Tharp's Thoughts Weekly Newsletter
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Article: A Dialogue with My Higher Self, by Albert Lau
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Super Trader: We Reduced the Price of the Super Trader Program By As Much As 25%
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Workshops: SALE July Workshops End Friday! September — November Schedule is Up!
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Tip: Which Straw Could Break the Stock Market’s Back?, by D. R. Barton, Jr.
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Our Full 2016 Schedule is Now Available!
Check our workshop schedule with new dates below!
Enroll in Ken Long's July Workshops now to get a head start on your course prework.
Ken Long has created a number of private tutorial videos for students enrolled in his two July workshops. Enroll today, and gain access to start studying these lessons. When you start learning these concepts today, you will be improving your perspective on trading now, and also be prepared to use the workshop room time for focusing on bringing all the details together, and launching you into the next level of trading!
You can also find out a bit more about Ken's new courses by watching these VIDEOS
To find our more about what these workshops have to offer READ BELOW.
Feature Article Introduction by Van Tharp
For me going beyond the matrix involves getting advice from your Higher Self. I’ve been doing a regular dialogue with my Internal Guidance since 2010. Some of that was included in Chapter 10 of Trading Beyond the Matrix. In the book, Conversations with God, Neal Donald Walsh implies that everyone can have such a conversation. I find that everyone can do it once they reach a certain level of transformation. Thus, I encourage my Super Trader Candidates to do the same when they are ready. Most of them consider their contact with their Higher Self in the first part of the program to be one of their greatest transformations. That guidance often takes on different forms. Albert Lau has developed a particularly strong connection and he gave me permission to use this as an example of what he gets in his daily conversations. The responses from his Internal Guidance are in blue.
A Dialogue with My Higher Self
by Albert Lau
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I feel that I have learned so much the past two years of my Super Trader Program. How will I remember all of the teachings?
You will not remember all of the teachings since the teachings are just lessons to help you discover who you are. These lessons have been around you everywhere always. It was just not your time to embrace them. As such, the lessons are life long and will be different as you continue to find who you are. As you are ready, the right lessons and right people will be available to help you with the next lesson.
How will I know when I am good enough to move to the next lesson?
There is no good enough or failure. You grow and embrace what is presented to you to discover who you are. This journey through life is one big lesson. Be comfortable with who you are, for you are who you are. Judge not others since they also are unique, so there is no basis to judge them. Consequently, judge not yourself, for you are who you are.
I have grown so much the past months, I am afraid that it will stop?
This is fear talking. You have not heard what I said earlier. Life is continually discovering yourself: there is no end-goal in finding yourself, for you do not exist in the future. You only exist now. You are perfect now.
My Dream Life seems so boring. Am I truly content or am I not awakened enough to get past my comfort zone?
Not everyone will have great earth-shattering goals or require grand lifestyles. If you are truly comfortable and have no other needs then that is fine. Notice I said needs and not desires. Desires may be great, grand or insatiable. The varying degrees may be a need or a desire. It may be a need if you want your child to go to a better school or your current place is unhealthy or you physically need more living space. A need may also be a desire, the desire to keep up with the Jones or something to meet your image/reality of yourself. This may be a burning need, but it is a need from the ego and not from the mind. Similarly, a desire may be to want a better school for your child or a bigger house for conveniences. If the desire is from the conscious mind, then it is fine. In fact, the true need or an ego-driven need, or a desire is all fine, as long as you know why you want it. There is no good or bad. I don’t view a person who lives in a shack differently than one that lives in a mansion. Everyone is on their own journey and creating their own experiences. Should you want to experience your life from a shack or mansion is completely up to you. There is no guilt or piousness in either.
So my Dream Life does not need to be grand, but what about my Personal Mission?
Similar to your housing preference, your Personal Mission may be grand or local; it is completely up to you. Some people see big visions their whole life and others get more clarity as they live life. Scale is not what matters, but how you live your life, whether you are true to yourself is what matters. Even then, nothing matters; things only matter based on how you interpret and rate it
Somehow, I feel that I am missing something with my Personal Mission. The vision of it has not fully developed or I only want to keep it on a small scale…the end goal is still fuzzy to me.
Fuzzy may mean that you have not completely thought it out, that there may be some fear in you about it, how you will pay for it, how you will manage it, whether it will be all encompassing which you may have to give up trading or your professional career, or that you were meant to keep it small and intimate. Once you have reflected and ruled out your underlying concerns, then what you hold in mind at the end will be what you have.
