Getting back to rockets.

I've been working on several different projects. My printed motor looks finished, but when I pressure test it leaks EVERYWHERE so I can try to fill the pores with tin and silver solder being careful not to clog cooling passages or get silver where it shouldn't be, (Silver is catalytic with H2O2) or I can see if I can afford having the part made by the better DMLS process. I just sent out a modified 3D model to have that quoted.

I have my custom GPS front end digitizer done and most of the FPGA work done for fast correlation hardware , but I have not put all the parts together and applied power. I hope to get to that in the next month or so.

I also have a few small electronic projects I committed to do for FAR infrastructure so I need to spend some time on that this month as well.


The potential NASA nanosat launcher prize may change my path, but I'm still thinking the year or so out goal is a reusable vehicle that can go to 100Km and back. It will be much smaller than the Masten and or Armadillo plans. It will also look more rocket like.

Four years ago I bought an 02 Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab to drive back and forth to the desert in a reliable comfortable truck. I've since put an additional 110K miles on it and two weeks ago Sunday it tried to kill me by blowing out the rear end and locking up the rear wheels. I spun it pretty hard, got it on two wheels, but did not flip it or hit any thing. I knew I eventually had to replace the truck, I'd just spend 1K getting the truck all ready for the fall rocket season,
new brakes, AC system cleaned up etc...

I have a general rule that I don't let a vehicle strand me more that twice. The dodge already left me stranded about a year ago with a blown water pump, this was its second misdeed. So I went out and bought a year old 09 Super Crew F150 It has 17K miles on it and I got a good deal. This sets the rocket budget back a little bit, but business seems to be recovering and it should not be a big issue much beyond the first of the year.

I'm actually getting excited about working on rockets again and hope to get back to regular progress in the next month or so.

Get design tips to boost the impact of your display ad

[Cross-posted from Inside AdWords]

While the right text and placement of your display ad are always crucial, you should also make sure that your ad is well designed. But how exactly can you ensure that your ad stands out on a web page, looks professional and is consistent with your overall brand message?

On Thursday, September 2nd, we’ll be holding a short one-off live course on effective display ad design. The session will give you a set of practical design tips including key insights on using color, font and images. The focus will be on the Display Ad Builder tool, although the tips are applicable to display design in general. The course is suitable for anyone interested in display advertising.

The course will be held on Thursday, September 2nd at: 3pm - 4pm BST / GMT+1 (London), 10am-11am EDT (New York), 7am-8am PDT (San Francisco).

Sign up here to attend.

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew

September is the month before October

Tomorrow is the start of September. I still remember the crash of '87. I was trading for myself and for a Fund in London. I woke up on what was to be called Black Monday with London in chaos due to a huge storm that flooded streets and knocked down trees. I drove into the office along the Embankment in London, having to drive almost in the middle of the road as the gutters had flooded and there were branches everywhere. I had slept through it all.


I was one of a number of managers of the Fund, the least well known one. As it turned out, I was lucky to be long the T-Bonds coming into the day. All the others were long markets that would wipe out more than 50% of the Fund. The Fund was closed down that week with, I think, over a 40% loss in value. I was forced to close my T-Bond position during the Monday morning in London. Had the position been allowed to continue as I had wanted, the losses in the Fund would have been mitigated. That was the end of my career as a fund manager. I decided that being just a local was all I wanted to do and decided I would never manage money again.


I woke up early, as usual, and saw the ES sitting in the top of the zipper of Profile for 27 August. I immediately sold the market at around 1043.75 and prepared for a 1 to one with one of the guys I'm mentoring. We had a productive conversation, and I then had to wait a while before the market ran down the zipper to 1038.00 where I cashed out. These zipper trades work really well.

Air Guard in thick of Katrina rescues

By Michael Jones
Charleston Gazette-Mail
Sept. 3, 2005

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Two flight crews from the 130th Airlift Wing began the daunting task of evacuating refugees from flood-ravaged New Orleans to various cities Friday afternoon.

The West Virginia Air National Guard has sent three C-130 cargo planes and their crews to Louisiana to aid in the relief effort following Hurricane Katrina earlier this week.

Another four planes -- loaded with troops, Humvees and supplies -- are scheduled to leave Yeager Airport this morning to head to the disaster sites. Two other C-130s left Thursday.

As tension in Louisiana continues to mount concerning emergency aid in the region, crew members from each C-130 understand the survivors' concerns. Maj. Kevin Meagher has done several tours of duty in Iraq and helped a relief effort after an earthquake that struck Iran in early 2004.

"I think (the mission began) a couple of days too late, but I'm really glad we're able to do it," said Meagher, who was part of the first crew to leave. "There's not enough being done and we've been sitting around for a day-and-a-half now. The opportunity to do it is great, but it's just a little frustrating."

He and his team, which evacuated survivors early Thursday, were grounded Friday afternoon while the other two C-130s extracted scores of refugees. Meagher's feelings of a late response by the federal government are echoed by the sight of thousands of New Orleans residents scrambling for food, water and dry land.

Local police have been over-matched against gangs that have looted and ransacked the already crippled city. National Guard unites from numerous states have been called to restore order to the area.

Some in the 130th understand why relief efforts have been slow from the beginning.

"They didn't realize how bad the storm was going to be," Sgt. Julius Rembrandt said. "They didn't realize how many people didn't evacuate, so it's going to take a while to get everything in order. It looks like things are moving a little quicker (Friday)."

You with thing were a little more organized, bu tit's such a massive operation," Sgt. Dennis Heilmann said. "We're used to this sort of thing."

"I'm sure it's going to take time to get things organized so I think things will come together real quick," Sgt. Steve Dye said. "Hopefully soon."

The three crews from the 130th were waiting in San Antonio for their orders Friday afternoon, but where they will be today is anyone's guess. One crew left for New Orleans around 5 p.m. local time Friday to transport sick and injured survivors to Nashville, Tenn., and San Antonio overnight. Another plane was scheduled to leave at 9 p.m.

One of the major stumbling points in the evacuation process has been finding room for thousands of people who were washed from their homes. The Astrodome in Houston was already filled to capacity early Friday morning, leaving a San Antonio business complex as the best alternative.

Heilmann said the Guard unit is prepared to handle such a disaster, but is more accustomed to dealing with situations in West Virginia.

"It's not different from the missions we do," Heilmann said. "We've always done disaster relief, it's just different to come down here and do it."

All members of the Guard acknowledged they were pleased to help, even while receiving word of the mission on such short notice. Most crew members were not told of the operation untnil a few hours before they left. Maj. David Lester said the delays can be frustrating, but the Guard is designed to be flexible to conditions they cannot control.

"It gives us great personal satisfaction because when you see on the TV and you read in the newspaper about these folks who are suffering, to know anything we can do to help means a lot," he said.

