Sporadic Market Movement?

One of the features of these lower volume markets seems to be more sporadic activity. The market can be quiet and then there is a burst of activity. Discretionary traders sitting in front of screens often miss the move unless they have stop entry orders in the market. This is not possible if the market doesn't set up properly.


The medicine for this seems to be to trade bigger size for smaller targets on the pullback following the move. This is not possible for everyone due to both experience and financial resources. Just another "feature" of the transition we are going through.

Project 104 - our second mentoring session

Project 104's designer Sarah Reader and I  had our second mentoring session on a lovely sunny  March day. I was so excited to find out what Sarah had been up to since our last session and was blown away by how much she had managed to achieve in the four weeks.

From not having any formal plan in place, using the Fashion Angel Business Plan Guide, she has now started to put together her  business plan and strategy for going forward with the business, and we have started to develop her USP and key messages that will be used to reflect her brand across all communications.

Project 104 jackets are now on sale on the Etsy.com website and she is investigating other online retail opportunities, as well as the development of her own website which is now underway.

An opportunity has risen for Sarah to participate in a pop up shop in May – this is a great way for her to promote her brand and generate income. Sarah attended our ‘Setting up an Accessory Business’ workshop and as we are moving into Spring/Summer season, has wisely decided to design a Project 104  limited edition accessory range.

It’s tight, but we worked out a manageable schedule so she can make up  enough stock to sell at the pop up shop and then online.

Accessories serve as a good way of allowing consumers to buy in to your brand at an entry price point level, even if they can’t afford to buy from a main collection.

It’s been a tiring month, juggling all the work entailed with starting a new brand, especially when you are also working part time and on a tight budget, but Sarah has done tremendously well and we are all very impressed with her progress so far.

As ever, we  finished the  session with some clear actions and target completion dates before our next session at the end of April.

Author Alison Lewy Follow @FashionAngel1

Making Money

Being a trader means going to the market and getting a payday every day. This means aligning my operations to the context in which I'm trading.


The environment we are in is one of generally falling volumes in futures. Options on the other hand seem to be increasing in volume.


As I was making my transition from the floor back to "upstairs", I spent a few months on a DTB terminal (that used to be the only way of trading what is now Eurex futures markets) in my clearing firm's office. The DEUTSCHE TERMINAL BOURSE as EUREX then was, required that terminals be only placed in specific places and remote trading was only a hope. Another LIFFE local that I knew, started PATS to overcome this issue.


Anyway, in that clearer's office was another guy I knew who had moved upstairs as he had not succeeded on the floor. He was day trading OEX options through TimberHill (now part of what is Interactivebrokers). He was almost swing day trading these options, quite successfully. I have copied this idea using my own EL methodologies that you have all seen. In times when the volumes and/or volatility is such as it is, trading options on this basis may be worthwhile exploring if you are an ES trader having issues with this current environment, maybe not OEX now but perhaps SPX options.


The ES started with a very narrow range. The DAX on the other hand was like the EverReady bunny, just keeping on.

The time is NOW!

 As per usual, I'm not going to get into deep details of this article. I will post many links for you to review and let you get on with your own research and draw your own conclusions.

 This article was posted a few weeks ago by Greg Giles, a very well known Lightworker and a channel for the Galactic Federation.  Yes, a channel.  Like many other Lightworkers on our planet Greg is in telepathic contact with various members of our Cosmic Friends.  Many people have a hard time coming to terms with this concept, but through my research it is apparent that our Cosmic Friends have been contacting humans on our planet for many many years through the use of telepathy - that is, speaking directly mind to mind.  Just about every article and story about encounters of the "third kind" reveals that the use of telepathy is key.  Some of these channels have been writing about their contact experiences and the messages they have been given for decades, some as far back as the 70's.

One of the most interesting things about these channelled messages is that over the course of the past couple of months the messages have been very similar and in the past few weeks, the messages have been almost identical in content.  I think  that Greg's article below give's us the best understanding of "Why".

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Lives For A Life Changing Newsflash!

All your life you have waited for the good news, and that day has finally come. Very soon you will witness large-scale mass arrests all ov...er the world of many men and women who you have come to know as our world's political and financial leaders. These arrests will reach high into the U.S. Government and include many members of the financial and banking worlds. Many of these names you will immediately recognize, though some you may not immediately recognize, but all have actively taken part in serious crimes against the people, leaving our nations bankrupt why they looted our hard earned money.

