Thoughts about the markets, automated trading algorithms, artificial intelligence, and lots of other stuff

  • The Hows and Whys of Firewalking

    090628 firewalking I recently went to a Tony Robbins seminar in Toronto. One of the highlights of the event was the Firewalk, which is a barefoot walk across red-hot embers.

    Learning the technique is not really that hard (it is basically walking at
    a normal pace, while not hesitating or tripping).  The hard part is doing that knowing that there are burning embers under your feet.

    It is breath-taking on several levels.  The firewalk is cool in-and-of-itself;
    isn't it?  So, it doesn't have to mean anything beyond doing
    it.  Yet, there are some great opportunities to make it more impactful by leveraging what you make the experience mean.

    For example you can use the
    experience as a powerful memory, triggering feelings of being able to do
    anything you commit to … or breaking through what used to be your limits.  Or the firewalk can be taken as a metaphor for life … and being able to put yourself into a resourceful state, and choosing to take the right action regardless of what's happening externally or in your mind.

    What Goes Through Your Mind?

    I was scared the first time I walked on fire. Even though I knew it would do it, when I got to the front of the line, looked down, saw the burning embers, and smelled the smoke … my mind wanted to scream "NO"!!  I had a whole lifetime of conditioning that touching hot things was dangerous, and certainly walking barefoot across hot coals made little sense to my logical mind, and even less sense to that primal instinct part of the mind that's there to protect me.

    That's why many of the techniques used in the seminars revolve around getting into a peak state, and filling your head with phrases that you repeat again, and again, and again. If you're saying "yes", "yes", "yes" … There's no room for your brain to say "no".

    Is It State of Mind … Or Science?

    I'm not going to pretend I understand the science of why it's possible to walk barefoot for 30 or 40 feet across burning coals, without injuring yourself. But you don't have to be a scientist to guess that hesitating in the middle might have painful consequences.  This video is well done and explains a lot.

    Here is a link to the video, and a post from the Skeptic's Dictionary about how fire-walking works.

    It is Better the Second Time Around.

    I've done the firewalk many times now, and still enjoy it. It's really interesting to watch the faces of people doing it for the first time. Some express abject terror, others pump themselves up into a manic state, while still others follow the crowd with a glazed look on their face.

    0906028 HMG Safe and HappyThis time, I tried something different than what I've done before. Instead of working myself into a peak state and charging across the coals triumphantly, I wanted to do it from a place of calm resolve. To me this is a different type of peak state.

    In some ways it's about being more present to the situation and my own capabilities. Since I had done this before, being afraid would be somewhat irrational (however emotions do not have to be logical). I didn't want to numb myself to the experience by focusing internally, or by jacking-myself-up into a warrior state; instead I wanted to enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of what was happening — and how cool it was to do this from a purposeful intent.

    A Little Bit of Mastery Goes a Long Way.

    As a trader, the winning, losing, and the uncertainty and certainly trigger fear, greed, and doubt. Learning to master these states, and keeping a clear head, leads to a much longer career.

    It's funny, because I wasn't sure that going through this exercise again would have the same impact. It did, just for different reasons than I have before. I highly recommend it. Feel free to contact me if you have questions or comments.  I'd love to hear about your experiences.

  • The Hows and Whys of Firewalking

    090628 firewalking I recently went to a Tony Robbins seminar in Toronto. One of the highlights of the event was the Firewalk, which is a barefoot walk across red-hot embers.

    Learning the technique is not really that hard (it is basically walking at
    a normal pace, while not hesitating or tripping).  The hard part is doing that knowing that there are burning embers under your feet.

    It is breath-taking on several levels.  The firewalk is cool in-and-of-itself;
    isn't it?  So, it doesn't have to mean anything beyond doing
    it.  Yet, there are some great opportunities to make it more impactful by leveraging what you make the experience mean.

    For example you can use the
    experience as a powerful memory, triggering feelings of being able to do
    anything you commit to … or breaking through what used to be your limits.  Or the firewalk can be taken as a metaphor for life … and being able to put yourself into a resourceful state, and choosing to take the right action regardless of what's happening externally or in your mind.

    What Goes Through Your Mind?

    I was scared the first time I walked on fire. Even though I knew it would do it, when I got to the front of the line, looked down, saw the burning embers, and smelled the smoke … my mind wanted to scream "NO"!!  I had a whole lifetime of conditioning that touching hot things was dangerous, and certainly walking barefoot across hot coals made little sense to my logical mind, and even less sense to that primal instinct part of the mind that's there to protect me.