"We're glad to be down here and do anything we can to help with the relief effort," said Rembrandt, who served 15 years as a firefighter before joining the Guard. "There are a lot of people that are desperate for any kind of help they can get."

The Air Guard in Charleston, which has seven planes available to fly to the disaster areas, will continues their mission indefinitely. The three crews already present are expected to stay until Monday, although their departure date is still in question.

The four planes leaving today are supposed to deliver 65 troops and other people and 16 Humvees to the disaster sites. Two of those planes will make additional trips.

Email overload? Try Priority Inbox.

[Cross-posted from the Google Enterprise Blog]

Information overload is a reality of the modern workplace. The average corporate worker sends and receives more than 150 messages per day¹, an email deluge of varying importance: key project updates from colleagues, requests from higher-ups, appointment reminders, and automated mail that’s often much less important. With so much information to process, simply figuring out what needs to be be read and what needs a reply takes up a lot of time. Today, we’re excited to introduce Priority Inbox Beta in Gmail, an experimental new way of reducing information overload.

Priority Inbox is a new view of your inbox that automatically helps you focus on your most important messages. Gmail has always kept spam messages out of your inbox, and now we’ve improved Gmail’s filter to help you see the emails that matter faster without requiring you to set up complex rules.

Here’s how it works: Priority Inbox splits your inbox into three sections: “Important and unread,” “Starred,” and “Everything else”:

Messages are automatically categorized as they arrive in your inbox. Gmail uses a variety of signals to predict which messages are important, including the people you email most and which messages you open and reply to (these are likely more important than the ones you skip over). And as you use Gmail, it will get better. You can improve the ranking in Priority Inbox by clicking the buttons at the top of the inbox to mark conversations as important or not important.

As a result, your inbox is better organized, and you can spend your time addressing your most important emails right away. When we tested Priority Inbox at Google, we found that people spent 6% less time on email after enabling this feature. This translates to a week’s worth of time saved each year for information workers who typically spend 13 hours per week on email today!²

Luke Leonhard, Web Services Manager for Brady Corporation, says “Like many of our users, I get over a hundred messages each day. Priority Inbox saves me time by displaying emails in order of importance, letting me process them more efficiently than before. The time I save can then be spent on new projects that add value to Brady rather than managing my inbox.”

Over the next week, we’ll be rolling out Priority Inbox settings to users in organizations with the “Enable pre-release features” option selected in the Google Apps control panel.

Helping users manage lots of information has always been a core goal of Gmail, and we’re excited to see how Priority Inbox helps users in organizations mitigate information overload and get to important messages faster.

Posted by Doug Aberdeen, Software Engineer

1. “Email Statistics Report, 2009-2013”, The Radicati Group, Inc, 2009

2. “Hidden Costs of Information Work in the Enterprise Exposed in New IDC Progress Report”, IDC, 2009

More advertiser control on YouTube

[Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog]

At YouTube, we’re constantly working to give advertisers control and flexibility over their YouTube campaigns. We place great value on this because ads are an extension of what a company represents as a business, and we want YouTube to be a place where that reputation and image can flourish.

To that end, we’ve been rolling out features to keep advertisers in control of their campaigns. We announced one such example last week, when we launched a feature that gives select advertisers the ability to voluntarily age-restrict their videos. But there’s more work to do.

To date, we’ve given advertisers the ability to pick and choose individual videos on YouTube to target using our Video Targeting Tool. But one of the most frequently requested features we’ve heard from advertisers is the ability to exclude individual videos and channels from the campaigns they run on our site. Today, we’re excited to announce video and channel exclusions, a way for advertisers to pick specific YouTube videos and channel URLs that they don’t want their ads to appear with.

Here’s an example: let’s say you run a vegan bakery. You want to strike a balance between good exposure for your baked goods online, while staying true to your company values in offering items free of animal or dairy-products. Now you can indicate which videos are not the best fit for your audience. Since your customers are probably not watching ‘Homewrecker Hot Dog’, you can provide this video exclusion under the "Networks" tab.

Similarly, you might run a keyword-targeted campaign on bakery-related keywords, and exclude whole channels that you don’t feel suit your audience. So if FoodNetworkTV has videos centered mostly around cooking meat dishes, you have the controls to prevent ads from showing on that channel.

Alternatively, if your ads are appearing on a video that has content you deem inappropriate for your audience, or perhaps isn’t performing in terms of click-through rate or conversions, you can optimize your campaign by using this new feature to exclude it.

Google has also been investing significantly in ensuring brand safety, transparency and control for advertisers across the Google Display Network. We’re hoping that these added layers of control will make your campaign targeting even more precise. Keep sending us your feedback so we can make future product improvements.

Baljeet Singh, Senior Product Manager recently watched “AH NOM NOM: Wholesome Bakery Best Vegan Bakery Food Cart In San Francisco”

C-130s from Yeager fly to flood zone

By Michael Jones
Charleston Daily Mail
Sept. 2, 2005

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Last Friday, airmen from Charleston's 130th Airlift Wing weren't sure what the future would hold for their base.

Today, they were hauling much-needed supplies and personnel to flood-ravaged New Orleans.
Ten members of the West Virginia Air National Guard flew out of Yeager Airport on Thursday afternoon on a mission that placed them on five different airstrips in 11 hours. Their relief effort to areas affected by Hurricane Katrina is expected to last four days.

The first C-130 flight from Charleston departed Wednesday. Officials expect more in the weeks ahead.

"This is exactly why we didn't want to lose our planes," Maj. David Lester said. "We can help in natural disasters.

"It's a perfect example of us doing what we're trained to do."

After a summer of uncertainty and anxiety for local guard members, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission granted the 130th a reprieve last week. The panel overruled defense planners who had recommended that the unit's planes be stationed at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina instead of Yeager.

Lester said the operation is similar to what would happen following a terrorist attack in the United States.

First Lt. Todd Perry, the aircraft's co-pilot, said the mission signifies the spirit of the 130th.

"You would have had the same amount of volunteers even if they would have taken away our base," he said. "We were immediately ready to go."

Most crew members weren't told they would be heading out until 10 a.m. Thursday. "I want to get to New Orleans before sunset and get out of there," Maj. Kyle Adams told them.

The crew loaded up their C-130 and lifted off at 2:10 p.m., only to return 30 minutes later because to a malfunctioning cockpit gauge. In less than an hour, they prepped a new plane and were in the air with Wright-Patterson Air Base in Dayton, Ohio, as their destination.

As the C-130 took on fuel, a Boeing 747 in a paint scheme resembling Air Force One pulled to within 300 feet. Lester said the jet is a mobile command post used to direct relief activities. Before anyone deplaned, 20 armed guards cleared a perimeter around the aircraft.