But doesn’t it stand to reason, that if I were to do charitable work, the more I can do the better off the world will be and the better I accomplish my Personal Mission?
There is a lot of ego in your statement; ego that you know more than the Universe. How do you know that more is better? Why is helping ten better than helping one? Why is helping one million better than helping one? What if your mission is to help that one person you were put here to help? What if that was the intent of the Universe? Are you saying you know different, better? Is there ego in wanting to help one million people? You should reflect on this. This answer will provide you with more clarity.
I have been thinking about my Dream Life again and how plain it seems. I don’t have any grand visions and I seem pretty content as I am now. Am I missing something?
Contentment and success are different things. People mistake success with happiness and achievement. You can be the poorest person on earth and be wholly content or the richest, wealthiest person on earth and be absolutely unhappy and tormented. If you have such feelings, are you comparing yourself to anyone or to societal beliefs? Does wildly-successful mean having a lot of brand-name, exclusive, physical goods? Must you show everyone their perception of your success? Are you playing their game? Being content is already a noble goal and an aware recognition of success; should you define it as such. You need to play your own game. Whose game are you measuring your Dream Life against?
Are you saying that I need to know myself more?
I am saying that you are confused as to how you measure success. You know what makes you happy and what your mission in life is, yet it appears that instead, you are measuring success based on societal rules, not yours. The rules to your game are the only thing that matters. You need to sort all of that out or you will be continually confused. Listen to your heart.
I heard the concept of projection before, but I think I truly understand it now. So the whole world is really my own reflections?
If you mean all your thoughts about the world and other people, then yes. If you think someone is mean then it is the meanness within yourself being projected onto the other person…you are seeing what is in your own heart. If you see love and kindness in the world than you are seeing your own love and kindness inside. You are your thoughts. Events of the world are neutral; it is your interpretation of the world that makes it real. So if you perceive something as wrong, then you are assigning your belief that something is right or wrong. If you claim someone is doing something wrong, you are projecting your belief of what is right or wrong onto that person.
So if I only think good and loving thoughts, does that make me a good and loving person?
Purposely thinking good and loving thoughts may change your current mental state for the moment, but it takes energy to do so. To be a good and loving person, you need to believe and live your life as a good and loving person. It takes energy to pretend who you are not, but a truly good and loving person is that person. So it is natural. It doesn’t take energy to be that person. Being good and loving is just that person’s natural state. In fact, the more good the person does, or the more love s/he shows the world, the more energy s/he generates. So instead of being an energy drain, the truly good and loving person generates energy.
How do I know if I am a good and loving person?
If you are truly a good and loving person, that is how you see the world. This is how you live your life. You recognize the good and love in everything. You are energized by doing good or showing love. You get energy seeing other people doing good or showing love. The person that is not good or loving will be repulsed at cleaning up after a bed-ridden person; it would be a chore and would be a most unpleasant task. The good and loving person will do it willingly because s/he will focus on how good the patient would feel and would actually get energy from that. So this is not just for being good or loving; it is true also for someone that is angry or mean. A mean and angry person will recognize his/her beliefs in the world and draw energy from causing anger and cruelty in the world. In either situation, you are what your thoughts are, and your thoughts come from your beliefs, and your beliefs make you the person you are.
I am surprised how people so quickly or were so willing to respond to my requests in Lesson 15. (Note – part of the Super Trader Lesson 15 involves making requests of other people to help you create your dream life.)
It may be easy to attribute how responsive people are to you because you are nice or because you have helped them some point in the past…or that people did not respond because they hate you or they are inconsiderate. All of this is your mind making up an explanation in interpreting the results. In truth, everyone that responded was sent to you to help or guide you, to provide the information you are seeking or to point you in the direction you should go. You have free choice whether to listen or act on such information, but it is the Universe’s way of guiding you into the flow of the Universe. Everyone you meet, come in contact with, or have a chance meeting was sent to you for such purpose. Consequently, anyone that does not respond or declines your request is also providing you information. Be grateful for people’s response and equally grateful for your rejections and non-responses. If you are not equally grateful for the latter, then it is your ego that is assigning a story to what did not happen and projecting its value to the circumstances. Everything in life is neutral.
Now that I am coming toward the end of Super Trader 1 will I continue with my spiritual development?