    That's why many of the techniques used in the seminars revolve around getting into a peak state, and filling your head with phrases that you repeat again, and again, and again. If you're saying "yes", "yes", "yes" … There's no room for your brain to say "no".

    Is It State of Mind … Or Science?

    I'm not going to pretend I understand the science of why it's possible to walk barefoot for 30 or 40 feet across burning coals, without injuring yourself. But you don't have to be a scientist to guess that hesitating in the middle might have painful consequences.  This video is well done and explains a lot.

    Here is a link to the video, and a post from the Skeptic's Dictionary about how fire-walking works.

    It is Better the Second Time Around.

    I've done the firewalk many times now, and still enjoy it. It's really interesting to watch the faces of people doing it for the first time. Some express abject terror, others pump themselves up into a manic state, while still others follow the crowd with a glazed look on their face.

    0906028 HMG Safe and HappyThis time, I tried something different than what I've done before. Instead of working myself into a peak state and charging across the coals triumphantly, I wanted to do it from a place of calm resolve. To me this is a different type of peak state.

    In some ways it's about being more present to the situation and my own capabilities. Since I had done this before, being afraid would be somewhat irrational (however emotions do not have to be logical). I didn't want to numb myself to the experience by focusing internally, or by jacking-myself-up into a warrior state; instead I wanted to enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of what was happening — and how cool it was to do this from a purposeful intent.

    A Little Bit of Mastery Goes a Long Way.

    As a trader, the winning, losing, and the uncertainty and certainly trigger fear, greed, and doubt. Learning to master these states, and keeping a clear head, leads to a much longer career.

    It's funny, because I wasn't sure that going through this exercise again would have the same impact. It did, just for different reasons than I have before. I highly recommend it. Feel free to contact me if you have questions or comments.  I'd love to hear about your experiences.

  • You Can Still Change The World

    Here is a quick video about Inspiration and Entrepreneurship.

    It begins with the question, “Do you remember when you were a kid…And you thought you could do anything?” and then proceeds to tell the viewer that the hope possessed as children is renewable as an adult, and as an entrepreneur. It is well-done, fun, and only takes about two minutes. So, seize the day … and watch the video.

    Direct link to video on YouTube.

    Read more about the video in this WSJ article.

  • You Can Still Change The World

    Here is a quick video about Inspiration and Entrepreneurship.

    It begins with the question, “Do you remember when you were a kid…And you thought you could do anything?” and then proceeds to tell the viewer that the hope possessed as children is renewable as an adult, and as an entrepreneur. It is well-done, fun, and only takes about two minutes. So, seize the day … and watch the video.

    Direct link to video on YouTube.

    Read more about the video in this WSJ article.

  • Capitalogix Commentary 06/21/09

    Time flies when you are having fun.  We're almost halfway through the year, and the markets have rallied now for three-plus months. That sounds positive … So why are so many people focused on the  Federal Reserve's two-day meeting that ends Wednesday?  My guess is that many investors will be watching for any changes in the long-term economic outlook.

    So we are at a Tipping Point, once again.  There is cash on the sidelines waiting for a sign that it's safe to get back in the game; and there are investors who are looking to protect their rally profits, or are afraid of the next leg down.

    This daily chart of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index highlights what bulls and bears see.  We'll soon know which is more committed.

    090621 Dow Analysis 600p

    From my perspective, I understand why discretionary traders might want to try to buy this pull-back.  There is a clear Risk-Reward; and it's easy to set your stop.  However, experience warns me to be wary of set-ups like this where market breadth is weakening.  My wife doesn't like charts that have too many marks on them … she says they are confusing.  So I tried to find a different image that conveys what this chart may be whispering to the little bird.

    I Feel Good

    Finally, I was reading Paul Kedrosky's blog when I ran across this chart showing the price of crude oil from 1861 through 2208.  It comes from BP.  It provides an interesting perspective.

    090621 Crude Oil Prices Since 1861

    Business Posts Moving the Markets that I Found Interesting This Week:

    Lighter Ideas and Fun Links that I Found Interesting This Week

  • Capitalogix Commentary 06/21/09

    Time flies when you are having fun.  We're almost halfway through the year, and the markets have rallied now for three-plus months. That sounds positive … So why are so many people focused on the  Federal Reserve's two-day meeting that ends Wednesday?  My guess is that many investors will be watching for any changes in the long-term economic outlook.

    So we are at a Tipping Point, once again.  There is cash on the sidelines waiting for a sign that it's safe to get back in the game; and there are investors who are looking to protect their rally profits, or are afraid of the next leg down.

    This daily chart of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index highlights what bulls and bears see.  We'll soon know which is more committed.