The smaller, prop-driven C-130 has two crew members designated to protect the plane at all costs. The security procedure, called "Raven," is customary in other regions of the world, but is rarely employed within the United States, said one of the onboard cops, Senior Master Sgt. Dennis Heilmann.The higher state of security for the Air National Guard reflects the escalating danger in New Orleans, where widespread looting has occurred.

"It's difficult to comprehend that something like this is happening in the U.S.," Lester said.

The original mission Thursday was to transport doctors and nurses to Louisiana. Those plans changed when the C-130 landed in Dayton at 4 p.m.

Along with two other C-130s from Mansfield, Ohio, the plane from Charleston was ordered to go to nearby Springfield, Ohio, to pick up armed troops. Carrying rifles, shotguns, and flak jackets, 41 Army National Guard soldiers boarded. They were flown directly to the New Orleans Naval Air Station, 10 miles from the city.

Sixty miles from the base, an eerie darkness crept across the night sky. The only glow coming out of the sunken city was lights from rescue helicopters.

Once the plane touched down, the soldiers quickly left the cramped cargo hold where they had spent the past three hours sleeping. They were whisked away and disappeared into the dark and muggy Louisiana night.

With their mission complete, the crew of the C-130 secured the plane and headed for San Antonio, Texas, arriving early this morning. They were scheduled to leave this afternoon for Louisiana, where they were to transport sick and injured refugees back to Texas.

Knowing What to Expect

Public (called "Bank" here in the U.K.) holiday here in the U.K. it's 8am when I started writing this and I've been scalping the 6E but won't be doing a video as I'm out with the family most of today and will just hit and run when I have time.

I wanted to re-visit the subject of back testing as it comes up during the 1 to ones I'm doing with the guys and gals I am mentoring.

Back testing has two purposes. The first is the obvious one - testing what works and what metrics to use for stops and targets. This type of back testing is used to find a so called edge as well as to optimise metrics. Typically, people place their stop loss points way too close and get stopped out of trades that otherwise would be profitable. I don't exit on stops, using a drop dead stop far away from the action in case of connectivity failure. I stop myself out based on what I see. 

The issue for me is that a generic stop is too expensive. The correct stop level depends upon context and is not a mechanical thing for me. The same goes for targets. I can see the benefit of using a mechanical first scale out point that has been shown over, say a year, to capture a very high percentage of first targets but the subsequent scales, for me, are based on what is happening - the context.

The second and equally important reason for back testing is to know what to expect. this is hugely important in order to be able to maintain discipline. Usually fear in trading is because of the unknown and proper back testing reduces or helps mitigate fear.  Also, if you know you can get three losses in a row, when it happens you won't lose your decipline (I hope) and fail to take the next trade.

For back testing, it's important to eyeball the trades. It's all well and good to use a computer to gather and sort the information, but I go back over the trades and look at them on the chart. I want to see the bars and how they traded to give the result.

In summary, knowing what to expect is extremely important.

TGIF but ....

I'm sad it's the week-end. No trading til Monday.

I had a question this week from someone who wants to trade only two hours a day. I have a couple of the students from the training who are doing the same due to their day jobs while they are getting to CP. You can see from the vids and going back over the charts that the best times to trade are the first two and last two hours of the RTH session in any market. In fact, as I have said, I have cut my trading time down to a couple of hours in the London morning and a couple in the afternoon which is the first 2 hours or so of the U.S. RTH.

Going Google across the 50 States: Bowery Lane Bicycles in New York rides towards success with Google Apps

[Cross-posted from the Google Enterprise Blog]

Editor’s note: Over the past couple months, thousands of businesses have added their Gone Google story to our community map and even more have used the Go Google cloud calculator to test drive life in the cloud. To highlight some of these companies’ Gone Google stories, we decided to talk to Google Apps customers across the United States. Check back each week to see which state we visit next. To learn more about other organizations that have gone Google and share your story, visit our community map.

Two years ago, Patrick Benard and Sean Naughton completed their first handmade bicycle. Shortly after, they opened Bowery Lane Bicycles in Manhattan with a commitment to having a positive impact on the environment and the local community. Today, they continue to design bicycles for the urban cyclist, build them by hand in New York – in a local factory that uses solar panels to generate 30% of its power – and sell them from their showroom and at city cycling events. Even on the business side, the founders have taken a community approach, working only with local vendors and freelancers.

A year after Bowery Lane Bicycles opened, Michael Salvatore, chief officer of just about everything, was brought on board to help run the business. His first task was to get the company operating and communicating on a more professional level by banning personal email addresses for work and implementing Google Apps so everyone had @bowerylanebicycles.com email addresses. From experience at previous companies, Michael knew that email addresses were only the beginning and started using Google Apps to improve other business processes. He shares with us how this was done.

“We rely on freelancers and friends located throughout the city to get projects done, and Google Docs makes this possible. Our friends have day jobs so being able to access everything online and collaborate with us in real-time, from anywhere, is not only convenient, it’s essential.

Google Calendar also helps us quickly spread the word among our friends about upcoming cycling and charity events where we’ll need staffing help. We keep a master calendar of all events and send out invites directly from Google Calendar. On the sales end, our showroom is viewed by appointment only, so we use a shared calendar for all of our scheduling.

To track inventory, I use Google forms. When a sale is made the model number of the bicycle purchased and other relevant information is inputted into a form. All the details are then populated directly into my spreadsheet and I can keep track of which bikes are low in inventory and when I need to order more. It’s simple but efficient.

With most of our business software needs taken care of, we can focus on our main goal – manufacturing the best bikes we can. Yes, we’re a small start-up, but we realized early on that successful companies need to be able to communicate quickly and keep track of their business as they expand. We can do just that, thanks to Google Apps.”

Posted by Michelle Lisowski, Google Apps team

Katrina

I became a newspaper reporter because I wanted a job that few other people could do. Little did I know that three weeks into my journalism career, I would be thrust into one of the biggest stories of my generation. We all remember the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast, and how it took days to get aid to the evacuees. But I was just a spectator until four days after the storm when my boss at the Daily Mail turned to me and asked if I wanted to accompany the 130th West Virginia Airlift Wing to New Orleans. I never entered the city, but spent much of the time at Louis Armstrong International Airport. There, I saw things that I could barely describe in words, especially for a rookie reporter.

The response to Katrina was shameful. Each and every level of government failed us during this unimaginable disaster. And I think it impacted us as a nation just as much as the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Rather than blaming a foreign murderer, we had to look at ourselves on how we failed our fellow Americans. The West Virginia airmen whom I accompanied had been to Iraq and Afghanistan, but they could not shake the chilling feeling that a disaster such as this was happening in America. With the national press covering the disaster, it is the perspective of these airmen and their ordeal that I wrote about.