Is this question coming from curiosity or from fear? If it is coming from fear, then it is a sign that you are not fully done. If it is coming from curiosity, then you will find that one never stops on one’s spiritual development. You may stall, delay, or go dormant while dealing with your non-useful beliefs, but eventually, everyone continues to evolve. The end goal is the same for everyone, it is just the route everyone takes will differ. You do not have a choice as to whether or not to complete the journey; your choice and free will are how quickly you proceed on your journey and which path you choose.
When I first joined the Super Trader program, my intent was to get through it as soon as possible. Then I discovered how much I enjoyed the psychological and spiritual work. I just don’t want to lose all that I have learned. So I guess that is fear.
You have progressed enough to move forward. If you stay too long, then it may be a fear of the future or a fear of letting go. You need to assess this. Like a child, you can only nurture and support them for so long. Eventually, they will need to test themselves and learn to apply what they have learned, and find their own path. You have always wondered if your transformations were true or whether you are being supported, that it is all a dream. You need to move on and see for yourself. You have all the resources, tools, and techniques to make it on your own. In fact, as it was taught to you, this journey is not to learn and build techniques and skills; this journey is to unlearn everything you have learned and to break down your filters and errant beliefs so that you can come back to me. Ironically, adults teach children how to live in the world; but children are the ones that should be teaching adults on how to live in God’s world.
So is that why my mind has been periodically preoccupied with what and how I should present my Super Trader 1 completion presentation?
Yes, it is the Universe’s way to tell you to move on. You are getting too comfortable with your psychology. There is truly no end to this unless and until you reach true enlightenment. Is that your goal and intent? If not, it is time to move on and apply what you have learned. It is time to test what you have learned since this has always been a nagging question for yourself.
Yes, I can see that I am holding onto the past now, and I need to go forward. Surprisingly, I am not afraid of the future, but I am somewhat remorseful in leaving Super Trader 1.
Like I mentioned, you are never really done with Super Trader 1 or your continuing spiritual growth; it’s just a matter of what you want. And from what I know, you your goal is not literally to be the Jesus incarnate, but to lead your life as Jesus incarnate. If that is so, then it is time to proceed to the next experience.
I get emotional when I think of how far I have come and all the people that have helped me on my self-discovery. How can I ever thank them all?
The secret is that you attract and manifest the people in your life; everyone is a messenger from me. It is up to you to see and embrace the message. As in prior dialogs, you need to be thankful for not only the people who have helped you but also the ones that have scorned you or the ones that failed you; each of them brought forth a lesson for you. Remember, your thoughts not only drive your behavior and your actions, but they also signal to the Universe your intent, and the Universe will send the appropriate resources to achieve your thoughts. As such, you manifest your reality.
About the Author: Albert is a CPA and works in the internal audit department for a publically traded bank. He lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and teenage daughter. He joined the SuperTrader program in January 2015.
Super Trader
We Basically Just Reduced the Price of the Super Trader Program By 25%
Interested traders have until July 31st to take advantage of a huge reduction in the price of the Super Trader program. In the old Super Trader program, students paid for 3 years of Super Trader 1 upfront, and then paid for at least one more year when they started Super Trader 2. Thus, the minimum cost of the program was $66,750. Now, however, students can finish the program in three years for a total investment of only $50,250. For motivated and committed traders looking to transform themselves and their trading, that’s a huge effective discount of $16,750.
If you have been considering joining the program but have been putting off your decision, the next 45 days are your opportunity to act and save big. On August 1st, the price of the program will increase by several thousand dollars (but the ability to finish in three years will still be available.) The longer you wait, the higher the cost - in 2017, we will raise the price of the program tuition to $20,000 per year.
I recently wrote an article on the change in the structure of the program which you can read here.
If you'd like to see the most updated information on the new Super Trader structure click here to view it online, or click here to download a PDF of the new program overview.
Workshops
July Workshops — $700 Early Enrollment Discount Expires Soon
INFINITE WEALTH — July 8-10
Twelve Benefits You’ll Receive from the Infinite Wealth Course
- You’ll learn about the five-step method to becoming infinitely rich in much more detail. Moreover, you’ll develop a personalized plan for you.
- Become wealthy on the inside so that it will appear on the outside. You’ll develop a personal plan and learn how to overcome your personal roadblocks so that you can get started immediately.
- Learn several principles involved in becoming wealthy and learn how to make those principles ingrained in your body so that they become part of your behavior. That’s one of the real secrets to wealth. Not the knowledge but having the knowledge be a part of who you are.
