A. A number of traders who are employed and can not watch the market all day are taking the course or have in the past. They were trying to get the basics before they left their employ to trade for a living. Not being able to watch the market is a disadvantage. No amount of after-hours work can totally prepare you to Day Trade. But watching delayed data or down-loading tick data after hours is an effective way of getting the basics before you are ready to focus on the market during the day. It will, however, take longer if you are not watching as the day develops. However, a number of students have started with delayed data and moved on to live/real-time data later.

A. No... at the close of the day I will send you a commentary on the day's activity — including my own trades — with associated charts. I'll point out where the signals were and tell you why I thought these are the signals... I'll also tell you where I placed my Stop-Loss points, and where my targets and Trailing-Stops were placed. But I do not give you trades in advance; this would not be properly teaching you to see them on your own. I do not want to make you dependent on me or this course... the goal is to teach you the tools necessary to be successful on your own.

A. No... My goal is to help you learn to read the price action so that you can apply what you see in the S&P and to other markets. My view is that you will never really be able to evaluate a trading system until you know how to read the price patterns... and understand the markets' behavior. And trading systems, by their nature, are not “dynamic” and can not adapt as well to ongoing changes in market behavior nearly as well as when an adept trader applies the tools you will learn in the course.

A. Yes... I want you to see what you will be receiving each trading day. Click here to see how a typical Commentary looks, and to be able to listen to a sample audio commentary. Or E-mail me a request and I will send you several days of back Commentary plus Voice Commentary and charts, as well as Pre-Market Reports.

A. You will need some form of internet access and E-mail, which you have or you would not be reading this, and you need to be able to receive E-mail with files attached. You also will need Microsoft Word97 (or later) for Windows so you can open and read files and view charts. If you do not have Word we can send you a free Word Viewer. And of course you need either TradeStation market-charting software. We do have students using other market charting programs, but we don't use them ourselves so can't offer support for them.

A. If you have a computer that meets the recommended configuration for TradeStation, you will be able to run the tools. You will also find that NetScape or MS-Internet Explorer will serve you best as the recommended Internet browser software to take advantage of multi-media features on the website, and even more so if your internet machine has a sound card and speakers (most computers these days do) for features such as Audio Lessons,.

A. Yes. I will send you a printed Course Manual in a binder. It is about 300 pages, and includes trading strategies and many illustrations. You will probably want to print all the commentary for future reference, so you should probably have a Windows-compatible printer attached to your computer.

A. You will soon find most of the Stock Indices move like the S&P and have many of the same trading characteristics. The price patterns are the same, and the indicators and techniques I show you behave the same on the Down NASDAQ or Russell contract as on the S&P. If you really don't like the risk/reward ratios of the new half-priced S&P, the Dow contract will offer a great alternative. It moves like the S&P but with less margin required.

Futures trading is not without risk, but because of the new pricing structure of the Dow, Mini-S&P and (as of November 1, 1997) the half price S&P, more traders will be able to enjoy trading opportunities that are just not available in other markets.

A. Credit Card is the fastest and the easiest and best way.

A. It is very helpful if you have a good working knowledge of Candlestick charting techniques... but if you don’t you will find Candlesticks easy to learn to read, and the patterns we use are covered in the Course Manual. Basic techniques of Technical analysis will also be very important.

Here is a list of the books we recommend, but these books are not required before you start. Most, if not all, of these books, can be obtained from Trader's Press. They publish a 70-page catalog of trading books, which they will send you for free or with an order. It is updated at least annually. They are at: P.O. Box 6206, Greenville, SC 29606. Orders can be placed by phone at 1-800-927-8222 or FAX 864-298-0221. Web site address is http://traderspress.com.