These arrests are groundbreaking, and these arrests are Earth changing. Humanity will finally be free from the tyrannical control of these powerbrokers commonly known as the Cabal. These arrests should come as no surprise to many of us as we all know deep down that there is something very wrong with this world, a place where so many go to bed hungry at night while a few others possess not millions or billions, but trillions of dollars, pilfered from the labors of the people. There has always been enough wealth on this planet to go around, yet these few men and women have been dividing up for themselves virtually all of the wealth of our world, leaving only crumbs for the rest of us to compete over. Upon these arrests, this will now change.

Many new projects will immediately be implemented under the new leadership of men and women of the highest integrity who are committed to restoring our world to the utopia it once was, governed by a constitutional and true democratic process. There are many men and women dedicated to this cause throughout the US Government, agencies at the Pentagon, militaries, the financial sector, as well as the private business sector who have committed so much of their lives to this effort, and they are so eager to present to humanity our new system of abundance that they have been working so diligently on in secret for years. As part of these proceedings, vast sums of wealth that have been stolen from the people will be redistributed through programs that will benefit greatly every man, woman and child on the planet. No one will be overlooked, and no one will be forgotten.

And there is more.

Upon the arrests of these many members of the criminal Cabal, the second phase of this operation will commence. Today our world is being visited by many spiritually enlightened beings who wish to openly reunite with their ancient family. These spiritually advanced men and women are assisting in the disarmament of the criminal Cabal which has controlled much of the world's military and possessed highly advanced weapons systems.

These advanced ancestors of the human race appear just as we do, although there are other beings that we shall meet as well that do not look like we do. All are ascended spiritual beings who are only here to assist us make the changes we all know deep down inside need to be made. These beings are the original planners of this world, and are the same advanced civilizations that built many of the great archaeological mysteries such as the pyramids in Egypt. They are not strangers to us at all, as we are their ancestors, all of us.

A very important social experiment has been conducted here over many years and each of us has been a part of it. We have been left here, seemingly all alone, to work things out for ourselves. This experiment is now over and it has been a tremendous success. We are now about to reunite with our brothers and sisters from the stars and be welcomed into the greater Galactic Community.
As they are many worlds that go by many names, it is easier to refer to them at this time by the name of their peaceful alliances: The Galactic Federation of Light, and the Ashtar Command.
Upon these arrests and our reunion with our Star Family, all the problems of our world will be quickly and smoothly brought into the alignment of our new Golden Age society through the leadership of souls of pure hearted intent. Through a worldwide community effort, all wars, hunger, poverty, illness, and pollution will soon be a thing of the past, as will our lives of daily servitude. Advanced technologies will replace our need to labor our lives away, and everyone will be free to pursue every creative dream they have ever had.

All this will begin with the imminent arrests of the many members of the criminal Cabal, and these arrests will take place as soon as a suitable number of our planet’s citizens are aware of what these proceedings will mean for our society. This is why you are reading these words today, as many members of your human family are doing all they can to share this news with you and do their part to usher in our civilizations new Golden age of peace, freedom, and prosperity for every man, woman and child throughout our world. Celebrations the world over are certainly appropriate and are encouraged by the Galactic Federation of Light, as it is important that humanity sees these arrests as good news and not more of the bad that we have become so accustomed.

Please participate in this great cause by sharing this message on Facebook and other online social networks. This is your chance to really make a difference and be a leader of your fellow man. If we all do our part to spread this news, we will all begin to witness these high profile arrests all around the world, and this will be your sign that everything you just read is true.

The Message from the many many channellings is that we are here.  The time has come, and now we need to act.  This is what I meant in my first article  when I said:

"I want to explain to everyone what is going on right now all across our planet. This is not going to be an easy task, as much of what I have to say is going to shatter beliefs and the preconceived notions of how our world works, on all levels, and the shock of it might be so profound that many will refuse to believe it.  Before I start I want to say something to you all. I am putting this out here for you to read because it's my job to do so.  It is the job of everyone who knows what is really going on around us, even if you know only small piece of the puzzle, to tell others and help them take their off their blindfolds.  We have a responsibility to our friends and family and neighbours and even the grocer down the street, to help them understand. Even if they don't believe you, you've planted the seed in their minds, and when the massive changes happen, they will be better prepared to understand. "

It is the job of the Channels, the Lightworkers, and the people who KNOW and who understand what is going on to tell the world.

If you would like to follow what is being said by these Channels and Lightworkers, here is a list (by no means an exhaustive one!) of some websites that update almost daily with the current news and channelled messages.  I do not vouch for any one of them. That is for you to decide as we are told that we must listen to the messages that resonate within our hearts and minds.

http://ascensionearth2012.blogspot.ca/

http://the2012scenario.com/

http://aquariuschannelings.com/

http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/

http://shiftfrequency.com/

http://kryon.com/altindex.html

http://www.ascensionwithearth.com/

http://divinecosmos.com/

http://2012indyinfo.com/

http://lightworkers.org/

http://soundofheart.org/galacticfreepress/

For those that want to research and feed the addiction of feeding your brain, here are some key words and phrases to "google".

