On April 23rd 2009, I had the opportunity to speak with Dan Zanger. Zanger is a legend in the stock trading business, having run up a six figure account to $42 million during the heyday of the internet bubble. Many dismissed his performance as sheer luck, but it took 20+ years of hard work and dedication before he became an “overnight success”. The story of Zanger’s struggles and learning experiences before he turned the corner should be an inspiration to all aspiring traders. From 1969-1972, Zanger spent his life as a “ski bum”, working at resorts in Mammoth Lakes, CA and Steamboat Springs, CO. During this time, he came across Ed Thorp’s book “Beat the Dealer”, and every 3-4 weeks would travel to Lake Tahoe to play blackjack using Thorp’s card-counting methodology. He was thrown out of casinos several times using the strategy, and quickly learned that to succeed counting cards

Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have been around for more than 16 years – the American Stock Exchange began trading SPDRs on January 29, 1993. From this humble start, there are now more than 800 ETFs according to some counts and their total market cap exceeds half a trillion dollars. While they seem to have been started as a buy-and-hold alternative to index funds, there is no doubt that ETFs are now used by traders. In “High Probability ETF Trading,” Connors and Alvarez offer proven strategies that take advantage of the deep liquidity of ETFs. In fact, the authors offer five reasons that ETFs are a preferred trading vehicle for many traders: ETFs Are Safer Than Stocks – There is less single stock corporate risk as ETFs are a basket of underlying securities. With multiple securities, you aren’t subject to the wide array of risks including corporate scandals, aftermarket earnings reports, and other

After speaking at the MTA Symposium in May, Jeremy Berkovits took a few moments to discuss the path he took to become a market technician. He also offered some career advice for aspiring CMTs, and shared his views on the financial markets in these volatile times. Like many technicians, the path Jeremy took towards a career in finance is an unconventional one. He had absolutely no investment background and in fact studied political science and conflict resolution theory. After exploring the job market with various non-governmental organizations, he realized that prospects in this field of work were not very good. At that point Jeremy tried his luck at retail brokerage to pay the bills, expecting eventually to return to international relations. Jeremy found some success and was able to stick around for a long time in a job that had a very high turnover rate. Recognizing that he could not rely on

As the Controller of the MTA, I am pleased to announce the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 financial results. Please note that at this point the financials are “unaudited”. The audit is being conducted now by RSM McGladrey and we expect to be complete by the end of September, 2009. For the fiscal year just ended (July 1, 2008-June 30th, 2009) the MTA recorded: Total Revenues of $1.7 Million An Operating Excess of revenues over expenses, of $152 thousand Net Assets as of June 30th, 2009 of $1.4 Million, the majority of which is cash and laddered certificates of deposit. These results will be audited by our auditors, RSM McGladrey in the upcoming months. Once their review is complete, the audited Financial Report will be posted on-line. For additional information about our fiscal year I can be reached at diana@mta.org or 646-652-3300.

MTA Educational Web Series Registration is now open for the following upcoming presentations of the FREE MTA Educational Web Series. Sign Up Now – Monday, August 10th, Joe Kinahan and Ryan Campbell, CMT will present “High Probability Option Trades with Reversal Patterns.” Register for this webcast. Sign Up Now – Wednesday, August 26th, Michael Carr, CMT will present “Applying Academic Studies to Real World Trading.” Register for this webcast. * New Archive Available – For those of you who were unable to attend Dennis Gartman’s August 3rd presentation on Fundamentals and Technicals: Stealing from Both Schools, it has now been posted to the mta.org website. Please click here to view the recording. View the entire schedule of upcoming webcasts… Knowledge Base – New Addition! Today, August 3rd, the MTA announces its first blog posting! In the inaugural edition of the MTA’s Chart of the Week, Jeffery E. Lay, CMT, President of Talon Eight Global Wealth Management and