PipStop

I've been having some SERIOUS issues with my laptop since I landed in California and I feel like throwing it over the convention center. It's slow, it's hot, and I can sense that it's on its last legs.

So it's been a little bit of a frenetic morning, and I'm just repairing my email account too which hasn't been retrieving email for about 24 hours.

Now on to the actual Traders Expo.

11:01 a.m. - I've just been flagged down by Reid Dubuque of ODL Securities, and we'll follow-up on Monday to see how we can officially partner with them. For a Forex broker to offer 2 pip spreads on nine major currency pairs and to guarantee that spreads won't widen during volatile market conditions, I think it would provide an attractive option to traders. Of course if you're a cynic, you'll ask what kind of slippage there is ...

11:28 a.m. - In a session titled "How everyone could be making money in Forex," by SolomonFX. The co-founder Robert Sharpe is talking about his story of why he started in this. One disagreement that I have right off is that trading and to be more specific Forex trading ISN'T for everyone. OK, so it's semantics, but replace "everyone" with "you."

11:33 a.m. - Time has been turned over to the CEO ... and he's sharing some stories and analogies, and I think the point he's trying to make is that simple is best.

11:38 a.m. - SolomonFX is trying to differentiate themselves by portraying themselves as teaching simple principles, and to a lesser extent they're painting others as perhaps overly complicated.

11:50 a.m. - CEO turns time over the Jerry, the sales guy, to talk prices, but before he steps down he mentions they have taught over 100 people, to come back on Saturday where students they will share one strategy, and to remember to use fibonacci extensions.

11:53 a.m. - As I listen to Jerry pitch his program, I can't help but think when he says "what sets us apart from others is ..." that everybody says that. And it's funny that all companies will espouse themselves as having THE program for EVERYONE. I firmly believe now that there is no one solution for all traders. Traders are unique creatures and need unique solutions. This is why Trading Post isn't continuing to pursue creating it's own proprietary solutions. We will embrace the best solutions out in the industry and become the ultimate solutions destination for traders. That's as rant-ish as I can get on the blog.

12:24 p.m. - I've been corralled to go into a "live trading" session that's being put on by Online Trading Academy. Gimmicky to be sure, or more than gimmicky, it garners attention. We'll see how it goes.

1:09 p.m. - Wow. That was a lot of fun. I know that OTA likes to let people know that they will teach them AND allow them to trade their money. It's a pretty cool feeling to do so. I have NEVER traded a single stock and we had to trade stocks. In the room there were 24 laptops and I can say that after a few pointers from the instructor Merlin I shorted two stocks and went long on one. Total, I actually made OTA a nickel. So I'm a positive stock trader now! I like OTA's philosophy, and Merlin was straight up, just as any instructor should be. Trading isn't easy and it isn't for everybody.

1:44 p.m. - I spoke with Jeremy Nosek of OTA and it's great to share the same philosophy. OTA has some great resources on its website and we will get much of it on the Trading Post website as part of a future resources section.

4:33 p.m. - I waded into the exhibit hall and stopped at a variety of booths - mostly Forex brokers such as Saxo Bank, FXCM, Citibank, and FXDD, as well as the NFA, Blocks (charts software), Elliotician, and an oil and gas company.

4:45 p.m. - I will elaborate on this in my wrap-up on the weekend, but after stopping by the NFA booth, I was told that most likely by the end of the year it will become official that all Introducing Brokers be required to be licensed by the NFA. This will clear out ALOT of the riff-raff that is out there. Also, I just learned that FXCM is now offering 1K accounts and will actually give you $25 to open one up. To me it defeats the purpose of trading. Like I've always been told, "Sam, if you put in a minimum investment, expect a minimum return." I've used this term a number of times but this is gimmicky.

5:44 p.m. - I visited with Chestnut Energy Partners which is offering opportunities to invest in drilling and offers a separate fund - it's very interesting. After some heavy discussion and questioning it's something I'll revisit personally later on.

6:59 p.m. - I'm in the Marriott across the street from the convention center to attend a presentation put on by an extremely intriguing company called Elliottician - which offers a rather stunning trading software program. More on this later - my battery is dying again!

11:32 p.m. - It's been a long day. I just got in after chatting with almost the entire Elliottician team, including its founder Richard. Great group with seemingly a great product. And talk about working remotely ... the team is spread out in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland. Afterwards I grabbed a burger with Willie who is the president of a local Los Angeles Forex traders group, and it was great getting to know him and hear of his experiences. I will definitely be in touch with him in the future. Now it's time to do some work, then get some sleep before my last day here.