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In October I had the good fortune to be able to attend one of Mark Brown's
"Shortcut to Discovery" workshops in Dallas. I had wanted to attend for
some time...the price for the workshop that was listed on
www.prosignals.com was $5000. Of late however the price has been
temporarily slashed to $500, so I jumped at the chance.
The workshop was set to begin at 08:30. The other attendees arrived --
there were only three of us - and I was happy to have the chance to meet
one of the other attendees (an O-lister), someone I've only previously
corresponded with by e-mail. Mark and his son Alan arrived at 8:30. [Just
a quick note: Mark is not what I think most people would expect. I think
he has a little bit of a reputation on this list for being "rough around
the edges," but honestly, he is one of the nicest guys I've met (as was
Alan). ]
Mark began by giving us a little history of how he came to be a
professional trader -- absolutely fascinating stuff. The core of the
workshop was the revelation of a mechanical Bond model and a somewhat less
mechanical options strategy. Mark's view is that it is difficult, if not
impossible, for someone to buy a black box system and trade it without
understanding the logic. So half the day was spent explaining the logic
behind the mechanical bond model.
The Bond Model:
The model was developed using the Ned Davis Technalyzer, which is a piece
of software that costs $100K/year to lease and has to be run on a cray
supercomputer. The software sounded pretty sophisticated, however Mark's
teaching style was clear and engaging, and the explanation of the model's
logic was not beyond the comprehension of anyone with some degree of
knowledge about technical analysis. The model was made to run on perpetual
contracts (Mark included a big historical perpetual bond data file for
testing) . (please don't write me asking for system results, or the model)
The Options Model:
The remainder of the day was spent revealing a pretty nice options
strategy...although it isn't really mechanical, so it requires a bit of
skill to implement. Still, the strategy was simple, and again, not beyond
the comprehension of anyone with some degree of knowledge about technical
analysis.
The second day was spent reviewing and then briefly discussing a few
Oddball variations, and some bet sizing techniques.
Mark took all questions patiently, no matter how basic, without making
anyone feel stupid. He wanted to make sure we all understood exactly what
was being taught. I think I learned almost as much from the discussions we
had as from the instructional part. You could tell there was genuine
concern that we learned from the experience -- which brings me to another
point: Mark was only collecting $1500 for the whole weekend workshop, so
clearly he wasn't doing this for the money. I think he is at least partly
motivated by a genuine desire to help fledgling traders. And with all the
garbage for sale out there, and all the shysters in this business, it was a
real privilege to have the opportunity to learn from a legitimate world
class trader like Mark.
One final note: I was surprised by the hospitality we were shown as
well. We all went to a restaurant for dinner on Saturday night, and had a
wonderful time. That was above and beyond what we paid for.
All in all, it was a great experience. My recommendation? You should go.
David
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