiring?

Q24.    I don't care for your website design...why doesn't it look like all the other financial sites I have seen?

Q25.    Your services seem much too cheap for all the information you are providing...how can you possibly make a living off of it?

Q26.    Do you plan to offer any seminars, because I would love to write off a trip to Vegas?

Q01.    (Back to Top)    Can you define all the indicators on your charts and how to use them?    We do not adhere to a strict schedule regarding commentary on the charts, preferring instead to point out things when they truly warrant special attention. Over the course of time, with very little effort on your part, you will assimilate and understand the indicators on the charts and key principles to trading the Market Profile ®.

Q02.    (Back to Top)    Do you use exclusively the charts in your own trading, or do you use other methods, too?    We use the charts and a few techniques we have "picked up" over the years, but understand this - you can trade successfully solely through the use of the charts, as it is an extremely effective way of defining and reacting to market behavior.

Q03.    (Back to Top)    What timeframes do you use in your trading?    Primarily just the 30 Minute chart, the way the Market Profile ® was originally designed. We are usually out by the end of the day session in a specific market, but that fact has nothing to do with an aversion to holding overnight, however. It's actually because we are used to trading in front of the screen all day and therefore can exit intraday with ease. The charts can be used to great advantage in any market - Stocks, Bonds, Futures, Mutuals, Forex, you name it, and for swing (2 to 3 day) and position (even longer) trading.

Q04.    (Back to Top)    I heard that the Market Profile ® does not/never did work / is impossible to use / is out of date / is the Holy Grail of trading...is that true?    Nothing is the Holy Grail of trading! We will tell you this, however. We have been trading for well over a decade now, and to this day, having seen practically every trading method and system under the sun, nothing, we repeat, nothing even comes close to this...Even just having a general understanding of the principles should have a huge impact on your success rate.

Q05.    (Back to Top)    Do you give specific trade setups?    At our discretion, we will occasionally post commentary like what you see on the example charts, when it is particularly warranted or we would like to illustrate a particular concept and/or indicator and its use. We, in addition, may give commentary on several aspects of what the market in question is currently doing, along with giving our interpretation of the current chart reading regarding direction, strength, what to watch for, etc.

Q06.    (Back to Top)    How can you follow so many markets so thoroughly?    Everything is automated...just a minimal amount of work on our part is needed to stay on top of everything...keep in mind we have had a lot of practice at this.

Q07.    (Back to Top)    Can I actually make money off of the information you provide?    Our intent with repeated viewing of our charts, along with our personalized consulting, is to train you to take your trading to the next higher level of success and beyond. How far you can go with it is only limited by your imagination and desire.
Imagine what a great feeling it would be and what immense confidence you would have, if you were able to glance at a profile chart of any market (and later when you are very highly trained and deeply experienced, just the price bars alone) at any time of the trading day and within about 10 seconds: know exactly what the market has done today; know what it is doing in comparison with the previous day; know the 10 key levels to watch for, know the current strength of the market; if it is early in the trading day, know if the first hour's trading range is likely to be violated and if so which way it will likely be; know if the range can be realistically estimated, and if so, what it would be; have a very strong idea of whether the high and/or low is in for the day; know if there is "hidden" buying or selling going on which will soon tip its hand; and, know with very fairly high certainty what the day's shape will likely be by the day's end.

Q08.    (Back to Top)    Can I trade part-time and still make a living?    That question is much too general, as we would need to know things like, how big is the account size, how many contracts do you trade, what market(s) do you trade, what are your monthly expenses, etc. Let's just say that if you are adequately capitalized, you can do very well for yourself with a minimum amount of hours expended.