Five years after Katrina, I want to once again share their stories from the week I spent in Louisiana and Texas. Each day, a new story from that award-winning series of my trip to the Gulf Coast will appear on this blog.

Sept. 2, 2005 - C-130s from Yeager fly to flood zone
Sept. 3, 2005 - Air Guard in thick of Katrina rescues
Sept. 4, 2005 - 'It's hard to put into words'
Sept. 5, 2005 - Even hardened C-130 crews jarred
Sept. 6, 2005 - C-130 crew returning after hurricane duty
Sept. 9, 2005 - Witness to calamity

Problem solved

The speed of the Internet is truly impressive. Less than 22 hours after complaining about Verizon FiOS for problems with its billing service, a company official from New Jersey e-mailed me to say they were looking into the issue. I called him this morning and gave some of my account information that he needed to solve the problem.

By 3 p.m., I had received a call from a local Verizon representative, who said she was contacting the debt agency to have the charge removed. I appreciate that the company went to great lengths today to look into the issue, but I think the problem could have (and should have) been solved yesterday when I called the company billing department to get a clarification on what the $26.19 charge was for.

Say what you want about the internet, but it certainly is more efficient carrying a picket sign in front of a company’s headquarters.

North, East, West, South

Was it or wasn't it a neutral day. That is the question. I'm sure Shakespeare, or rattle sword as my old friend Andrew used to call him at school, wouldn't know the answer and I'm not sure either. Either way, it was a bloody good trade! See the vid.

YouTube Homepage: Promoted Videos advertisers can get it while it's hot

[Cross-posted from the YouTube blog]

For big advertisers on YouTube, the YouTube homepage is often seen as the holy grail. It's the highest-profile placement on YouTube, providing marketers with the ability to deliver a big impact and drive attention to content, trailers or advertising. To give you an idea of the scale we’re talking about, the homepage has been delivering nearly 45 million impressions per day and 18 million unique visitors a day in the U.S. — that's the equivalent to the ratings of several top-rated prime-time television shows combined. While impressions and unique visitors are never guaranteed, users who visit the homepage are actively looking for the next video to watch, so advertisers naturally want to be part of the action.

A little known fact is that a few days each quarter, we open up the YouTube homepage to Promoted Video advertisers. These companies end up getting a bit of extra exposure from their campaigns. There are a couple of ways to make sure your ads show up on the homepage, should the opportunity arise. First, log into your AdWords account, and under "Campaign Settings," consider the following:

• In order for Promoted Videos ads to appear on YouTube browse pages, watch pages, and on the homepage, select "Display Network"
• To appear *only* on YouTube placements, select "Relevant pages only on the placements I manage" and add youtube.com as a managed placement.
• To appear *only* on the homepage, select "Relevant pages only on the placements I manage" and add youtube.com::pyv-top-right-homepage as a managed placement
• Set a specific bid for the homepage and keep in mind that it is a more competitive placement
• Please note: this feature is only available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and The U.S.

Because the dates we run Promoted Videos on the YouTube homepage vary, we unfortunately don't have a set schedule to provide to our advertisers. However, we typically know about 48 hours in advance. If you have a managed account, you can ask your Google representative to let you know when these opportunities arise so that you can increase your bids to improve your chances of showing up.

Several advertisers – large and small – have found great success showing Promoted Videos on the homepage. One YouTube advertiser, Dynomighty Design, grew their entire business by using Promoted Videos and getting placements on the YouTube homepage. Founder Terrence Kelleman says: "YouTube helps us sell our product, learn about our audience and build a strong brand image. And as a small company with a limited advertising budget, YouTube has become our main advertising strategy. Not only are costs low with Promoted Videos, but healthy conversions also make YouTube our #1 referring site in terms of traffic and revenue." To read more about Dynomighty's story, check out their original YouTube video and their feature on the Official Google Blog.

The YouTube homepage has a captive, engaged audience and it's our goal to let advertisers understand how best to reach customers that would be interested in hearing from them. For more information about advertising on YouTube, visit youtube.com/advertising, and for more information on Promoted Videos, check out ads.youtube.com.

Mark Sabec, Product Marketing Manager, recently checked out YouTube Show & Tell, home of the best creative marketing examples on YouTube.

Guidance and Updated Policies for Writing Reviews

[Cross-posted from the LatLong blog. While this post about writing reviews may not be actionable for business owners like you, we wanted to share this information about the guidelines and policies we have in place to help ensure that reviews about your business that appear on your Place Page are useful and relevant. -Ed.]

Three years ago we launched reviews for places on Google so that you could share your opinion of any place in the world. Your reviews help other users find places that are right for them.

We encourage you to continue sharing your experiences and opinions -- both good and bad. At the same time, we want to ensure that the information posted in reviews is useful and relevant for everyone. So today, we’ve updated and clarified the guidelines and policies for writing reviews. These guidelines help to make sure that reviewers understand how to write thoughtful reviews, that readers will find them informative, and that the content of the reviews provide useful feedback for Google Places business owners. We’re also sharing more information about when and why some reviews may be removed from a Place page. Below is a quick summary of the updates. Be sure to review the updated policy for more details.

Tips for writing great reviews
There isn’t an exact formula to writing a great review. Reviews are best when they reflect the unique opinion and viewpoint of an individual. You can share as much or as little information as you’d like: you might choose to describe the intricate details of a restaurant’s decor, or simply recommend your favorite dish. In the updated policy, you’ll find several best practices to consider when reviewing a business. These tips can help you convey your personal opinions clearly and effectively.

Does Google remove reviews?
The short answer is yes. Reviews are intended as a way for people to share useful and relevant information. That encompasses a wide range of opinions, most of which are permitted by our policy. However, in instances in which a review is in violation of our policy, we will remove the review. It’s important to remember that negative reviews aren’t against our policy. We encourage you to share your honest opinions about a business. And if you’re a business owner, you can directly respond to reviews to share your side of the story.

The process for reporting a review that violates our policies hasn’t changed. You can still report a review using the Flag as inappropriate link found next to each review submitted through Google Maps. When a review is flagged, we'll check to determine if the review violates our guidelines and take action accordingly.

This policy update is our latest step in our ongoing effort to improve your experience with business reviews. We hope you continue to voice your experiences, thoughts and opinions of the places you visit!

Posted by Stephen Seyboth, Product Manager

Bread and Butter

It was a bread and butter day with some honey and jam thrown in. The ES had an hour or two of good action. The videos tells the story.

I'm glad people are finding the videos useful. I JUST REPLACED THE VIDEO TO RESOLVE THE SOUND ISSUES.