Suggested Reading List There are so many books to read regarding Day Trading its hard to narrow the list, but here is a list of books that I think will help you. You may have read other books that are just as good. I'm not ranking books, this is a list of books I think will help you be a better trader. Most are optional, but some I have marked as "priority" meaning you owe it to yourself to have this book. Also, there are books you read and books you "keep" as reference. Some of these books get referred to once or twice a week. Before we start on books you may not have, lets look at books you may have. The manuals the come with TradeStation have lots of good info. Look up Candlestick charts or charting and go over the basics of Candlesticks. You can also find the same material in TradeStation help... Start there. Also read up, from this same source, on the following indicators... ADX, RSI (Relative Strength Index), MACD, and Exponential Moving Average. Also read about Divergence in the RSI... it's in there.

Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John Murphy (Prentice Hall, 1999). An excellent reference, as an updated/revised release of his previous "Futures Markets" book. The New Science of Technical Analysis, By Tom DeMark (Wiley). This is another good reference if you don't have the Murphy book. Japanese Candlestick Charting Techniques, Steve Nison, (NYIF) A good book, an important reference, but not the only book on candlesticks. In my opinion, this is perhaps better than Nison’s Beyond Candlesticks. CandlePower, Gregory Morris (Probus) another reference that is quoted in TradeStation Manuals. Japanese Chart of Charts, Seiki Shimizu (TFT publishing) An OK book that cost less than the two above. Worth the money but you don't need this if you have Nison or Morris. Trading for a Living, Alexander Elder, (Wiley) Lots of good information and ideas. Well worth the $55 . Street Smarts, High Probability, Short Term Trading Strategies, Lawrence Conners and Linda B. Raschke. (M. Gordon) One of Arthur's favorites. Filled with short term trades. The Disciplined Trader: Developing Winning Attitudes Mark Douglas (NYIF) Great book on trading discipline and psychological aspects. Important reading and reference. Techniques of a Professional Commodity Chart Analyst, Arthur Sklarew 1980 Filled with lots of basic technical stuff that Tom DeMark doesn't not address. An older book that is sometimes hard to find. $35, but worth many times that. Periodicals Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities (Magazine) I think is more hands on with more useful material than Futures Magazine. There are 10-25 day trading tips or articles per year... Worth the money.

A. If I thought for a moment, that teaching you how to trade would hurt my trading results...I wouldn't think of it. I like to teach... I've always taught others what I personally like to do, in a variety of courses ranging from juggling to industrial statistics. If you'd like to find out more about our backgrounds, click here. But first, here is what our founder and mentor Arthur Ullrich has told others about his creating this course:

I have had several careers... I was in the military for 14 years early in life and one of the most enjoyable assignments was as a technical instructor. For over 10 years I taught Diving (the underwater kind) for both recreational and commercial divers. Next time you see a set of WorldBook... Look up Diving Underwater, Skin-SCUBA Diving...I wrote those sections back in 1970... Additionally I taught Instructors and teachers how to teach for almost 12 years... Before trading commodities I was in Real Estate... In the first 10 years, I taught Real estate finance...including Creative Finance...ie, buying houses without using your own money.. While I was teaching it, I was doing it... One of the problems I had with the courses I took to learn how to trade futures was, most were over my head... The greatest traders teaching me their secrets, and I didn't know what the heck they were talking about... I thought there should be a course where you could learn the basics and how, what, why... In real time... while watching the real market... Additionally after trading for several years, I found what I was doing, grindingly lonely. The isolation was painful... I wanted people to talk to... As a result of teaching, my own trading has improved greatly... I think I learn more than my clients... They make me learn... they keep me from "shooting from the hip," although I have given some "off-the-cuff" answers, and been challenged for doing so. The group we now have in the program are far too smart, and experienced to let me get away with very much... As to why I don't just trade, make millions, and retire to Switzerland..?? Teaching does not preclude that... I plan to do just that, but not Switzerland... too cold... But for now I'm having too much fun... I also am making too many really good friends. (Note: Arthur now has essentially retired to enjoy the fruits of his labors, but is still involved in the course in the background as a sort of "professor emeritus".) Everyone has a perspective... I enjoy the ego gratification of teaching and the challenge of trading and I find the combination most rewarding...