Simple and Easy

Usually trading is simple but not easy.


Today that was not the case. It was simple and it was easy. I just waited for the morning numbers to give the ES some direction and bought the pullbacks.

Crowdfunding - an alternative funding opportunity for fashion and design businesses?

Fashion labels and designer/makers have always found it difficult to raise external funding for their businesses, but in today’s challenging financial climate, it is even harder to raise money through the usual channels particularly if you are a new start up without a track record.

Which is why I find it surprising that the fashion and general design sector in this country have been slow to pick up on the crowdfunding phenomenon. Web based crowdfunding gathered momentum in 2011 and is set to grow in 2012 as businesses seek to bypass traditional lenders and find alternative ways of raising cash directly from their peers. The granddaddy of crowdfunding platforms is US based Kickstarter, which was established in 2008 and has had over  15,000 successfully funded projects. Musicians and artists were amongst the first creative disciplines to engage in crowdfunding activity.

There are now many crowdfunding sites that allow people to contribute small amounts of money, in support of an idea or project, in the creative and technology sectors. The UK has approximately 32 UK based sites, the second largest number compared to the US, which has around 185 . As they are web based, they are essentially a global platform and give businesses the opportunity to receive donations from anywhere, however some of the sites only accept pledges in certain currencies, and with Kickstarter you have to have a US bank account. Hence it can be easier to work with a UK based platform, and they also may be able to offer more support in creating a good campaign.

So what actually is it? Crowdfunding is the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the internet, to support initiatives by other people or organizations(wikipidia)

There are two main business models – the first is the rewards system, which basically means people that pledge cash to support your campaign will receive  a ‘reward’ . Some projects offer a tiered selection of rewards, depending on how much money is being contributed towards the campaign. This model has had a huge impact to thousands of talented people with an idea, but without the financial backing to make that idea become a reality

There is also equity-based crowdfunding which is used to finance businesses in all sectors, where investors receive shares in return for their financial support. This option is facilitated by sites such as UK based Crowdcube.

This model is not going to be right for everyone and as with everything there are no guarantees that you will be successful, but overall it gives an important additional opportunity to raising finance and  is a boost for creative SMEs.

At Fashion Angel we are keen for designers to understand this method of raising finance so they can make an informed decision as to whether it is right for their business or not, and if it does seem like a good fit, we want to help you give yourself the best chance of success.

Our next business club networking event on 29^th March 2012, will be focusing  on this –  our speaker is Ben Hamilton from Pleasefund.Us. We will also be joined by designers that have had the foresight to go this route and successfully raised their targets for their projects.

For more information or to book at ticket click here.

By Alison Lewy

Follow @FashionAngel1

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Misinformation

I recently saw the movie: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and it brought back memories of the Cold War. The USSR was a master of misinformation and was able to hide its impending collapse from the western powers, including the CIA.

There is a lot of misinformation surrounding learning to trade. I love the saying by Mark twain:

“It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.”

Trading should be simple. It's not that complicated. You either trade with the trend or fade the trend. The idea is to be able to identify where you are and therefore understand the risk.

If you enter a trade at the beginning of a trend then you have a lower risk than if you were late in identifying or late in pulling the trigger. New traders look for certainty and by the time you are "certain" the opportunity is gone.

Today's chart is the DAX as U.S. RTH opened. A new trend started: the EMAs opened up and turned down and the orderflow turned down. There was the first pullback where I had a quick trade and exited a third. Then on the pullback, I resold what I had covered and rode it down to 6749ish after it had made a higher low. Yes, I covered some on the way there but that's my style. The whole thing took about 18 minutes and resulted in more than 600 Euros a contract. It was simple. All it needed was the discipline, which is not easy.


Just want to share an email from a blog follower who looks like he has made it:

Just finished my first day of live trading after 5 1/2 months of sim trading. Positive 5 handles I have been doing 10 in sim for the last week or two. I just got a taste of the emotional part, trade mechanics were pretty solid.

Thank you for all of your help

Guys, people are making a business out of trading every day. The guy that wrote the email deserves a lot of respect for the work he put in. He made a plan and executed and is now reaping the rewards. Good on ya' mate.


I get a few of these a month from both just readers of the blog who I have chatted with through emails as well as students who I have mentored. Yes, sadly not everyone makes it but the prerequisite to success is a structured plan and then a dedicated and disciplined execution.

On eBooks and Indie Writers

I finally got a Kindle in June of last year. Yeah, I know. Kinda late to the game. When I first told my family I was the proud owner of a new e-reader, I had to do some apologizing. You see, my mom got a Kindle a year or two before. And I Publicly Lamented.

"Oh No! What are you doing?" (Cries) "That's not a book! That's not how you read books! It will never last!" (Insert weeping and gnashing of teeth.) "It's the end of civilization as we know it!" (Falls onto couch and sobs.)

Needless to say, I came to my senses. And while I still lean toward print books, I have to admit that my Kindle is filling up pretty quickly thanks to publisher sales and new indie titles.