- You don’t have any assets right now? We’ll also show you 15 steps to increase your income by 1000% within the next five years. And, you need very little to get started.
- You’ll learn "financial intelligence." You’ll learn to think like the rich instead of like the poor or the middle class. Even if you have money, it’s important to think like the rich or you could lose it all. That knowledge will include a simple strategy to get rid of all of your debt within 5 to 7 years, including your mortgage. How close to infinite wealth would you be if you didn’t have any debt?
- At the end of the course you’ll be able to access a wealth building state of mind that will help you achieve your dreams.
- We’ll help you determine your purpose in life and use that as motivation to do what is necessary to achieve Infinite Wealth.
After all of these years, you’ll finally understand the one simple decision you need to make to start moving toward the fast track and out of the rat race.
- You’ll learn to overcome years of conditioning by the school systems, by your banker and by your accountant.
- You’ll learn to rethink your finances. Some of you could be infinitely rich within a year.
- Learn the difference between working for money and money working for you. If you’re self-employed, you’re still working for money. This system is so tight that it actually explains many of the problems that most traders have— they’re self-employed and they are thinking with the mentality of the self-employed. Learn to think like a business owner.
- In the New Infinite Wealth Workshop, you learn how to develop resiliency so that when you achieve any sort of setback, you will bounce back easily and be able to continue on track toward infinite wealth.
- In addition, we will be emphasizing the psychological tools to make sure you can follow the steps we are going to give you.
LEARN MORE...
SYSTEMS THINKING FOR TRADERS: How to Use Systems Thinking to Improve Your Trade Craft — July 12-14
How will you benefit from attending this Systems Thinking Workshop?
- Learn to plan your trading business and plan your trades more effectively for achieving the results you are trying to generate.
- Improve the probabilities for your success in trading
- Find out what key questions to ask in order to challenge your established market beliefs, logic, and mental structures for trading.
- Create a series of useful tactical checklists for daily and weekly use so you don’t miss common crucial items and keep your trading efficiency very high.
Gain invaluable lessons from practicing systems thinking.
- Identify the few critical states in price action and how to plan how to take advantage of those when you find them.
- Develop your situational awareness skills by simply paying attention to what’s happening in order to evolve your strategy as well as exploit new opportunities.
- Understand how to construct trade scenarios in order to anticipate possible outcomes and reduce the chances for a “surprise.”
- Clarify your objectives and understand how your long term plans, your big picture process, and expecting the unexpected, all support you getting to those objectives.
- Feel more confident in your trading regardless of what the markets are doing.
- Improve your decision making processes for faster execution with results more aligned with your goals.
- Ultimately – feel better about your trading and improve your returns.
These are all things that are the natural outcomes of a systems thinking orientation as applied to trading. These are the things that the members of the tortoise community of practice and the chatroom have been doing to improve their trading on explicit systems developed by Ken and through the community collaboration.
This new three-day workshop will not only have extensive pre-work that will give you a head start on the material, but Ken will have dozens of practical exercise for the class which he has already field tested within his trading group. All of the exercises and three days of presentations will focus on helping you realize how important this mindset is for your own trading and developing your systems thinking orientation and how to capitalize on this important factor.
LEARN MORE...
ADVANCED ADAPTIVE SWING TRADING — July 15-17
In this new three-day workshop, Dr. Ken Long will present a series of advanced, adaptive trading systems that work well in the swing period holding time-frame – from two days to two weeks.
Adaptive trading systems have rules and rule parameters that adjust to market conditions and price conditions rather than remaining constant.
They both mechanical systems and adaptive systems work well, they just work differently. Mechanical rules are more easily understood, are easier to program, and they are easier to execute. Mechanical rule-based systems typically do not adjust to changing market conditions and therefore are out of the market at times when the condition criteria are unmet. These are the kind of systems detailed in the Swing Trading Elearning Course.
Adaptive rules require a better understanding by the trader of price action, of self and of the market. These systems can also take more time to monitor and to execute.
LEARN MORE...
Click Here To Learn More
Combo Discounts available for all back-to-back workshops!
See our workshop page for details.
Trading Tip
Which Straw Could Break the Stock Market’s Back?
by D. R. Barton, Jr.
Click here to resolve formatting problems
Last week we looked a chart that showed the gain in corporate debt vs. U.S. Gross Domestic Product and what that could imply.