• Lightworkers, Lightwarriors
• Galactic Federation
• Ashtar Command
• Starseeds, Walk ins
• Indigo, Crystal, and Rainbow Children
• Prosperity Packages

.... that should keep you busy for a while!

FLAWED EVALUATION; PROTEST SUSTAINED

GAO recently sustained another protest in which the Army failed to evaluate proposals solely on the factors identified in the solicitation.  GAO recommended reevaluation and, if necessary, discussions and revised proposals.  Costs and fees to be paid to the protester.  We continue to report on these GAO decisions to make the point that evaluation criteria must be clearly stated and scrupulously followed in the source selection process.

The protester complained that the Army unreasonably found the successful awardee's proposal satisfied the minimum requirements for key personnel experience at an accredited hospital.  The requirement stated the length of continuous experience at a particular type of accredited hospital.  GAO found the successful awardee's proposed key personnel fell short of the requirement.  Offerors were informed that award would be made on a LPTA basis but listed several evaluation criteria to be judged on a pass/fail basis.

GAO stated agencies are required to evaluate proposals based solely on the factors identified in the solicitation and they must adequately document the bases for their evaluation conclusions.  Agencies may evaluate on a basis not expressly presented in the solicitation but there must be a clear connection between the stated criteria and the unstated considerations.  GAO does not second guess agencies but it will question the agency's conclusions where they are inconsistent with the solicitation criteria, are undocumented or are not reasonably based.

The case also involved an alleged violation of the Procurement Integrity Act (an Army employee leaked documents to an offeror other than the protester), but GAO denied that aspect of the protest.  The Army investigated the matter and determined that the documents involved were publicly available and not procurement sensitive information.  Furthermore, GAO found the protester was not prejudiced by any alleged disclosure of the information.  "Even where a protester shows an actual or potential violation of the PIA, our inquiry does not end there.  Rather, the question becomes whether the alleged PIA violation created an infair competitive advantage."  Competivie prejudice is an essential element of a winning protest.

In addition to these blogs, we also send alerts to our clients and friends in what we call Client Information Bulletins.  No obligation.  If you would like to be on our emailing list for these bulletins, let us know at bill@spriggsconsultingservices.com or bill@spriggslawgroup.com. 

bill@spriggslawgroup.com

The Art of Novel Ninjutsu

It's true. I'm a little ninja-obsessed. But not because I think killing people in their sleep is awesome. Or that I'd look good in black pajamas and toe-socks. It's writing ninjas that I think are cool.

See, writing ninjas train until our writing muscles are wearing and we just can't take any more.

And then we train some more.

We kill our darlings. Slit the throat of our beautiful prose.

We slash pages and pages of worthless stuff.

 

A writing ninja knows the importance of focus, imagination and feeling. She regularly seeks the opportunity to meditate on her story. 

The writing ninja can write anytime, anywhere. He knows the best time to get the job done is right now.

A writing ninja expects to work. Expects to be awesome. She expects it--and so it is true.

A writing ninja is successful not only because she is fearless and fierce, but also because she doesn't do what's always been done.

A writing ninja shows respect for those who have come before him and he helps those who are following behind.

The writing ninja knows he can always improve; that there is no end to learning. 

Wait. Didn't say this was the art of NOVEL ninjutsu? Sure, I didn't tell you how to write a novel. But I promise you, if you practice the way of the writing ninja, you will write THE END on the most amazing novel you can write. 

Because that's what writing ninjas do--they write, and they conquer.

Learn with Google: Get advice and information to help grow your business

Business owners want to understand how online search and marketing works, and make sure they’re getting the most out of the efforts they put in. With that in mind, we’re excited to introduce you to Learn with Google. Whether you’re just getting online, interested in marketing, or itching to do more, Learn with Google can help. On the site you’ll find videos, how-to guides, and worksheets, all of which will help you effectively promote your business online.

Here’s an example of the types of resources you can find at Learn with Google. This video shows you how to connect with local customers online.

Did you know that one out of five Google searches is related to location? This video gives you tips to:

• Make your website more local-friendly
• Connect with customers on Google+
• Bring in customers with reviews

When you’re done with the video you can download the worksheet, which will walk you through the process to start reaching more customers in your area.

Posted by Sadie Stoumen, Product Marketing Manager