 

Building your web presence with Google Sites and Google Places

Today, we’re launching a Getting Started Guide for Google Sites and Google Places to help local business owners who are looking to increase their presence on the web and on Google Maps. Creating a Google site for your business will allow potential customers to learn more about your products, hours, and location before they even set foot in your store. It should also help answer some of those frequently-asked-questions that you’d otherwise have to take over the phone.

With Google Sites, you can easily create a free website for your business. We have site templates that you can choose from, and, within a few minutes, you can create a new website. There are also some quick tips available on how to customize it with images of your business, a map of your location, or a menu.

This guide will also show you how to ensure that a listing about your business appears for free when potential customers search for you on Google.com or Google Maps. The listing, which you can quickly and easily create through Google Places, includes basic information like your business name, location, and phone number. You can also edit it at any time with additional details like coupons, customized messages and more to help your business stand out. To find out more about Google Places listings, please see this blog post on the official Google Blog.

We hope that you find this Getting Started Guide useful!

Posted by Lisa Ding, Google Sites Team

How to Run, Get Online, and Promote Your Business with Google Tools

When first starting a business, everything is new and different. So what are the first things you need to do to turn your vision into reality? This process can be a bit intimidating -- and unnecessarily resource-consuming -- without the right tools and guidance.

Through a complementary suite of services, Google aims to help small businesses like yours navigate this uncharted territory. So as your business goes through the three phases of getting up and running, getting online and getting in front of customers, think of our products as tools designed to help you on your journey to success!

Run Your Business with Google Apps

Google Apps helps small businesses get up and running with email, calendaring, instant messaging, document, spreadsheets and presentations, site creation and video. The applications are hosted by Google, so you can just turn them on and get to work quickly. With this cloud computing approach, you don't need to worry about installing, maintaining or upgrading software, and you always have access to the latest technology. You can also use any device: PC, Mac, Linux, Android or iPad, if it has a web browser and a connection to the Internet you can access your information from anywhere. This is particularly helpful for people who need to work from various locations, like their office, home and car.

The cost savings are compelling, especially when you're on a tight budget: cloud computing is about 1/10th of the cost of on-premises software. It's also more secure than storing data on laptops and USB keys that are easily lost or stolen. But the biggest advantage of Google Apps is hardest to quantify: increased productivity through easier collaboration. Employees often work in teams, with colleagues in various locations. Web applications make it possible for them to share documents and files without attachments or version control issues because everything's online and up to date. They can also collaborate together in real time, which makes work more efficient. For more information, check out this video series on getting started with Google Apps.

Get Online with Google Places
Google Places offers an easy way to establish and maintain an online presence even if you don’t have a website. It allows business owners to add a brand new listing to Google's local database, or to edit their existing listing that appears for free when potential customers search for them on Google.com or Google Maps.

By ensuring that basic information - like your business name, location, hours of operation and phone number - is up-to-date, customers can quickly and easily find you online. And with the option to provide additional details - such as photos, videos and coupons - business owners can stand out on the map to attract more customers. You can also edit and check your info at any time to discover how many people have seen and clicked on your free listing.



Promote Your Business with AdWords
AdWords is Google’s online advertising program that acts as a matchmaking service between businesses and customers. AdWords ads are displayed along with search results when someone searches Google using one of your keywords. That way, you'll be advertising to an audience that's already interested in your business.

No matter your budget, you'll only pay when people click your ads, and there's no minimum monthly charge with AdWords. Ad performance tracking reports are built right into your account, so you can tell what's working and what needs improving.



We look forward to providing additional tips and tricks for your small business on this blog, and hope these help to get you started. So what are you waiting for? Get your business going, establish your online presence and promote your business using any of our tools that you find helpful. Good luck!

Posted by Kat Eller, Small Business Blog Team

"Holy Demolition, Batman"

Today's title is partly due to what the market did on the Home Sales Number today - with me short, and the fact that I'll be in Batman's home town - Batavia (near Chicago) in October when I do a 3 day seminar at MarketDelta. One of my oldest friend's (in the real sense of the word) birthday is the main reason I'm going. Don't forget, I'm one of the first of the Baby Boomers.

I've developed a relationship with Infinity Futures so that any one trading using my methods can get brokerage assistance from a dedicated team at Infinity - along with free data and a great DOM. I get no commission from Infinity. 

You can see some details HERE. 


To kick the relationship off, I'm doing a free webinar for Infinity on September 23rd. If you want to know more about how I think learning to trade should happen then come and look. I will be showing in great detail how I trade one of the pictures that I have developed.

Today's trade at the RTH open was very instructive. It shows how a trader needs to keep an open mind and be truly discretionary, if you consider yourself a discretionary trader.

Going Google across the 50 States: Google Apps eliminates geographical challenges for New Jersey-based virtual assistant agency

[Cross-posted from the Google Enterprise Blog]

Editor’s note: Over the past couple of months, thousands of businesses have added their Gone Google story to our community map and even more have used the Go Google cloud calculator to test drive life in the cloud. To highlight some of these companies’ Gone Google stories, we decided to talk to Google Apps customers across the United States. Check back each week to see which state we visit next. To learn more about other organizations that have gone Google and share your story, visit our community map.

This week we’ll hear from Sarah Leah Gootnick, founder of Secretary in Israel, based in New Jersey and Israel. Secretary in Israel and Virtual Assistant Israel match college-educated, American virtual assistants living in Israel with business owners from across the United States and abroad.

The idea for Secretary in Israel came about when an entrepreneurial friend of mine in San Francisco told me how overwhelmed he was with all the administrative work for his IT business. He struggled to find a talented assistant within his price range locally. I introduced him to my friend who had just moved from the US to Israel. Not long after, he called to tell me that she was the best assistant he had had in years, and he encouraged me to start a business to provide this same service to other entrepreneurs.

As a result of his encouragement, we started Secretary in Israel approximately 2.5 years ago. At the time, we were in an unusual situation: our virtual assistants, all of whom are American college graduates, were living in Israel, and our client base of successful entrepreneurs were spread throughout the United States and abroad (including the UK, Australia, and Thailand). With our team located thousands of miles from our clients, we were, as you might say, “geographically challenged”.

However, with the help of Google Apps, geographical distance became irrelevant. Our virtual assistants all use Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar, which enable us to work with our clients and seamlessly integrate into their businesses as if we were sitting in the rooms next to them.

One particular benefit that our virtual assistants and clients love is the ability to edit docs and spreadsheets simultaneously. Gone are the days of worry about who has the right version of a document and whether the hours of changes you’ve just made were put into the right version or not. With Apps, the document or spreadsheet is always current, and our team and clients can rest assured that important edits were entered in the right version.

Google Apps also allows our virtual assistants to work so seamlessly with their clients and their clients’ business associates that most people don’t realize our assistants aren’t in the same office. One of our clients told us that when people finally do meet him at his office, they often ask, “Where’s Hilary? She was so lovely on the phone. I’d like to meet her!” It’s at that point that he says with a smile, “Oh. She’s not here at the moment. She’s in Israel!”