We know that no single indicator will be the harbinger of a U.S. recession and analysts are decidedly split on whether we are heading for a recession at all. As I said last week, central banks around the world are still acting as a safety net and investors perceive that the interventions are still effective which has been keeping U.S. equity prices very close to all-time highs.
So this week, I’d like to state some assumptions and then visit a list of potential triggers that could tip the scale to the negative side of the ledger.
Many analysts, hedge fund and money managers that I speak with are operating under a primary set of assumptions that looks like something like this:
- Global economic health is poor - and worse than most media outlets portray it.
- While the U.S. economy is among the strongest globally, it has its own issues and is not far from problems, either.
- Even if the U.S. remains economically stable, world economic struggles could still drag it down.
- Central bank actions and/or faith in their actions are keeping risk assets (like stocks) priced higher than warranted.
With weaker economic indicators balanced against monetary intervention, traders and investors should constantly be looking for factors that could tip this precarious balance. In other words, what proverbial straw could break the camel’s back?
To help answer this question, we can turn to a team that looks for these straws. Each month, The Economist magazine’s “Intelligence Unit” lists its top global risks. Here’s this month’s top risks — 
If you’re wondering about the number in the front of each item, it indicates a “risk intensity” assigned by The Economist’s team. They calculate it based on the expected probability and anticipated impact.
Which One Bothers You? Which One That Worries You Isn’t Listed?
So I find some of these factors very interesting. A Grexit is a bigger problem / probability than a Brexit (I guess we have to bear in mind that The Economist is a British publication!). Also, the risks they associate with a Trump presidency have been climbing over recent months indicative of the ground that Trump has been gaining in the polls.
After you look at that list,
- What item(s) on their list is tops on your worry list?
- What item(s) would you add to the list?
I’d love to hear from you about both of your answers. Please send your thoughts and comments to drbarton “at” vantharp.com — I always appreciate hearing from you!
Great Trading,
D. R.
About the Author: A passion for the systematic approach to the markets and a lifelong love of teaching and learning have propelled D.R. Barton, Jr. to the top of the investment and trading arena. He is a regularly featured analyst on Fox Business’ Varney & Co. TV show (catch him most Thursdays between 12:30 and 12:45), on Bloomberg Radio Taking Stock and MarketWatch’s Money Life Show. He is also a frequent guest analyst on CNBC’s Closing Bell, WTOP News Radio in Washington, D.C., and has been a guest on China Central Television — America and Canada’s Business News Network. His articles have appeared on SmartMoney.com MarketWatch.com and Financial Advisor magazine. You may contact D.R. at "drbarton" at "vantharp.com".
Free Book
FREE Book!
TRADING BEYOND THE MATRIX
The Red Pill for Traders and Investors
We pay for the book, you pay for shipping.
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS CLICK HERE!
Eleven traders tell their stories about transforming their trading results and lives, in this 400 plus page book.
Below is a brief video on how powerful this book is to traders.
Swing Trading Systems E-Learning Course
Ken Long's systematic approach to swing trading with 5 distinct trading systems. This course has over 10 hours of instruction with significant follow-along documents included for students to download.
Review the videos as many times, and as often as you like, for one full year. Plus, you receive a bonus workshop at no extra charge—Dr. Van Tharp's Tharp Think Essentials!
If you are interested in both this video home study program (featuring mechanical, rule-based systems) and our new Advanced Adaptive Swing workshop (adaptive trading systems have rules and rule parameters that adjust to market conditions and price conditions rather than remaining constant) you benefit by buying both at the same time.
When you register for the workshop you can get a 22% discount on this home study.
The home study is not required to attend the workshop, however, an understanding of the systems in the the video home study may help a less experienced trader better understand the more advanced trading style which will be presented in the workshop. The systems, however, are totally different and the Advanced Adaptive Systems Workshop does not build upon the systems in the home study.
You can complete this course at your own pace, from the comfort of your own home or office, and access the materials as many times as you wish during your 1-year subscription period.
Take a look at this video from Ken to learn more about this course.
We have extensive information about the Swing Trading System e-learning course, including how to purchase...click the link below!
Learn More About The Swing E-Learning Course...
Matrix Contest
 Enter the Matrix Contest
for a chance to win a free workshop!
We want to hear about the one most profound insight that you got from reading Van's new book, Trading Beyond the Matrix, and how it has impacted your life. If you would like to enter, send an email to [email protected].
If you haven't purchased Trading Beyond the Matrix yet, click here.
For more information about the contest, click here.
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