TLC Weekly Update January 31, 2020

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Completed my second webinar yesterday. The explanation webinar is really long overdue but I just couldn’t do it over past 2 years. So here it is, my introduction webinar about my Real-Time Commentaries service and my approach to discretionary day trading Emini.

It took several rewrites until yesterday before I am satisfied with the presentation. It is something I know will help a lot of traders, no matter they subscribe to my service or not. Hence I make it available for free!

I came across this story posted by Tim Ferriss. Trust me, just read it.

Nassim is doing it again, interesting read about tail events and the relationship with strength training. Not that I totally agree with him, but his examples on things not related to body fitness are good reminder of the importance of paying attention to tail events when building anything that is expected to be used rigorously in the real world.

I should finally have time to wrap up the reorganization of my office. That means it is time for me to decide if I will show up in my videos. Maybe time to find an acting coach?

Until next time, have a nice weekend all!

TLC Weekly Update January 10, 2020

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The first real work week of year 2020 turns out to be as hectic as my schedule back in Hong Kong – long meetings with my business partners on new year goals and needs, pitching several investment opportunities to my friends with venture capital firms and family offices, and follow ups with programmers on various programming projects that must be completed this month.

It feels good to see things are getting done though. Last year was a challenging year as I tried to put in place all these foundations on automated trading for retail investors and training courses for retail traders, it takes grit for my team to see it through. I am very happy with what we have accomplished so far and I am sure year 2020 will be an amazing year.

Talking about grit, if you have not watch this video from Ted about it, you should. It is a short video from Angela Duckworth. In her own words, “Grit is the one measure that separate those who can achieve their long term goals from those who can’t.” For those of you who want to take on an ambitious goal this year, maybe you need the reminder to keep you on track.

Lately, I have been asked many times by others on whether the US stock market will see a correction. My answer is simple,”If you do not mind holding onto your long term positions with a 10 to 15 percent correction tomorrow, there is nothing to do. But if you mind or want to time the market, be ready for a market that takes full time attention from you to pull this off.”

I expect my work schedule to be very different from last year so I will have time to write on other things in this blog, not just the weekly updates. I have quite a number of requests asking me to write about other subjects from astrology to alternative medicines. I will make that happen.

People ask me why I keep writing these weekly updates. Well, it is my way to track my life so that, in retrospect, everyone can see if the 10 year and 12 year cycle are happening to me too. It is also my open journal to keep my loved ones knowing what I am up to since I may not be able to see them often given my schedule.

TLC Weekly Update January 3, 2020

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Good to be recovering from my sickness. One benefit from being ill is that I lose all the weight gained during the trip. So no need to figure out how to reduce those weight anymore. Just that getting a six-pack this year will still be quite far fetched … I am still hopeful!

Came across this article on using the mental technique of speaking to yourself in the third person can make you wiser. Well, it is exactly what I advocate for a long time to help traders improve their decision making ability. This technique is not something new as the article pointed out that even Julius Caesar used the method to improve his thought process.

Talking about New Year resolution – I have many projects that are yet to be completed. Given last year’s momentum, I am sure I can get quite a number of them wrapped up this year. The ones that I wanted to get done this year (in no particular order):

1. Courseware on Market Breadth Based Day Trading Strategies

2. At least 6 webinars / video lessons for DaytradingBias and the training courses

3. Release of my day trading strategies for gold future, bond future, etc.

4. Release of 2nd edition of Special Theory of Price Discovery

#4 holds very special meaning for me because having the 2nd edition released this year would be the 10th anniversary of the initial release of the first edition. I have the edited version of first edition on hand and I have already wrote like 50% more. I still feel like I have not put enough explanation there to help traders seeing the financial markets in my way, which is drastically different from the norm out there.

Very happy that I get to play these mini puzzles with my son last night. I picked up these puzzles while I was checking out the bookstores in Hong Kong. I cannot find them on Amazon though.

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It used to be me who finish the puzzle in no time. Now he beats me hands down. I blame it on my presbyopia!

Happy New Year!

TLC Weekly Update December 27, 2019

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I finally fly back to Toronto this week right on Christmas Day. That’s the only day for which I can switch my flight to within this week. It sure looks like another pattern to me that people prefer not to travel on the Christmas day!

And the inevitable happened – I got sick. After working non-stop until the last day of the trip, getting on board a flight full of people coughing and sneezing is a very bad idea. Let’s see how long does it take for me to recover this time.

I came across this very interesting article on finding out the scientific reasons why practicing yoga or pilates can help people coping with stress.

This is the last issue of TLC Weekly Update in year 2019. I like to say thank you to all of you who take the time to read my writings. I am very grateful that I have completed several big projects this year.

I wish all of you a Prosperous New Year!

TLC Weekly Update December 6, 2019

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I came across this article on The Sugar Conspiracy telling us the sad story of how the modern nutrition science being all wrong thanks to power struggle and manipulation of data. I especially feel the sadness of how the scientist, John Yudkin, being persecuted by the mobs.

