My Journey…
Having never traded before, I committed one year to read, learn, and experiment with various approaches to creating personal success and wealth through trading. I read books by many of the recognized trading gurus (Dennis, Buffett, Murphy, Williams, et al). I learned that successful traders are very hard-working and smart people who use various analytical means (charts, moving averages, technical analysis, etc.) as the basis for their forecasting philosophies and methodologies. There was no way I could assimilate all of the years of experience of successful traders, each of whom had his own story to tell. I spent close to $10,000 on various trader systems and determined that none consistently provided me the edge necessary to be successful. It became apparent those systems were based solely on the analysis of historical data and were lagging indicators. It was like determining my direction forward while only looking in the rearview mirror of my automobile, and that made absolutely no sense! I was disillusioned and thought that there was no edge to this game of trading. I took a few weeks away from the educational process to clear my head. I determined that, like my car’s direction, there had to be a forward-looking methodology, a leading indicator, which used historical data and other impacting variables that collectively would give me the edge I needed. I rededicated myself to finding someone who had developed some type of system that addressed that issue. I read Mendelsohn’s book, Trend Forecasting with Technical Analysis, written in 2000, and realized that his approach to trend forecasting made eminent sense when using both historical and intermarket data. His work was corroborated by John Murphy who wrote, “I feel indebted to Mendelsohn for proving that those ideas do, in fact, work and can be profitably applied to the financial markets.” Mendelsohn wrote in the second edition (2008) about the expanding use of neural networks in his decision-making and risk analysis software. Eureka, I had found it!
Since that moment I have been an actively involved student and trader using only the VantagePoint software and their implementation system. The VantagePoint teaching methodology is deliberate, focused, and in ever-increasing levels of learning, each level leading to a greater understanding of the software and how to utilize it most effectively. I needed all of the training. It is hard work, but my trading returns have exceeded my expectations. This has been a year-long journey but a successful one. I wrote this at length to share my personal story knowing that there are many novices and professional traders out there looking for the edge…I found mine. Good luck and profitable trading!
Monty Felix