Q09.    (Back to Top)    I am new to this stuff and pretty intimidated by all those letter-things on the chart - can you go into a lot more detail about the Market Profile ® and how it is created?    Perhaps the following will help somewhat for starters...The basic structure of the Market Profile ® is comprised of TPO's, "Time Price Opportunities," or, alternatively, "This Price Occurred." The trading "day," for our purposes, is comprised of all the hours of the pit session; they are all assigned a letter to represent each half-hour of that market, and each price is given a "TPO" (letter) depending upon which (if any) time periods spent time there.
Out of an old habit, and reinforcing the importance of the IB range, we designate the first two half-hour periods of a market on ANY of our charts as "Y" and "Z" respectively. This method of organization spotlights them visually for easy reference. In addition, we do NOT keep a consistent time period from market to market, as this would defeat the purpose of showcasing the IB range.
Therefore, EVERY market is given the letters of Y and Z for its first two periods, no matter when it starts. We have been doing this for a long, long time, and take our word for it, for analysis purposes and overall ease of use, it is the best way.
In addition, we do not use "partial periods" at the start of the day, either, as to do so is patently ridiculous. Every time period is designated an equal amount until you run out of 30 minute chunks at the end of the day, which, as a professional trader, you would realize is probably the worst time of the day of all to trade, inside the remainder until the close (e.g., 10 Minutes in the Bonds, and 15 minutes in the SP).
We hope this gets you started...as you can obviously see, we could talk for days on this subject, but time and space limits our ability to do so in this forum.

Q10.    (Back to Top)    Can you recommend a good broker?    We have absolutely no affiliation with any brokerage, software or quote vendors, etc. The principal of our firm, however, having been a top broker for several years, recommends the impersonal route (electronic order entry).

Q11.    (Back to Top)    What kind of broker should I use, a real live human being, or an electronic order interface?    If you trade in front of a screen all day long, go with the electronic order entry. If you are a swing or position trader, you may be able to simply use it at night, but if you need to have contingent orders and the like, you might be better off with a broker who will execute such orders and pay a bit more in commissions.

Q12.    (Back to Top)    What data feed and software programs do you use?    We have used several of the most popular programs currently and previously on the market. What we found was that none of them did everything we wanted them to. Thus, our algorithms and charts were born. All you really need is a fairly accurate quote provider. Armed with our charts, you really don't even need that, just an electronic order interface (which provides you with live quotes anyway). Some intraday traders, however, may feel more comfortable being able to watch something moving on a chart and therefore some basic type of quote service would be needed.

Q13.    (Back to Top)    What is your view on the current state of the futures industry and where it is leading - is there still a chance for the little guy?    Well, in our opinion, the implosion and shrinkage of retail brokerages due to online trading has been a definite positive for the independent trader. Traders that once had to endure rates of anywhere from $30 to $100 can now trade at less than $5 per round-turn. This has leveled the playing field substantially, and the circumvention of having to route your order through a live trading desk and calling one's orders in on the phone is a giant leap forward in the right direction. In spite of these landmark developments, there always has been (and will continue to be) a niche for the independent off-the-floor trader. The proper method of reading the Market Profile ®, along with our charts, obviates the need to micro-manage trades, as we are trying to take a large chunk out of the day's range each day, not speed-scalp ourselves to death.

Q14.    (Back to Top)    Should I buy some expensive software or something to help me trade better?    No! Such a thing is a waste of money. Put that money into buying yourself enough time to actually learn how the market works, not into making your computer into a glorified video game.

Q15.    (Back to Top)    Why didn't you just buy some expensive software instead of creating these charts?    Nothing was available that did all we wanted it to do, so we invented it. Now it does, and that is really all we need. We have always been big believers in DIY,"Do It Yourself." We put in the long hours and hard work, and our charts are the result.

Q16.    (Back to Top)    What technical specifications do I need to be able to use your service, as I am not too computer-savvy?    All you need is a computer and a web browser...presumably you already have both, as you found our website and can see it.

Q17.    (Back to Top)    I am interested in buying some of your charts for some historical contracts...do you offer any old chartbooks or anything?    We are building up a database in several markets with our charts. Please inquire via email with specifics on what you are looking for and we can give you a preliminary quote.