Because of the collaborative focus of Google Apps, we’re able to run a business that provides a great service to successful entrepreneurs in the United States and abroad as well as career opportunities for professional, Americans in Israel.

Posted by Ashley Chandler, Google Apps Team

Daisy, Daisy,Give Me the Answer Do, plus HD Chart with Video

In response to quite a few emails, I'm setting out a high level summary of the process involved in getting to Consistent Profitability. I've condensed a lot of the information in the blog as well as leaning on what is in the videos of the training I just completed. I've come up with a high level description of what and how I teach, and this will be what attendees will see in the MarketDelta seminar in Chicago. Those not attending can use this summary, together with the blog (with or without the DVDs) to create their own trading and training plans.

Stage 1: The Set Up

• Take a blank chart and then add the range bars - discuss why use the range bars and demonstrate how to set them up. 
• Add each chart component- describe why it's there, what it does and how to use it.
• Switch to Market Profile - show how to set up and split the profile into distributions,what it all means and why.

Stage 2: Envisioning

• Work through the envisioning process- why I do it, how I do it and what I do when its wrong.
• Go through each of the 12 long and 12 short pictures (setups with nuances) that I trade, showing as many examples as is needed for learners to take the information on board.
• This gives a trader all the necessary tools for trading. 

Stage 3: Theory into Practice

• Use live markets to put theory into practice- start off with the daily preparation, envisioning and start trading. 
• Think out load all day as the market is unfolding, I continually evaluate the market, talking about what "they" (nett market participants) are presently doing and what the likely consequence of that order flow is. 
• Call trades live and then manage them, using the tools and techniques that I taught in the theory part of the training. This is learning by doing at the right edge of the chart. 
• There is no where for EL to hide. Traders can see the learning in action, working live, losing trades and all.
• The basis of a new traders trading is a single market using a single chart plus Market Profile for context. 
• Begin to trade only one picture type, picture with a very high win rate that is easily recognisable.
• Other pictures can be added after CP has been achieved- many people only need this one picture to earn a living for the rest of their trading career.

Stage 4- Trading Plans

• Creating Trading Plans-  I provide 7 trading plans that take the traders through all the stages and sub stages that make up the road map to Consistent Profitability. 
• TPs used in SIM and when a consistent 70% win rate is achieved on each plan, the trader can move to the next, adding a higher level of profitability with each permutation. 
• Evolution of the TPs- Each trader MUST do back testing of his own interpretation/adjustment of the sample trading plan (covering previous year)
• Personal discovery that the trading plan is effective - without this traders do not stick to a TP.  Trader then knows the win rate, the average profit, the greatest,  draw down, the average loss........

Stage 5- Live Trading and Mentoring

• Go live but as an already CP trader in SIM. Much easier and cost effective than having to become CP in live for the first time.
• When mentored, each trader completes a weekly win rate, profitability and other metrics report
• One to one problem resolution - traders take snapshots of entries and exits sending in the losing trades

You can create this same regimen for yourself. You don't need me or anyone unless you want to considerably reduce the learning curve. This way of learning and trading really works. It builds a strong foundation and progressively adds to knowledge and experience in SIM so that skill and confidence are created simultaneously, building on previously built and tested skill and confidence.

Using this methodology, people have become CP live in months. This doesn't mean that you can achieve this unless you put in the incredibly huge amount of work, hours and effort required as well as achieving the right mental attitude, discipline and focus.

I have added the chart below which I have previously shown, because it shows this whole process.

   

Today's recap is of the ES starting just over an hour before RTH commences. Sometimes I jump on a pre-Gap trade to get a better trade location. The video tells it all.

20 August Recap

This is the first of the recaps, ES RTH trading. It took a little longer to produce it than I expected but I will get quicker over time.

Going Google across the 50 States: Google Apps “just works” for Massachusetts -based marketing firm

[Cross-posted from the Google Enterprise Blog]

Editor’s note: Over the past couple months, thousands of businesses have added their Gone Google story to our community map and even more have used the Go Google cloud calculator to test drive life in the cloud. To highlight some of these companies’ Gone Google stories, we decided to talk to Google Apps customers across the United States. Check back each week to see which state we visit next. To learn more about other organizations that have gone Google and share your story, visit our community map.

In Massachusetts, we find Sean Leach, Systems Architect for EPS Communications — a strategic marketing firm near Boston. With experienced staff, EPS marries multiple disciplines to offer client services including direct response media, interactive development, design, and custom content and publishing. EPS is so excited to have gone Google that Sean created the picture below showing each of his co-workers, and shared the story of why the company switched.

“In late 2007 we made the switch from a traditional email POP server and a ‘whatever you can find’ calendar and docs solution to Google Apps. We haven't looked back since.

Within Google Apps, we mainly use Gmail, Calendar, and Docs. Because of the tight integration between the three services, as well as the ‘it just works’ nature of the products, we've definitely had a marked increase in productivity and user happiness. No more POP server being down, no more having to try and track down an email or document. It's all there in the cloud, all the time, and easy to find because of Google search.

Our other favorite part of Google Apps is that everything is accessible from any computer or mobile phone with a web browser, no matter where our jobs take us. Our employees can be just as productive outside the office as they can inside it. That is a big deal for a small company. It allows us to be both flexible and productive. It's something we truly can't live without.

If you haven't tried Google Apps, you really owe it to yourself (and your company) to give it a shot. It's wonderful.”

Posted by Michelle Lisowski, Google Apps team

Something New! Neither Borrowed nor Blue.

I get a lot of questions about trades so I thought I might try something new: I'll be posting a daily recap of the trades in the particular market I was trading. I'll do it by video and go through the trades. It should help readers learn, as well as enable people to compare their trades.

I'll be posting at different times. For the ES I'll wait until the RTH close and for the 6E I'll probably post earlier if the 6E goes quiet. The time it takes to upload the videos will impact the time I post.

After you have seen it for a few days, let me know if it's useful or whether I should go back to the written posts.

New features in Google Docs and Google Sites

[Cross-posted from the Google Enterprise Blog]

Google’s multi-tenant infrastructure allows us to launch new features to our customers seamlessly, and with over 50 launches in first half of this year alone, the pace of innovation in Google Apps continues to accelerate.

Today we keep up the innovation with several new updates in Google Sites and Google Docs. We’ve improved Google Sites with several highly-requested features including horizontal navigation, global footers, and a new section for deleted items.

Horizontal navigation enables site owners to easily add links across the top of their sites.

Site owners can also add a global footer that displays across all pages on a site, and we added a new section for deleted items in sites, making it easier to get to deleted pages and attachments.