Someone shared this video of the Tonight Show having Gary V on wine tasting. Shortest intro on the subject that is fun to watch too. Since this is the season of drinking, maybe you want to learn a few tricks to show off to your friends.

I just posted a new article to the Defensive Money Management series on position sizing. It is the result of a lengthy conversation with some aspiring traders. As I mentioned last time, there is a very serious disconnect of correct trading concepts and the active trading crowd in Hong Kong. This new article focuses on explaining how to grow your trading business in a way that is sustainable.

I am travelling over the next few days to explore some investment opportunities. Hence the need to post early again this week. Will write about my experience after I go back to Hong Kong.

Have a great weekend everyone!

TLC Weekly Update October 4, 2019

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Over the past few weeks, due to a very hectic schedule and the need to dine out with business partners who love noodles and all kinds of carbs, I somehow gained weight. And it gets very difficult to lose them even if I go back to my regular diet because every other day or so it will be disrupted again. Seriously I need a way to deal with this.

Talking about diet, I came across this piece on chess grandmasters managing their performance through diet and exercise. What strikes me very interesting is not really the part on diet and exercise as I already know how important they are. The most fascinating thing I learned is how the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen managing his career by playing less instead of more to keep himself in peak performance. This has been what I advocate for years to traders – make fewer decisions in real time and focus more on broadening your knowledge about the markets you trade will improve your performance many times over.

I am decluttering my workspace lately hoping that by rearranging things a bit, I can manage to create a tidy corner in the room for doing webinars and videos. I did not really think of allowing people to see my office so it is something new to me. On the other hand, it is an exciting thing to try because I will be able to do so much more comparing to written articles. Just imagine I can carry out a lecture style session showing specific trading techniques and interact with the attendees in real-time …

And don’t forget to mark this down on your calendar – Oct 15th 4:30 pm I will do an intro webinar at futures.io. After the short intro going through a few slides, there will be a question and answer period. See you there!

TLC Weekly Update September 13, 2019

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Another week just fly by so quickly. I don’t even know it is Friday until being reminder to go for an early meeting today. For some mysterious reasons, everything is happening within this month and the next. Maybe it is time to read my horoscope to see what is in store next.

I watched this video about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Gym & Fridge. Interesting how a body builder adapt to old age and stay fit. His way of eating an egg is definitely inspiring.

I have my team working on various versions of the trading strategies featured at DaytradingBias.com. I understand that many people choose their platforms other than TradeStation. As oppose to what many people think, it is much more complicated to convert these mechanical trading strategies into other platforms. The main issue is not the programming factor. Instead, it is the configuration of the underlying charts in each platform are drastically different from each other. Many platforms simply do not have the flexibility to chart the data series in customized ways.

Once we have something ready, I will upload the code and also write in details how to setup the charts correctly in these other platforms.

On the site security front, I am happy that the improved measures have protected the site from being brought down by the hackers so far but the slow down of the site is still causing inconvenience to my members. The security services I am using now are helping us to find the best solution going forward to deal with this remaining issue. I will report on the progress in a month.

This week Toronto is getting warmer suddenly as if it is summer. It was as high as 28 degree Celsius. I wonder if the predicted early arrival of extreme coldness by October will really happen?!

Time to go.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

How to Cold Shower

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There are many benefits with taking cold shower. I am not going to explain all that here. What I like to do is telling you a way to do it through a process that determination and will power are not needed.

First, if you are a hot shower person, start with ending your shower with “less hot” water for like 30 seconds. It has to be something you can tolerate. No point to make it an unpleasant experience. More on this “tolerance” issue later.

Just by doing this for a week, you would reap a small part of the benefits you get from taking ice cold shower.

Next, dial down the temperature of the water you use in your shower. You do not need to go all the way down to warm water until you are comfortable to do so. And remember to end your shower with water than is cooler. At this point, you can adjust the temperature of the water down quickly every few days.

The goal is to allow yourself to have a shower in just warm water and get yourself used to rinse with cooler water. Eventually you will be able to tolerate ice cold water at the end. It does not take long to do so.

Do not misunderstand that I am against taking hot shower. In fact, hot shower has its place as a way to relax our bodies. So do it occasionally when you really need to.

And there is no point to shower all the way with ice cold water either. I find that some body wash does not rinse well in cold water. So practically, just add 30 seconds to a minute of rinsing yourself in cold water at the end would do the job.

If you have never done cold shower, I can tell you that once you have trained your body to tolerate the coldness, your body would react to the cold water giving you a warmness sensation inside.

I like to point out that everywhere on the net recommends people jump into cold water rinse on day one. This is not a good idea especially for people who have weak immune system or other physical ailments. For young but not healthy people, taking a cold water rinse suddenly may ended up getting sick. For older people, ease into the practice carefully.

TLC Weekly Update August 2, 2019

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I was so exhausted after traveling from Hong Kong back to Toronto that I slept on and off for more than a day before I can get back to my normal schedule excluding exercise. And now that it is Friday, it is my first day of resuming my daily exercise routine. My performance was bad.

