This course is a broad overview and discussion of the salient subject areas that one will need to navigate to fully understand the commodity space.
Students will be introduced to what makes each of the commodity sectors tick from an international economic standpoint.
This course sets the record straight about what is a predictive indicator and what is a lagging indicator in the commodity markets.
This course investigates why certain traders become great and why others blow up. Be prepared to journal extensively and learn about your strengths and weaknesses.
Germany should not set the precedent of funding the PIIGS.
Continue Reading...I’ll be at the Milken Global Conference this week and I have some great interviews lined up.
You can follow me on Twitter or send me questions @Martin_Kronicle. The hashtag is #gc2010.
Here is a detailed program of the speakers and topics for the 2010 Milken Global Conference.
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(click to enlarge spreadsheet)
If you haven’t heard, there was some news on the tape about Goldman Sachs on Friday regarding the SEC. Portfolio heat is high. Commodities and equities were down at the close because they’ve become highly correlated. Above is a spreadsheet with what was in the portfolios of many trend followers and commodity managers. The data are through Friday’s settlement.
When the correlation between commodities and equities runs high, you’ll get hammered and lose much more than you anticipated. More importantly, the client who owns the money will get hammered too. The above chart only includes the commodity portion. An endowment, pension, or macro hedge fund probably got hit on their equity exposure too.
It’s aggravating to get knocked out of a trade, but it’s much worse to lose your confidence – and that’s what big down days do to you. Once you start trading with scared money, you’re toast. If you find yourself saying, “WTF?” or “How can this happen?” you’re not in control of your risk, and maybe not of your emotions. Go to cash – I’ve seen lots of promising careers end in times when things become highly correlated.
If you’re not ready for this, go to cash until you figure it out. Last week, I wrote about what could be the cause of the next big financial crisis. I didn’t know the SEC was going to bring charges against GS any more than you did, but I have the tail risk hedged away.
With what looks like a conservative portfolio mix, and a low margin to equity ratio, a portfolio with $1 MM in corpus with such holdings would have been down almost 2% on the day. That is huge if you’re looking to run institutional money. For the record, a 2% “up day” would scare them away too.
Are all your holdings just one big trade?
Continue Reading...Share A reader asked to interview me about 6 months ago. I didn’t see the benefit at the time, but I get enough questions that I thought I might give it a go. The interviewer is a reader of MartinKronicle and he did a great job for someone with no experience. His name is Gavin [...]
Bellafiore offers us a rare look inside a prop trading firm and its exclusive training program.
On one hand we need large urban centers to begin aggressively conserving water, while on the other hand hundreds of millions of people in India and China who are just getting running water for the first time in centuries.
The President, House, and Senate collectively could not come up with a National Energy Policy if their offices depended on it.
Share Here’s the scene. You’re in the interior of a large, and loud institutional brokerage firm. It’s utter mayhem and organized chaos, with paper flying and Institutional salespeople shouting over one another and at each other. One of the Administrative Assistants picks up a call and shouts… “Call for you Buddy. Pickup line 2…” “Bud [...]
Share I think everyone who made the decision to be in this documentary probably regrets it. Granted they’re young, but some of them are pathetic and entirely clueless.
September 09 2010
Both the terms “stock operator” and “speculator” are outdated. There is so much more that goes on to prepare when you are a professional prop trader.
September 01 2010
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August 27 2010
You are responsible for your own decisions. No sense of entitlement. No one owes you anything. Own your own shit.
August 22 2010
Everyone needs a mentor.
August 16 2010