We’ve also added quick links to open Google Docs that are embedded in a site, making it easier for collaborators to open embedded documents.

For more information, on these new features in Google Sites, check out the Google Docs blog.

In addition to these updates to Google Sites, this week we also launched several improvements in Google Docs:

• Typing links just got a little faster in Google documents. Now when you type something that we recognize as a web address, it will automatically become a link.

• We’ve also added a few more page sizes for your documents. So if you’ve been craving an Executive sized page (7.25” x 10.5”), you’re in luck. For more information on autolinks and page sizes, head to the Google Docs blog.

• Correct spelling is an essential part of document creation, and to that end we’ve added spellcheck to Google spreadsheets. For more information on spelling checker in spreadsheets, visit the Google Docs blog.

As with all updates on Google Apps, users can get new features just by refreshing their browsers, and improvements roll out to customers with no need for administrators to manage patches or install software.

Stay tuned for more updates to Google Docs and Google Sites.

Posted by Scott Johnston, Google Apps Product Manager

Worked Smart, Not Hard!

Today I worked smart not hard. I have cut my trading time down on most days to the best parts of the day. It hasn't hurt my P and L any and I really like having time for more things. Today's trades in the ES were pretty cool, good swings. The last (2nd) trade had two good scale out points and didn't let me exit too early. 

There's a lot to do with the mentoring of the students from the last training still going on and I'm working on the seminar for MarketDelta. Lots of people buying the training DVDs so I'm pleased that my daughter, Candace has so much to do, and the added bonus is more for my charities too.

Introducing the AdWords Small Business Corner, a new forum discussion category for SMBs

[Cross-posted from the Inside AdWords blog]

We’ve heard from many of you that you’d like to be able to easily share tips for developing a successful AdWords strategy with others like you. To help you do that, we’ve created a new category in the AdWords Help Forum: the Small Business Corner. The Small Business Corner is designed to give those of you who are running your own AdWords accounts the opportunity to share best practices in discussions with your peers so that you can make sure your AdWords account is doing all it can to support your business goals.

This new category is not about troubleshooting specific account issues, but rather about sharing and learning from the experiences of others. To give you a preview of the kinds of topics that we hope to discuss, here are a few conversation starters that we had in mind:

• Choosing the right tools to measure results
• How to write great ads
• Finding the right frequency to sign in to AdWords

Of course, this category is about your interests and needs, so we hope you’ll suggest the small business-related topics that you’d like to cover. For any other topics, please consider the other existing forum categories available to you.

Getting started
To join the conversation now, just visit the Small Business Corner. If you’re new to the AdWords Help Forum, you may want to create a Google Profile (while signed in to your AdWords account), introducing yourself and your business before jumping in. In the meantime, you can check out the introductory discussion thread here.

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew

War is over?

NBC News reported Wednesday night that the last brigade of American combat troops has left Iraq. But how can that be true when 50,000 American military personnel remain in country as "support" for the Iraqi army?

It comes with some relief to know that military operations in Iraq will officially end at the end of the month. Still, it seems like that message is a smokescreen for the reality that we are still bogged down in a country that never wanted us there in the first place. More than seven years after "shock and awe" decapitated Saddam Hussein and his tyrannical government, we found it much more difficult to conquer a people that had never before tasted freedom.

Still, our previous president made it seem like this was the next logical step after 9/11 when the American people were conditioned to war. I was never one of those suckers who thought we should invade Iraq. But I do remember being a naive freshman in college when the world changed for America.

I'll never forget when my father and I attended the first regular season game at Heinz Field on Oct. 7, 2001. During halftime, the crowd roared after President Bush announced that the first bombs were being dropped on Afghanistan. While I knew this was the right action, I just looked at President Bush on the JumboTron and wondered when it would end and whether we would be safer. Little did I know that we'd also be dropping bombs elsewhere 17 months later.

Sadly, we have become a people that accepts war. Unlike the isolationist attitude that built our foreign policy before the world wars of the 20th century, we have become the key global decision-maker in what is right and wrong. As an American, I don't want that burden. There are an untold number of injustices in this world, and how are we do decide which dictator should fall?

The announcement that combat operations are over in Iraq (more than seven years after this foolish declaration) is a bittersweet moment. And I hope that future generations will look at this war -- along with its painful ramifications -- and decide that it's just not worth fighting for.

Patience or Patients?

Just a reminder to everyone: you can only take what the market gives you.

I trade a fairly specific trading plan. In it, I specify the times that I trade and the circumstances when I don't trade. The "when to trade" part is fairly easy but the "when not to trade" part is more problematic.

Firstly, I like to trade. Trading means that I'm doing something. Not trading means I am either just sitting there or I'm away from my workstation - that's called "the week-end" and most traders hate the week-end.

Secondly, I have financial obligations like everyone else and trading is the way I meet those obligations. When I don't trade it means I'm not earning money to meet those obligations, so I don't happily stop my trading.

Having said all that, there is one thing worse than not trading. That's called "losing money". I HATE losing money because of my own negligence or stupidity. I don't mind losing trades if they are a result of sticking to my trading plan but losing money when I have ignored something I have worked out as "required"  makes me angry at myself. Lack of focus or discipline.

Stuff happens and I do lose focus and discipline. Usually it's because of something going on at home. Trading requires 100% concentration when I am working.

So my "don't trade" rules include 1. Not trading if I am concerned (to the point of distraction) about something in my personal life. And,

2. I don't trade if the market is dead. I'll either go and do something else or switch to a market that has momentum.  Which is why I traded the Bund today. It was slow easy biz. My alerter did catch them well. This stuff is not too hard.

BTW, there is a response from Shepton in the comments of the post.

"Learning is not a spectator sport" - D.Blocher

I have been asked a number of times by potential students, why they should believe my teaching works. I don't know how others try to do it, but what I do when I teach is fairly structured.

I start by defining one chart for one market using one picture. Range bars and each indicator.

I go over and over the things I want to see in the picture that would persuade me to pull the trigger. I do this first on static charts and then live as the market unfolds. I trade the trade live, explaining all my thought processes as the bars develop in front of us, working out what the order flow is and what "they" are doing. I do a pre-market prep where I envision what the day could look like so that I have a possibility structure to work within. I then evolve this vision as the market confirms it or deviates from it.

I then talk a lot about back testing and collecting statistics so that a trader BELIEVES in his methodology.

When all this is in place, the student begins SIM trading a first Trading Plan that is designed ONLY to enable trade recognition and trade execution to be achieved at a 70% plus win rate. profitability is not addressed at this first stage. Subsequent TPs add techniques that provide the profitability. There are 3 stages and 7 TPs that a student progresses through.

