STA Blog

No, I’m not going to attempt so-called expert coverage of the ins and outs of Democrats versus Republicans and their leanings. We have seen how very badly the pollsters have done here and, more worryingly, with scientists’ predictions of the impact of Covid-19. Similarly we’ve seen economists and central bankers scurry to revise down their projections for economic growth and rising for rates of unemployment – despite huge dollops of government largesse.

No, I’m thinking of October 24th and this year’s annual IFTA conference hosted by Germany’s http://www.vtad.de – in virtual reality. Having watched most of the European session I was so pleased to see how well the whole thing was going that I stayed on to catch the start of the American final round. So glad I did because the first speaker was the legendary Larry Williams.

Looking every one of the 78 years which he admits to, he’s been trading since he was 19. As one of the many reviews of his books says: ‘Larry’s tenth book on trading the markets is Trade Stocks & Commodities with the Insiders. This book is based on Larry’s work with the COT [Commitment of Traders’] report that began in 1970. You will learn who the Commercials are, how they use the markets, and how you can use what they do to stack the odds in your favor. This book literally shows you what the Insiders are doing with real money and how you can follow their action. This is the first book ever written on this subject and will substantially improve your understanding of why markets do what they do.’

While often dismissing ‘’all the technical analysis stuff’’, he’s had many and successful students over the years. He spoke very well, was fast-paced, yet I managed to jot down a whole host of snippets and nuggets that I wanted to share here. IFTA associated members should look out for all the speakers’ videos which are available to them.

He starts: ‘’the 1962 stock market crash got my attention’’; how many people do you know today lived through and remember that today? ‘’I used to work bare-backed rodeo – so I learned to hold on’’. He admits that the basis of his success was that ‘’I was just too stupid to quit’’.

While he’s also derogatory about many of the oscillators currently used, I do agree with him that one should never use too many. This tends to lead to confusion and inevitable paralysis. He goes on: ‘’confidence is a trader’s most valuable asset…gotta get past that wall of fear…it’s just me and the chart’’.

So you see, he really does like charts!