    090621 Dow Analysis 600p

    From my perspective, I understand why discretionary traders might want to try to buy this pull-back.  There is a clear Risk-Reward; and it's easy to set your stop.  However, experience warns me to be wary of set-ups like this where market breadth is weakening.  My wife doesn't like charts that have too many marks on them … she says they are confusing.  So I tried to find a different image that conveys what this chart may be whispering to the little bird.

    I Feel Good

    Finally, I was reading Paul Kedrosky's blog when I ran across this chart showing the price of crude oil from 1861 through 2208.  It comes from BP.  It provides an interesting perspective.

    090621 Crude Oil Prices Since 1861

    Business Posts Moving the Markets that I Found Interesting This Week:

    Lighter Ideas and Fun Links that I Found Interesting This Week

  • Pixar’s “UP” an Eye-Opener

    090621 Pixar UP I highly recommend seeing the new Disney – Pixar movie, UP, in 3-D.  It was terrific … much better than I hoped or expected.

    Frankly, when my son asked me to see it with him, I agreed reluctantly.  As he later reminded me, Pixar movies usually are better than you'd guess.

    The animation was as good as I expected.  Yet, the 3-D effects were the best I've seen, because it seemed real and natural, rather than a gimmick.

    On the surface, this adventure comedy is about an old-man trying to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America.  Then soon after setting-out, he learns he isn't alone on his journey, since a
    wilderness explorer — 70 years his junior — has somehow become a
    stowaway on the trip.

    The story and underlying message were good and uplifting. And not just because the old-man choice of transportation was to tie thousands of balloons to his home.

    It is worth the few extra dollars to see this in 3-D.

  • Pixar’s “UP” an Eye-Opener

    090621 Pixar UP I highly recommend seeing the new Disney – Pixar movie, UP, in 3-D.  It was terrific … much better than I hoped or expected.

    Frankly, when my son asked me to see it with him, I agreed reluctantly.  As he later reminded me, Pixar movies usually are better than you'd guess.

    The animation was as good as I expected.  Yet, the 3-D effects were the best I've seen, because it seemed real and natural, rather than a gimmick.

    On the surface, this adventure comedy is about an old-man trying to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America.  Then soon after setting-out, he learns he isn't alone on his journey, since a
    wilderness explorer — 70 years his junior — has somehow become a
    stowaway on the trip.

    The story and underlying message were good and uplifting. And not just because the old-man choice of transportation was to tie thousands of balloons to his home.

    It is worth the few extra dollars to see this in 3-D.

  • Clusters of Thoughts

    It surprises me how many of
    my thoughts cluster on a particular theme for a period of time. I guess it makes sense because I think and write about things
    I notice that catch my interest.  And as my focus changes from time to time,
    what interests me changes.  It is kind of like not being able to get a song out of your head … only it's about what you focus on.

    090614 Tony RobbinsI heard a good explanation for this at a Tony Robbins seminar this week.

    He
    has an exercise where you open your eyes and look around the room,
    paying attention to anything that has a bright green color to it.

    Try it, look around the room noticing everything you can remember that has green in or on it.

    Then
    close your eyes, and without looking around again, try to remember
    anything that was red.  You probably can remember a lot more green
    things, than red things.

    Tony calls this "reticular activation".
    But it's just a fancy name for the same reason that if you buy a white
    Lexus, all of a sudden you see white Lexus cars everywhere you go. The
    things you focus-on show up more often in your life simply because you
    notice them more often.

    If you're curious, this week, the theme that I'm noticing in my personal, professional and business life is time, speed and pace. Here's a link to that post.

  • Clusters of Thoughts

    It surprises me how many of
    my thoughts cluster on a particular theme for a period of time. I guess it makes sense because I think and write about things
    I notice that catch my interest.  And as my focus changes from time to time,
    what interests me changes.  It is kind of like not being able to get a song out of your head … only it's about what you focus on.

    090614 Tony RobbinsI heard a good explanation for this at a Tony Robbins seminar this week.

    He
    has an exercise where you open your eyes and look around the room,
    paying attention to anything that has a bright green color to it.

    Try it, look around the room noticing everything you can remember that has green in or on it.

    Then
    close your eyes, and without looking around again, try to remember
    anything that was red.  You probably can remember a lot more green
    things, than red things.

    Tony calls this "reticular activation".
    But it's just a fancy name for the same reason that if you buy a white
    Lexus, all of a sudden you see white Lexus cars everywhere you go. The
    things you focus-on show up more often in your life simply because you
    notice them more often.

    If you're curious, this week, the theme that I'm noticing in my personal, professional and business life is time, speed and pace. Here's a link to that post.