Many traders assume that calendar spreads show a relationship to prices. Are these assumptions correct? If so, how well do the spreads track prices, and is the relationship helpful? To find out, four spreads for the NYMEX light sweet crude oil and natural gas futures contracts were evaluated: First-to-second nearby contract months, second-to-third, first-to-sixth, and first-to-13th. The first-to-13th spread compares like calendar months, such as January to January, eliminating seasonal issues. These spreads were evaluated for crude oil futures prices from January 1986 and natural gas futures from April 1990 to February 2008. Two major categories relating to the spreads were calculated. These were an evaluation of the spreads versus price direction and price rate of change (bias), and an evaluation of the rate of change of the spreads versus price direction and bias. Evaluation of Spreads The spreads were evaluated on an absolute dollar basis as well as percent of price, where the

On September 13th, 2008, members of the Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) and the MTA Board of Directors got together in Westchester, New York for a full day meeting to discuss several key initiatives of the MTA today and for the future. The meeting was chaired by David Keller, MTA VP and head of the LRPC and Larry Berman, MTA President. The meeting started with a discussion of the “State of the MTA” led by Tom Silveri, Executive Director. The LRPC participants discussed, amongst other matters the current membership demographics, new members, new CMT’s, reduced renewal “turnover” statistics and the overall financial condition of the MTA. It was generally concluded that we have made some good progress in most strategic and process categories overall the last 1+ years. This background discussion was good for all participants as it allowed for a generally consistent grounding of the facts around discussions that had

This article was originally published at Optionetics.com and is being reprinted here with permission. As a follow-up to last week’s article discussing Andrew Cardwell’s experience with the Relative Strength Index [RSI] and how he came to be a leading authority on this technical tool (see Analytical Toolbox: Speaking with Andrew Cardwell from 7/18/08, available at Optionetics. com), a natural next step is this week’s discussion on the psychology of trading. Mr. Cardwell has traded different futures markets for thirty years and has definitely developed some insights into the importance of trading with a plan and the challenges the markets present traders. His longevity in leveraged markets suggests he’s learned a thing or two along the way.  Andrew Cardwell, President of Cardwell Financial Group, Inc., began his trading career in 1978 as a broker with McCormick Commodities. In 1981, Andrew left the brokerage business to devote his time to the study of technical