PipStop

It's one of those weeks. Not only is it scorching in Vancouver (high 20sC and high 80sF - I think - and please save the ridicule for other people - this is too hot for me), but it's also holiday week (Canada Day and Independence Day in North America).

That said, there are always thoughts I have everyday.

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++ ROB BOOKER: Maybe it's just me - actually no it isn't - but Rob Booker has been posting like a maniac recently all over the place. I'm sure FXstreet told him to get his act together for his Postcards from the Edge blog (as he was posting so infrequently). But I looked at his thoughts today on the GBP/JPY, and thought, huh?!? He would LIKE to see it go down, and he noted two concerns. This is typical, "anyone can post this info" type of material. Rob can do better than this. I've said it before, he does WAYYYY too much and sometimes he loses his focus and edge.

++ BE PREPARED: Next time your Internet goes down, and you're in some short-term trades your life will pass before your eyes. Well maybe not that dramatic. I made the point of being prepared to a group last week, and I have come across a great read on being prepared.

++ THE FALL OF CABLE: Music to my ears.

++ 5 FOREX MARKET EVENTS FOR THIS WEEK: Quite honestly the only one I care about is Non-Farm Payroll, which we have a free webinar on, but take a look at the other four (3 of which are still upcoming).

++ BREAK: I had to take a quick break to run down to Costco seeing as tomorrow is Canada Day and I needed to pick up a few things for our festivities. It always amazes me how Costco closes at 8:30 p.m. and there are always people scurrying around closing time while Costco employees block aisles and turn us towards the registers. With the looming holiday, though, there was no shooing away.

++ INSIGHT FROM A HEDGE FUND MANAGER COACH: Very interesting read. As you continue to shape your mind and commit yourself to a trader you need to "subject" yourself to relevant thoughts that will help to progress you on your trading path, instead of getting continually distracted by trading babble by trading babbilonians everywhere. Brett Steenbarger always has substance.

I wasn't expecting this so late in the night approaching a weekend, but it's 10:40 p.m. here on the west coast, and Ray our New Media Developer just Skyped me and informed me that the newly designed Trading Post homepage just went live.

It looks great, and some of the most pertinent information you need is now at your fingertips.

On a longer-term scale we'll work to completely re-design our whole website, but what you see now is a vast improvement to what we had.

Let me know what you think! Again, thanks to those internally who gave feedback and to Ray for doing a great job putting it together!

In the blogosphere this is a relatively young blog. At 183 posts as of this post, I can't believe that it's been that many, but it has and time has flown by.

PipStop has also evolved and will continue to evolve over the course of time. Its purpose has to always be honest, transparent, and unique. It will continue to be all those things. I am a regular person, not above anyone, and I hope many of you can identify with that.

Not only has readership been increasing, but there has been increasing interest by those wanting to exchange links with the blog, partner with the blog in someway, and advertise on the blog.

Recently, the blog was invited to be part of the Forbes.com Business and Financial Blog Network. I just submitted all the paperwork tonight so we'll see how that goes.

All in all, thank you for reading. As all Canadians prepare for Canada Day on July 1 and Americans for Independence Day on July 4, I wish you all a great and relaxing time with those you cherish.

As always I appreciate the email feedback that I do receive and I encourage you to leave comments on each blog post as you feel appropriate.

When you read the following, I'm sure you can relate to one or all points ...

If you have a mortgage, carry credit cards and are considering a home equity loan to cope with soaring food and energy prices, you should be paying attention to what the Fed has to say.

Too often with economic news, the pundits and writers want to make themselves sound smart by dissecting what a particular announcement or news means. When that happens regular folks need a translator to figure out what is being said.

At the end of the day, most work, most have debt, most have a hectic schedule, most are bombarded with information - constantly.

So late last night it was refreshing to come across an article that was entitled "What the Fed decision means for you." Because it doesn't necessarily matter what US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says, but it's how what he said applies to you.

Other than it being an absolutely beautiful day today in Vancouver, and wondering why I'm still inside and not on the patio, I do have  few thoughts.

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++ So the Fed decides to keep it's rate at 2% - Good for Bernanke and the gang. With every cut from 5.25% - 2% the spotlight grew grossly larger. Of course today's news didn't affect the dollar bulls, according to Kathy Lien, who were obviously expecting something else. I, along with the venerable Rob Booker had the same "what the crap" moment.

