Michael Jordan took his final shot as a professional basketball player in April of 2003. Thanks to some shrewd planning on my part, I was sitting in the stands with my 10-year-old son at the old Spectrum stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On our way in to the game, someone offered me $1,000 for our two tickets but there was no way that I was going to let my son miss Jordan’s last game. Bill Cosby and other local luminaries were also in attendance that night, wanting to witness a bit of history and wish a basketball legend farewell.

Д.Р. Бартон, младший - редактор E.S.P. Profit System. Он - также консультативный участник публичной дискуссии Mt. Vernon Research, частный автор Xcelerated Profits Report и Smart Profits Report. Д.Р. использует свое образование инженера - химика со степенью MBA, чтобы стать во главе рейтинга разработчиков торговых и инвестиционных систем. Как "технический" аналитик, Д.Р ищет пики, впадины, тенденции, фигуры и другие факторы, затрагивающие ценовое движение акции, а затем делает рекомендации на покупку или продажу, основанные на этих факторах.

• http://www.smartprofitsreport.com/editor_bio/drbarton.html

I’ve read and heard so much lately about the First Five Days Indicator in blogs, on CNBC, and even in the Wall Street Journal that I thought it would be useful for us to revisit this persistent myth.

Below is the reprint of that article in its entirety that I wrote in this same space three years ago. I think it explains very well the myth of the first five days of the year indicating market direction for the year.    

“When you wish someone joy, you wish them peace, love, prosperity and happiness… all good things.”
—Maya Angelou, American poet

Joy is one of the central emotions of this holiday season.  Just ask a child what he is getting for Christmas, and you’ll see him exude joy as he describes his wish list.

Joy abounds this Christmas and Hanukkah season, regardless of the over commercialization of the nature of gift giving. There is the delight in thinking about, researching, and finding the perfect gift for someone you love.  We enjoy the warm feeling of seeing family and friends that we may not otherwise see during the rest of the year.  And there is the undeniable joy of holding a present in our hands—a gift to us that is full of possibility and hope.

Heading into December, most peoples’ thoughts are probably turning toward the celebration of Christmas and other seasonal holidays.  The end of the calendar year also reminds us naturally of the New Year, which then leads to the realities of tax planning and other associated fiscal matters. 

Yesterday, my wife and I played a round of golf with another couple at our Newark, Delaware country club.  We just happened to meet the couple when we arrived, so we decided to all play together. The husband is an engineer in the aerospace industry.  The wife happens to be my children’s pediatrician.

When I coached Little League baseball, the process of trying to figure out the strengths and challenges of the individual players always fascinated me. 

One year, we had this tiny guy with a great big throwing arm.  This kid could really hum the ball, and on top of his throwing skills, he was very good at fielding ground balls.  This made him a great candidate for playing the most important position in the infield—shortstop. 

Since we’ve been talking about the CBOE Volatility Index for several weeks, some readers have been wondering how to make a trade based on an expectation for volatility movement.

Immediately, one phrase comes to mind: buyer beware!

There are tradeable instruments for volatility out there, but there is certainly much confusion over what to use and when. So here are a few guidelines:

We might expect that a longer-term volatility ETF would rectify this problem. However, looking at VXZ, which tracks a mid-term VIX index, we see that the price movement is the same shape, with only a slight difference in magnitude.

Yes, there are tradeable instruments that you can use to play changes in volatility, but take care to only use the most liquid ones. Also, be aware that price movement can vary versus the standard VIX index that most people are used to tracking.

Great Trading,
D. R.

By the time I was 10, summer was for three things: mowing lawns for spending money, playing little league baseball because everyone else did, and shooting hoops because that’s what I loved.

Basketball games are played in the winter. Basketball players are made in the summer. Like all sports, improvement is made in the off-season—which I did summer after summer. By the time I got to high school, I was a good shooter. To this day, it’s safe to say that I’m a better free throw shooter than a majority of NBA players (who statistically make right around 75% of their free throws).