Chicago Traders Expo

[John]

I managed to spend a few minutes at this years trading expo in Chicago
that was held downtown from July 13th to the 16th. Anyone else get to
attend? I'm interesting in hearing feedback about what you thought of
it. I think it's a pretty good sentiment indicator on the market and
the shape of the trading industry.

John

[Cedrick Johnson]

I kinda got a negative vibe from it. A lot of new folks coming in that just
don't know what they're getting into.

But, I'm turning the way of the perma-bear, so take I FWIW :)

-c

[John]

Hi Cedrick,

Yeah I got a pretty negative vibe as well. It was pretty sad and
depressing. The attendance was terrible which gives me the signal not
to expect volume to pick up any time soon.

Expos always attract newbies that don't know what they are getting
into. I saw a few seminars there that looked like people were being
recruited into a cult. It was really scary.

Did you go to the ET Reception to meet Baron and the gang?

John

[bmsp]

I think a factor might have been (poor timing) in setting it for the week of options expiry. I was registered to go but then didn't;

 

or maybe that had nothing to do with it.  

 

Murray

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[Cedrick Johnson]

I didn't go to the ET reception, I was at the PD station viewing lineups of
people who robbed me LOL..

The attendance was VERY lacking. The only reason I went was to meet my
friend Gary Ettl who runs a legit chatroom (wow, legit and chatroom in the
same sentence!). Other than that, I was not impressed at all. I did stop by
the Qcharts booth since I'm a customer of theirs, and they have some pretty
neat things with options coming out in the next couple months.

I definitely wouldn't have travelled to this thing from out of town, that's
for sure. The Expo in NYC in the late winter seems to be a bit better, most
of the Wall St firms are there... It was just blah. I was expecting it to be
a bit more better, but oh well, such is life.

I'll probably go to the FIA (Futures Industry Association) expo there this
fall, but that's about it...

-c

-----Original Message-----
From: Chicago-Opt...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:Chicago-Opt...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John

[Aaron]

Hi John - I too was at the expo on Saturday, and I thought the turnout
was OK but nothing to write home about. I'm not sure though about
using the (lack of) attendence at the Trader's Expo as a reliable
sentiment indicator for the market. I am one of those so-called "new
folks" there just to check out some of the free seminars.

I would agree, however, that for an indicator of the trading industry,
the poor attendence IMHO would indicate that firms are having a tough
time attracting new traders with capital. My guess is that most people
aren't interested in day-trading right now - had the expo been about
"real estate investing", however, my guess is that the turnout would
have been much higher.

I visited the Option Planet booth and thought the services and products
offered through Think or Swim were interetsing. Other than that, most
of the products and services offered were all the same.

[John]

Aaron,

One of the things that moves the markets to extremes both to the upside
and the downside is dumb money. Dumb money creates a lot of
volatility. And the dumb money is drying up. I do not want to offend
anyone in here, so nobody take this the wrong way, but most the people
at these expo events would be classified as dumb money. The fact that
they are not around anymore is indicative of who is left in the game.
We now have a lot of hedge funds and black boxes trading against each
other and hence we are seeing the vix approach single digits near 10
year lows with no signs of stopping.

I agree with you Cedrick, I would not travel to go to one of these
events. It's hard to believe that people would travel from out of town
to see this stuff. When I was younger, way way way back in like 1999,
I attended the first annual trading expo in Ventura County, California.
Man that place was packed. It was so crowded you couldn't move. Hell,
they even had CNBC there with reporters covering the event. Everyone
wanted to get rich.

What's funny is, its the same people doing the seminars today as it was
at that first expo. The only really interesting aspect of these things
today is seeing all the new flat panel LCD's on display. Some of these
are really cool and probably cost 20k.

I think if they changed the event to more of a traders technology show
where you have computer companies showing special workstations built
just for traders, or cool new flat panels, and new software, that might
do better then focusing on making money.

John

[John]

Cedrick,

Sorry to hear about your mugging. I read about that in the ET chat.
It's kind of scary, I live just south of you and I work out at the gym
right next to where you got mugged, in fact, I usually work out right
at the time of your mugging. This neighborhood is usually pretty safe.

John

[Gree...@aol.com]

I attended a workshop on Friday taught by Larry McMillan and Tom Sosnoff (of thinkorswim). Speaking as a relative newcomer, I thought the session was worthwhile. Even though it was only an introduction, I did get an initial exposure to Thinkorswim's software and approach, and their philosophy sounds very similar to what is taught through this group. Because of this presentation, I will be following up with them in the future.

 

Tom Sosnoff did mention that all of the day trading exhibits that he saw at his first expo 6 years ago are now out of business.

 

Both speakers expect vol to pick up again at some point in the future, whether it's a year or five years or six months, and for those with a long-term commitment to learn the business, that makes now an especially good time to focus on our studies and get better prepared to trade in the market.

 

Jim

 

 

[John]

Jim,

Tom Sosnoff is one of the better guys in the business. And yes, most
of the daytrading exibits from 1999 are gone. Unfortunately, they
have been replaced by forex get rick quickers. Generally speaking, the
option booths and the option speakers are going to have more value to
offer because they are kind of geared more towards professionals, then
total newbies that are shocked to hear you can get 100 to 1 margin
trading forex.

As long as you know when you go to these expo events that everyone
there is trying to sell you something, then you should be alright.
Just don't make the mistake of thinking these people are volunteering
their time for the better of mankind. LOL.

I noticed Steve Cohen, Ken Griffin and Jim Simmons were not there
giving away their knowledge. That's because these guys are
billionaires and have nothing to sell. I saw one room there were it
looked like a gospel revivial. There was a guy standing on a table
screaming and everyone in the room was jumping up and down waving their
hands. I would love to know what they were learning. LOL.

John

[Cedrick Johnson]

John

>>I noticed Steve Cohen, Ken Griffin and Jim Simmons were not there giving
away their >>knowledge. That's because these guys are billionaires and have
nothing to sell. I
>>saw one room there were it looked like a gospel revivial. There was a guy
standing on >>a table screaming and everyone in the room was jumping up and
down waving their hands. >>I would love to know what they were learning.
LOL.
>>
>>John

WHERE was this? ROFL I can't believe I missed the cult!

-c

[John]

It was in one of the Grand Ballrooms on the right side before you
entered the exibit hall. It was freaky man.

John

[Cedrick Johnson]

Oh I saw that... The 'Free Stage Presentation' because people probably
wouldn't have spent a dime to see it LOL

-c

-----Original Message-----
From: Chicago-Opt...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:Chicago-Opt...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2005 11:27 PM
To: Chicago-Opt...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Chicago Traders Expo

[John]

What is the "Free Stage Presentation"?

[Cedrick Johnson]

The one right outside the entrance to the expo.. I assume that was free...

-c

-----Original Message-----
From: Chicago-Opt...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:Chicago-Opt...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2005 11:35 PM
To: Chicago-Opt...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Chicago Traders Expo

[John]

I meant what was it about? People were jumping up and down screaming
in there and yelling. You would thought they were handing out money or
something.