[dpaterso]

Yo everyone,

OK: first a big thank you to John for the confirmation. Seems I've been under a bit of an 'illusion' here!!!

Right: what this really means to ME then is this:

As we have now found out (love the way John explains things i.e. none of my 'waffle') leverage is NOT going to make a difference to what MAY happen to your account (ASSUMING you follow a good set of money management rules of course) it's WHAT you trade that's going to make the difference SO it then really makes no difference whether you trade the Dow Futures at GCI or the Dow 'proper' at Delta. With that in mind it DOES then make a difference whether or not you trade Soybeans for example i.e. it would appear then that it's NOT a good idea to trade Soybeans with a $500 account!!! In other words it's the INSTRUMENT that's being traded and the value per tick / point / pip movement of that instrument in relation to your capital that's important. FINALLY!!! (I think I've got it John)!!!

Tom:

Geez: I thought WE always got 'the last shipping container to leave Amazon' over here!!! I have been trading with the SI System on different timeframes and it always seems to work. As with ANY system the shorter the timeframe, the more 'false starts' you're going to get and the less your potential profits and losses are but the SI System does appear to work on ANY timeframe. I'm currently working on the 4 hour timeframe and it's working well (but I cannot honestly say that it's any better or any worse on the 1 hour timeframe). As I think I mentioned earlier: as long as you 'stick' with the system regardless, do not 'second guess' it, take your losses 'like a man', ride out your profits 'like a veteran trader', and never forget to place stop and reverse orders, I don't see how you or I can go wrong (again)!!! As far as pips per week / month go I don't count them i.e. I only look at percentage gain on starting capital at the beginning of the month / period and I can tell you that MY average is VERY HIGH (sorry but I unfortuantely cannot be more specific than that nowadays because of my business. The only clue I can give is this: if the banks gave you 100% per annum on your money you'd not even be close). To be honest: I am surprised myself BUT having said that the really strange thing is this: I am doing OK NOW BUT NO NECESSARILY because of the SI System!!! Now I know you're all 'throwing your hands up' and saying 'NOW what is he on about'!!! It has taken me a VERY long time to learn this but FINALLY the 'penny has dropped' and you know what the 'secret' to this business is: MONEY MANAGEMENT and VERY STRICT adherence to it!!! All of Wilder's systems work on the stop and reverse principal and if you're overtrading your account it does not matter HOW good his systems are you will STILL 'wipe out'. Why? Because if a trade is 'bad' (and there will always be 'bad' trades): you stop and reverse when signalled, take the loss, and let the new position run. If you're overtrading your account: one or two successive losses could put you in such a bad position that you CAN no longer stop and reverse when necessary and with Wilder's systems that's 'the thing' i.e. if the first trade is 'bad' then next trade after the stop and reverse almost always covers the loss on the initial trade AND makes a profit over and above that. If you're overtrading and you can only stop and not do the stop and reverse because you've now run out of margin then it's only a matter time before you're either reaching for the credit card to 'pump up' your account OR you're 'out'. And it's not easy I can tell you i.e. sometimes I find myself opening positions that will 'j-u-s-t' push my money management percentages over their limit and guess what: I have mastered the art to say 'NO'. 'NO TRADE'!!! 'TRADE MISSED'!!! 'THERE WILL BE ANOTHER ONE'!!! I either close pending orders that will push my money management percentages over their limit (even 1% over) if I find I've placed too many orders or I don't even think about placing an order if I'm going to use even $0.01 more of total margin / margin required for the position that my money management rules permit. You will NOT believe the difference this makes and the stress that it relieves. When a position is going 'south' on you (me) you no longer sit with a 'sick' feeling in your stomach or feel the need to 'jump' on the position and take the loss because you can't stand it anymore OR because you're heading for a margin call. You are able to 'ride' the position out (be it profit or loss) KNOWING that if it's a bad trade you WILL get another good trade, cover the loss, and come out on top in the end. Oh and this week I've been pretty much concentrating on the major forex pairs with the SI System (probably for no other good reason than to prove a point to someone)!!! It works.

Boca:

I am so very pleased that you are happy with the book. It took me a LONG time to grasp many things (and the one or two mistakes in the book don't help at all I can assure you) BUT I can tell you that it's the best $70 or so (I bought mine before I knew any of you so NO DISCOUNT for ME) that I will EVER spend in my life!!!