++ The Yen is in an 11-month low against the euro. As a side note, it is bonus time in Japan for most salaried employees who ordinarily get two times their monthly pay, twice a year. Wouldn't that practice be nice on this side of the world?

++ Who's still looking for the Holy Grail? Suckers keep looking.

++ Whether it's hawkish euro, hawkish dollar, hawkish peso, I don't care, I just love the work "hawkish." This is a great headline, though, "Hawkish Trichet boosts euro." Amidst all the economic craziness and currency movements, can't we have a little fun?

++ Speaking of fun, FXstreet.com has added two more bloggers in James Chen and Sunil Mangwani. I hope both have a prosperous run!

One point that I forgot to mention in my various posts about the LA Traders Expo was a key development that is ready to hit the industry most likely in the next few and surely before the end of the year.

I got this information from the NFA booth at the expo, and I'm glad I stopped by. I was told that the following hasn't been officially announced as the NFA is waiting for the CFTC to set an effective date.

All Introducing Brokers (loosely defined in Forex circles as companies or people who introduce clients to a broker and are compensated on every roundturn executed - through the bid/ask spread) will be required to register with the National Futures Association as an Introducing Broker.

What this means is that the industry will enter a period of extreme consolidation because many current IB's will not be able to or will choose not to pursue NFA registration. With Forex it's been a feeding frenzy of sorts because anyone has been able to open an IB relationship up with a broker and receive compensation.

Some brokers have been extremely proactive in imposing their own rules ahead of what the NFA would impose. Just a few examples of these brokers from our experience would be Interactive Brokers and InterbankFX, and of course there is the odd broker that doesn't have an IB program at all, such as Oanda.

Trading Post Brokerage is registered with the NFA as an IB, and we are currently sifting through numerous brokers as we evaluate which would continue to provide a solid solutions to the end trader.

I was just watching U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on CNN where he is campaigning in Albuquerque, N.M. He is speaking to a working women's group and mentioned a few interesting numbers.

In the U.S.:

62% of women earn half or more than half of their household income; and

U.S. women earn 70 cents for every dollar that a U.S. man earns.

Which number surprises you? Or is it a surprise at all?

I guess the question should really be, what do YOU look for?

It's been a couple of days since I returned from the Los Angeles Traders Expo, and I've been able to ponder a few things.

Without spilling the extensive thoughts in my head, I'll just share a few things, and end with some words of wisdom I heard in a particular session.

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- I had promised those in the office that I'd post pictures from the expo. I forgot my camera at home, and it's probably a good thing so I didn't look like a tourist while I was there.

- I was talking to an exhibitor about all the traders that attended the expo, and he mentioned it's not always easy to tell the difference for regular folk between the snake oil salesmen and the legitimate businesses. How true he was, and I observed it first hand. There were those there that were selling a story more than what will help people to become more successful traders.

- It was a great experience, and like another exhibitor told me, he was jealous that I was able to roam about from exhibit to exhibit and from session to session, while he stayed tied to his booth. He told me to enjoy it while it lasts as I'm sure Trading Post will have a booth of its own sometime down the road. For now, though, I am looking forward to being at the Las Vegas Traders Expo in September.

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I have many more thoughts that I'd like to share, but I'll keep this short, as I've pummeled all of you with long posts the last week.

I want to share a few points that Tom Sosnoff, the co-founder of online brokerage thinkorswim shared in a Thursday session, which matches the philosophy we have at Trading Post.

He asked the following questions and answered them below that (although my notes aren't perfect). And remember I'm not saying you have to do this, but it got me thinking and it should at the least get you thinking too:

What (markets) should we be looking at? What should we be trading?

1. You should be watching everything that moves and everything that interests you.
     A. Commodities such as oil, gold, interest rates, and US dollar
     B. Broad-based products including index futures
     C. Stocks you like
2. We should be trading all the time
     A. All gold products that have practical strategic opportunities
     B. Any combination of products that improve our skill level
     C. Any product that improves our technology skill set
     D. Any product that helps us trade better

He made the point that good traders by in large work harder at it and they trade more. The difference between the dreamers and the doers is the doing.

As I thought more about this, the following popped into my head.

If you put in a part-time commitment, you might be able to achieve part-time success.