Each week, I get a spreadsheet from traders showing their week's progress. I have reproduced a one below, chosen at random/trader's name withheld:

This enables me to see if there is a problem or issue. Sometimes there is and we have a 1 on one and usually the next week shows a dramatic improvement.

This stuff is not so hard that it can't be learned by most. What is needed is a rigid learning structure that I provide and an enormous amount of work by the student without which they will not succeed. The harder they work, the luckier they get.

Today, the Euro FX future continued to pay the rent.

Stop the insanity

The 24-hours news cycle has an amazing way of churning out useless stories and making them appear important. This week, the "hot issue" is President Obama's comments on the proposed mosque near ground zero in New York City. He told reporters that he agreed with the local zoning decision that allowed a mosque to be built in Manhattan. And that's when things blew up.

Never mind the fact that prohibiting a mosque to be built on private property would be insanely unconstitutional, this story and Obama's reaction has absolutely no bearing on my life. Nor does it affect 99.9 percent of Americans. So why is this story being blown out of the water by pundits on cable news?

And just last week, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette put a story on its front page about a local man who tried to get his name legally changed to Boomer the Dog. This "furries" fanatic said most of his friends know him by that name, so he wanted to make it official. And this concerns me, how?

A few subscribers thought the same thing.

It's time for Americans to take a hard line against news organizations that decide to harp on minor stories rather than report accurately on actual news. The First Amendment gives reporters great latitude as they try to do their jobs properly... and I suggest they stop blowing that right on frivolous stories.

Reality Check

I had a comment in the EL Trader Training blog that really belongs here. I've reproduced it in full except  for a couple of lines where the OP is giving some incorrect legal advice.

There are a number of points raised that I would like to answer as answering them gives readers some good information. The OP's comments are italicised and mine are in red.

EL, I've read your description of the mathematics on which trading lies.  Seventy percent seems to be an awfully high standard can you demonstrate that you have the ability to achieve this?

 Yes I can. A large percentage of the attendees at the marathon training are now hitting the 70% to 80% win rate AND are profitable (some in SIM and some live).  Also, the DVDs of the training show me trading live while I am passing on the techniques to trade the pictures I trade.

If you didn't have the occasional runner would you be successful?

My methodology has a high win rate and profitability even without having a runner. Not all traders scale out. Some are all in, all out.

What is something unexpected happens? Even exchanges go down upon occasion.  Do you have a plan; e.g. hedging with options, etc?

Every trader should have a drop dead stop and targets in the market immediately after the position is put on. In fact, most broker front ends are designed to do this.

I simple see a risk:reward ration that doesn't allow for much error, where the left side is higher than the right (1:2) rather than a more comfortable (2 or better):1.

After stage 1 which is a break even stage, traders learn how to optimise their exits. The 70% plus win rate is critical to high profitability. It's clearly shown in the DVDs.

I've seen very few who can demonstrate that they earn a living by trading (please follow with the usual excuses,thank you). Gary Smith published his statement.  I've seen traders exposed as phonies, frauds, and occasionally thieves, and talked with brokers who've held accounts for other "big time" traders.

Yes, it's said that 90% of traders lose. Yes, there are phonies in every sphere of activity. I'd be surprised if brokers spoke to you or to anyone about any clients' profitability, especially high profile ones.

  I do not think that your method can be proved statistically over time especially if you are trading with an account where your risk exceeds %1;

 It has been proven statistically by computer back testing to be both profitable and have a high win rate. Also, students are proving the same thing every week with their own testing and trading.

about $40k for ES (3 lots). Your adjustable stops are a convenient tool for fuzzy logic logic and bad trading when your edge is a razor's edge.  When you bail early and dodge the bullet, and when you let it ride, become arbitrary and lead to losing trading. Sorry, but I make the rounds once in a while and I use MP so I see your blog mentioned.  The reason I take the time to write is legitimate I think: I really would like to see if you could be profitable.  It helps me think about your method and decide again that I doubt it's for me.  Also, How many students jumped on board? Do they know the details of brokerages and exchanges and how stops are held?  Do they have other accounts and escape from catastrophe plans?  Do they realize that they will have no legal recourse with a broker or exchange because only God has enough attorney to seek legal council for said purpose?

 Shepton, I feel your pain. Having individual failures as a trader is the usual. You are part of the 90% but if you develop the skills, discipline and the right mental attitude, put in the hours and hours of hard work, things can change. It requires a structured and systematic approach to the learning. Using building blocks to build a strong financial and mental structure.

And your student, do they have and extra $25k or so to lose as they learn.  Sorry, I don't have the citation but I believe the average successful trader spends in the area of $100k before reaching profitability?

My students are taught to perfect their trade in SIM. By the time they have progressed through the 7 or so Trading Plans, they are experienced and Consistently Profitable in SIM. All that is then required is to take the next step to Live. Traders do not risk ONE CENT before they KNOW that they can trade profitably. This is the beauty of SIM. It's not perfect but it's obvious to a trader that he can trade profitably. After SIM, it's easier to only have to resolve that issue of going LIVE than to try and resolve trading issues which we resolve in SIM.

................ I think there was a second daughter coming into the scene? That's where I thought this is a little um, too neat.  The training program was to be short and sweet, not a career? New training website? Hope I'm wrong.  ** This is strictly meant as a "buyer beware" message " -- part opinion but without accusation of wrong doing by me -- As with trading the consumer of any like service should be fully aware of the arrangement into which they enter.  Seek advice. Visit http;//cftc.gov/ as a matter of routine.*** I suppose you won't post this message but I may look for some posting of students elsewhere to see what they have to say. 

Why are you so angry about me teaching. If there were no teachers then people would find it hard to gain knowledge.  I have 4 grown kids. I love them all and help as much as is needed. When C. told me she wanted to go into the trader education business after she had helped me getting my marathon training going, I had to say "yes". That's what Dads do.  Besides, I found that I really liked to teach and felt I was making a difference. I am looking forward to teaching a short class 3 or 4 times a year. Additionally as cliche as it sounds, it also keeps my own trading sharp.

I realize that you sell the perfect method and people would still lose money.  We aren't in general good as seeing our own faults. - Shepton

Shepton, don't ever under-estimate the amount of time and effort that is required to become a consistently profitable trader. The competition out in the market is huge. You are trading against banks, quants, computers and lots of smart people. As I often quote: " the harder I work, the luckier I get".  As a final analogy, I'll end this blog entry with this story. One of my nieces just graduated from a Big 10 college in the U.S.  She had to attend summer school to take one final class that she couldn't seem to get her head around for the fourth time. It took her that many goes to "get it". Her mother paid four times for her to do that same course. Without her hard work and determination she would not have finally succeeded. This the least that is required to become a consistently profitable trader.

Todays's chart: Euro FX future, good trading market again today. FX volumes remain high as business carries on.