Q18.    (Back to Top)    Have you written a book or any articles for any trading magazines, and if so, what is the name of it, or what issue and date is it/are they in?    No books, as we would need quite a bit of time to write all we know. The principal has been approached by the top futures magazine in the industry to write an article, but has thus far declined. Perhaps in the following months he may contribute something.

Q19.    (Back to Top)    If you are such a great trader, then why do you need to sell these services?    We DON'T need to. A lot of hard work and effort went into getting to this level of trading success, many long, long hours and voluntary solitude. Trading is a lonely business, for the most part, and quite frankly most people cannot handle the stress and work ethic needed to learn it on their own. There were, however, a few people who helped the principal to elevate his own trading to the next higher level, and this is his way of paying them back, by "paying it forward." We only wish a service like ours had been available several years ago, as we could have saved a lot of time and money. The bottom line is that those willing to work a bit will get the most out of trading and we respect that attitude and our service is there to help.

Q20.    (Back to Top)    Who designated YOU expert on this stuff?    Whoa! Nobody is claiming to be THE expert here! It is a huge industry, with a lot of smart people in it. One of our greatest strengths, however, is the ability to sift through all the hype floating around, find what works, intensively study it, take it all apart, and put it back together again better than before. Many, many have come into contact with the Market Profile ® over the years, but few remain, as it turned out NOT to be another rip-off system or gimmick trading pattern that they could just slap up on their monitor and blow their account to pieces in mere days or weeks. It is just the opposite, in fact, but you need to be able to interpret what it is saying, and that comes with experience and perseverance. We can shortcut that requirement dramatically, as our charts focus upon the elements that work, while ignoring the rest.

Q21.    (Back to Top)    How long have you been trading?    The principal first started trading futures contracts in about 1989, so roughly 13 years.

Q22.    (Back to Top)    What is your trading background?    The principal graduated from Law School in the mid-1980's and started learning about commodities just a few years later. By the end of 1990, he had quit his job and was daytrading Treasury Bonds full-time with the Market Profile ® as his primary trading tool. A few years later, he was offered the opportunity to become a trader and broker for one of the largest retail options brokerages in the U.S. He worked there for nearly 5 years, rising to the level of Vice President, and distinguished himself as the top broker in the firm monthly for nearly his final 24 consecutive months. After having assimilated the collective trading experiences of literally thousands of clients and learning from their mistakes and successes, along with his own ongoing study and application of personal methods and techniques, he felt it was time to once again branch out on his own. He therefore opened a combination boutique brokerage/trading firm in addition to becoming a CTA. He now operates solely as a full-time trader, to allow himself the freedom to pursue his trading success to the fullest extent.

Q23.    (Back to Top)    Are you hiring?    We get this question a lot. Unfortunately, right now we are fully staffed. If you would like to send us your resume anyway, we promise to review it and keep it on file in case we look to add another member to our team.

Q24.    (Back to Top)    I don't care for your website design...why doesn't it look like all the other financial sites I have seen?    Well, we can't please everybody. We are traders, not professional web designers. We realized early on that it was very difficult to describe to a web designer exactly what we wanted to do with the site, and this is the result. In addition, we need complete intraday control over it for various reasons, including our intraday charts. Hopefully, the website's aesthetics will begin to grow on you as you become more familiar with it.

Q25.    (Back to Top)    Your services seem much too cheap for all the information you are providing...how can you possibly make a living off of it?    Again, this is NOT how we make a living. We make a living via trading. This website and the services we provide arose from a very simple situation - the principal of the firm has to do this analysis for himself anyway, so why not sell it to people that want to learn with a minimal amount of extra effort on his part? The principal has stated that he would have gladly paid hundreds of dollars per month for such a service when he was learning about the Profile, and still would, as he would have a lot more free time!

Q26.    (Back to Top)    Do you plan to offer any seminars, because I would love to write off a trip to Vegas?    Possibly. Those things take some time to set up and plan out, so that is always something we need to take into consideration before saying "Yes." Vegas, however, seems to be a favorite location for seminar-attendees, and as we already live here, it could be quite a fun project. Let us know your interest level in such a thing, and we will keep you posted.