While watching women’s Olympic gymnastics, I hear one of the announcers say that only two gymnasts from each country can advance to the final round. He thinks it’s an unfair rule and that the best gymnasts, regardless of country, should advance. If the best gymnasts so happen to be all from the same country then […]

I think the worst thing you can do is try converting a prospect that isn’t interested in what you’re selling. We all have a natural instinct to control others, especially when there’s financial incentive. Deadlines, quotas and having to pay bills all exacerbate this instinct. But, I believe converting an unwilling customer only leads to […]

Well, we have two choices – Trump or Hillary. Actually, we have three choices – Trump, Hillary or not voting at all. Some of may scoff at the idea of not voting and that’s cool, but I believe not voting is a vote in itself. We do not have an obligation to vote; settling on […]

One of the big challenges in trading is envisioning the all of the possibilities. Can you imagine all-time highs in the stock market five years after the worst crisis in 75 years? Can you envision 10-year Swiss government bonds yielding -0.60% like they are today? What about Crude Oil losing 70% of its value in […]

We complicate things. We protect our feelings and those of others. Through this process, we come to paralysis – an inability to think, create and achieve. I believe this is a natural characteristic of being human. We start out thinking and building things in a simple way, but feel the need to edit, tear down, […]

It’s hard to trust a simple approach, especially when it struggles to make money. Surely a more complicated system can beat a simple system, right? Traders second guess their style and dream of  improving it no matter what it takes. During losing streaks, investors want their manager to change their strategy – anything to make […]

I learned about trend following out of necessity. I felt I didn’t have a choice. I saw it as the only way to protect myself from another Financial Crisis-like event, while not quitting the game altogether. To quit, to put money under the mattress, still bears risk no matter how safe it feels. In investing, […]

When your life is on the line, it’s amazing how creative you can become. In the Middle Ages, the Tuscan’s and Florentine’s battled over land. Tuscan villages, like Montepulciano, built stone walls to withstand catapult attacks. Instead of stacking a few massive stones, they mashed together a lot of smaller oddly shaped ones. They did […]

  Know that you have no control over the person(s) you’re copying, emulating or comparing yourself to. Even in competition, you have no control over what your opponent does. All you can do is work on your game. Design it around your strengths not your insecurities. I remember when I started Melissinos Trading…at the end […]

“It’ll come back. I’m in for the long term anyway.” This statement and all those like it make me cringe. Look, all we have is right now. There may not be a tomorrow. We need to protect the money we have today because there’s no guarantee our investment will “come back” later, or ever. Cutting […]