MASTERING THE TRADE PROVEN TECHNIQUES FOR PROFITING FROM INTRADAY AND SWING TRADING SETUPS JOHN F. CARTER McGraw-Hill New York Chicago San Francisco. Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milat New Delhi Sar Suan Seal Singapore Syuney TorontoACKNOWLEDGMENTS Wisiting ant trading have a tot in common in that they are essentially solitary professions that are made much more enjoyable by anyone who is willing to lend a helping hand. tn regards to this project, I would like to first thank Hubert Senters and Priyanka Rajpal for holding down the fort while I was “working on the nightmare.” Also thanks to your contributions to this project, which helped to keep me sane toward the end when things were getting crazy. Although the ook deadline was firm, July Soybeans were moving and I couldn't just ignore them. Thanks to Kira McCaffrey Brecht, Gail Osten, and everyone at SFO Magazine for help- ing me to realize that writing about trading could be a worthwhile thing to do. Larry Connors and Eddie Kwong at Trading Markets for advice along the way and for keeping me on track with this original project, making sure I didn’t spend a lot of wasted time reinventing the wheel. Kelli Christiansen at McGraw-Hill for initially contacting me about this project and turning it from idea imo reality, and to Executive Editor Stephen Isaacs at McGraw Hill for helping to keep this project on track, 1 thought I could rest easy once | completed the first draft, but little did 1 know that the real work was about to begin. Thanks to Bill Shugg. Tim Sambrano, Pamela Snelling. and Don Allen for reading early drafts and providing feedback. Also thanks to the staff at McGraw- Hill, who performed the herculean task of bringing this book to life: Scott Kurtz, Editing ‘Supervisor; Maureen Harper, Production Supervisor; Roberta Mantus, copy editor, and Eric Lowenkron, proofreader. Thanks also to Mark Douglas for insightful feedback in the later stages of the project. For help with my trading and trading related projects along the way, I'd like to thank Marcia Wieder, goddess of Maui, for kicking things off in regard to my leaving corporate America and trading full time. Scout Sether, who was truly in this from the beginning, for helping to redefine the term “market research” Tracy Alderman, Rosa Hernandez, and Michael Duwe, for helping to get things kicked off. Page Rossiter, for keeping me on track during the transition. Skip Klohn, as an early mentor in the process. Eric Corkhill. .. where do I start? Thanks for acting as a consultant on a multitude of topics, and thanks for giving me enough red wine so that I only remembered the good stuff the next morning. Thanks to Barbara Schmidt-Bailey and Jeff Campbell at the Chicago Board of Trade, and Marty Doyle at One Chicago for good ideas and great feedback along the way. John Conolly, for a multitude of solid insights into the business. To the gang at Mirus, for continued support. To the gang at Newport, for clarifying what not to do and how not to do it. Cooper Bates, for keeping me on track on the meaning of it all. Steve Patrow and Becky Herman, for keeping things entertaining while 1 was in the beginning stages of this journey. OF course, it makes sense to thank family members whete appropriate. Thanks to my mom, Francie Cobb, for supporting me while I “did my thing” along the way, even if it was some- times scary to watch. Thanks to my step-father, Lance Cobb, for being 4 father and introducing vilACKNOWLEDGMENTS me to the world of financial markets at an early age. To my brother, Jason Carter, for being a zpreat sibling. It’s nice to have another person in the world who understands. Maria Carter, my wife, for her unflinching support in the face of it all, and also for becoming passionate about the Home Decorating Channel while her husband played “catch up on the book” over the weekends. Next time I swear we'll just go to Hawaii. I’m pretty sure I can write and drink Mai Tais at the ‘same time. Thanks also to the memory of my father, Bill Carter, who was taken away too soon, but in so doing passed along valuabie lessons to his kids. And to the memory of Joanne Wolfram, a good friend, who reminds us all to live life while you have the chance.