What two weeks of non-stop meetings, walking in extreme heat, dining out and significant amount of alcohol can do to me?

Well, upper body strength dropped but I know I will gain it back quickly. Other than that, I do not really feel that bad. It is still too early to tell how long it will take to recover fully.

I guess the worst part of the trip was little to no option to stay away from complex carbohydrates. Every meal I was introduced to try out, with much eager by the inviting parties, has carb as the main ingredient. Exotic ramen, very fancy noodle dishes, you name it, I tried it. The end result is six pounds of fat added to my belly.

I am graceful for the chance to try out all these foods. I enjoyed every moment of having them. Doing this occasionally makes life fun. However, getting back in shape will probably be my priority over the coming few weeks.

Talking about priority, I now have time to get back on track to compile my list of books to read on basic chart reading skills. As I explained before, it is getting more difficult to do so because many of the books I like to include into the list are no longer in print. I am working on adding the alternatives in case you cannot find the ones I recommend.

In the meantime, you can read the series here.

I will get back on track to complete the trading manuals on Emini that I promised my members. It is not an easy task because writing is often a “flow” process that you need your brain to have the big picture in your mind in order to produce content that is coherent with the rest of the book. So I need to read and re-read my manuscripts to pick up from where I left off three weeks ago.

So, catch up time for me and wish you all a great weekend!

FAQ: My Morning Routine

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For some reason people are really obsessed with morning routines lately because all these “successful” people all have their morning routines that help them conquer the world. I get the same question a lot lately so why not share it here.

First, my morning routine follows a pretty fixed structure but the components for each part changes according to my circumstances. I have to adapt to the situation because I have to travel from time to time to look at new investment opportunities and also managing my businesses in other parts of the world. Depending on the amount of time I have before some pre-scheduled activities, I choose among different options to complete my morning routine.

Wash My Face Cold

Where ever I have access to ice or ice cold water, I wash my face with that. And it’s the first thing I do after waking up.

There are many parts of the world where you cannot do that though and washing with normal tape water or even bottle water is all you can do.

But I never wash with warm or hot water.

Simple Stretching

I rotate through different sets of stretching depending on the amount of time I have. So it can go as short as a few minutes or as long as 10 minutes. I may even skip the next step of doing my wake up exercises if I my body is sore from heavy duty training sessions from the day before.

There is one set of stretches I do that came from classic Chinese martial art training. It is a combination of stability, strength and stretch. If I am doing that, I can definitely skip the exercises. I will post a link if I find a video on that.

Wake Up Exercises

A simple combination of doing push ups, leg raises and squats one set each would take less than 5 minutes. I would do that when I have an area to lie down on the ground.

When I have the proper equipment I would do pull ups and other exercises.

This is not full session training. Just a way to wake up the body with the goals of pushing for reasonably higher heart rate and better blood circulation. So using each major muscle group once is enough.

This can go from 5 to 10 minutes depending on the pace and the amount of time I have.

Deep Breathing

The kind of breathing exercise I do varies depending on what I want to achieve for the day.

If I skip the wake up exercise, I would do more types of breathing like rapid abdominal breathing to at least activate the abs.

This takes only a few minutes.

Mind Priming

As oppose to jump into the day to think of what to do and what has to be done, I round up the routine with relax breathing while thinking about things in my life that I am grateful for. It is a very powerful tool that anchor oneself to reality with a positive attitude.

It only takes a few minutes to complete this part too.

This is the last part of my morning routine.

Mind Wandering

When I am not on a tight schedule, I would allow my mind to wander around with new ideas. It may come from reading a book. It can come from reading an article online. It may even happen when I am looking out of my window.

The reason for doing this is that after the morning routine, my mind is at the peak of its clarity from the conditioning. It is the best time for me to figure new things out. Many of my creative ideas from new trading strategies to business planning are coming from this deliberate practice of mind wandering.

End Notes

I complete all these tasks before I sit down for my first sip of coffee.

I do not eat breakfast. My first meal is often my lunch. And my lunch is often done over meetings with my business associates to save time.

If you want to duplicate what I do, remember the following rule:

It is very important to do all of the above except mind wandering to focus on the task you are doing and feel it through your body. Do not think of anything else. You should not be able to think of anything else if you really pay full attention to how your body feels.

The whole purpose of having a morning routine is to condition your body and mind to certain level of higher alertness and calmness so that you can carry out the rest of the day with better decision making which leads to more consistent performance in essentially everything.

Side Notes

Seriously, the routine is essentially the same as practicing traditional Tai Chi correctly for one round. It has all the ingredients choregraphed into its sequence but people rarely realize what they are supposed to accomplish with that. The drawback with doing one complete round of Tai Chi is that it takes more time (30 to 45 minutes) and a lot of space, so one cannot afford to practice that in small place or on a tight schedule.

Ancient people are really smart …