Since I've become a Kindle owner, one thing I've noticed is that the titles I'm reading are diversifying. I still read 75% YA, but now I'm buying indie books that I might not normally read otherwise, because the summary looks enticing and/or the price is right. Last year, I read 34 books. Nine of those were ebooks. So far, I've read nine books in 2012. Seven of those are ebooks. Do you see where I'm going with this?

The thing I love most about epubbing is that I'm in complete control of the whole story. What many writers fail to realize about "New York" is that, once your story is accepted for publication, it's not YOUR story anymore. An editor will go in and ask for changes. A copy editor will ask for changes. A graphic artist and sales team will sit down and come up with a cover that they think will make the book saleable (whether you like it or not). . . . And that's not necessarily a bad thing. I have nothing against "New York." That's just how they operate.

The best thing about reading indie authors, though, is that the story is 100% their own. No one tried to fit them into a cookie cutter category or cram their story into a mold to follow a "trend." My stories are 100% Katie Klein, and, while I realize not everyone will enjoy them, at least I know the story I wrote is the story that was in my heart to tell.

This has never been more apparent to me than after reading the new IN HIS EYES anthology.

(Begin Shameless Plug)

Sixteen stories from sixteen authors from sixteen different guy narrators. No two stories are the same. No two stories are even CLOSE to being the same. Each is its own unique creation, full of heart and imagination. And "New York" might stick its head in the sand and pretend not to notice this little Indie Revolution, but, while they're doing that, they're missing out on some insanely gifted writers.


But that's okay, because stories that were previously overlooked are now making their way into the world. This leaves me, the reader, with more titles from which to choose. More options. And let me tell you: there are some real gems out there.

IN HIS EYES is FREE on Smashwords. Even if you've shied away from Indie titles before, I dare you to download it and not find a new book to add to the top of your TBR pile.

I Dare You. :)

~Katie~

Business Meetings Online

Catch the Wave of the FutureAre you new to business meetings online? If so, you need to get with the program! Holding business meetings online is becoming an accepted, even encouraged, practice in today's enterprise. Hosting or attending business meetings online is an essential component of business communications.Today's online meetings are collaborative affairs. You can share applications

TalkBin Stories: Patama Roj of Fraiche

Editor’s Note: TalkBin enables customers to send mobile messages to business owners in real-time, like a digital comment card. To learn more, visit talkbin.com.

The pace of life for a small business owner is unrelenting. Just ask Patama Roj, co-founder and owner of Fraiche, a company based in Palo Alto, California that serves homemade organic fresh and frozen yogurt, coffee and breakfast goods. Patama is dedicated to serving food that "speaks for itself," and customers are loving it.

With three locations though (two in Palo Alto and one in San Francisco), it’s hard to understand what’s going on across the business. That’s why Patama started using TalkBin to stay connected with customers even when she’s not in a particular store. Customers ask questions and provide feedback, which helps her understand exactly what's going on in each location. "It was important for me to find a way to get this feedback real-time," she says. And with TalkBin, business owners like Patama can receive this instant feedback without sharing personal mobile phone information, since TalkBin provides a special, customer-facing phone number and forwards feedback to your phone or email.

The ability to receive TalkBin messages on her cell phone makes responding quick and convenient for Patama as well. "Customers are always surprised to hear they're getting a text back from the owner!” she says.

Interested in using TalkBin in your store too? Get three months free when you sign up with promo code BLOGSMB-2 at www.talkbin.com/signup/user.

Posted by Qasar Younis, Product Manager

LIFFEs a Ball

I just received an invitation to a ball to celebrate the London International Financial Futures Exchange's 30th anniversary.

Looking back, I think the thing I liked best there was the money. There were some great guys and gals. There were also a lot of less likeable people. All in all, I guess it was a representation of a broad range of people that exist in the world. The one thing most of us had in common was the desire to make money. Some were more aggressive and unprincipled at it than others. I guess it brought out the worst in many people, but in others it brought out the best.


Today I worked a total of about 2 hours. I traded the DAX open and then the miniRussell2k (TF) RTH open. Below are the results. As my Daddy said, "use brains, not brawn".


The DAX (3 point range bars) grabbed a quick 100 Euro per contract. The first trade did a little better than the chart as I dragged the limit down a couple of ticks. The fourth trade was actually filled at a tick worse as I over-rode the limit order by a tick. Eight trades, 800 Euro/contract in 1 hour 45 minutes.

The TF:I traded a 6 tick range bar.This is Flo entering the trades with me managing them. The algo has an optimized first scale out point and I exit the first trade there and then manage the other two thirds of the position. This is the optimal way of trading, in my opinion as I can substantially increase profitability. Here you see 1 loser and then two winners. the second trade had 1/3 out at the exit you see and 2/3 at about 1.50 lower. Just after I exited, Flo went short again but I saw the support on the MP and took a quick profit.