The Mechanical Swing and Day Trading Workshop is the lecture course, and the Discretionary Trading Workshop is the complementary lab course where students get to apply the trading concepts in the real world, with a master trading coach by their side. It is unlike any other workshop offered by the Van Tharp Institute. You craft your own daily trading plan based on Ken Long’s mechanical system signals for that day and trade your platform with your own money—all under the guidance of Ken, who will offer plenty of suggestions and individualized feedback.

Ken originally developed this workshop because clients saw him using the turbo versions of his mechanical systems and wanted to do the same. Ken has some discretionary guidelines for intraday trading of his mechanical systems, but he simply couldn’t squeeze any more material into the Mechanical Swing Workshop. That’s why he created this course, which focuses on teaching traders how to apply the more discretionary turbo methods to his mechanical systems on an intraday basis.

Ken coaches students in three main areas as he demonstrates the practices in person; what traders need to do in preparation for the trading day, trading during market hours, and how to recap the lessons for the day after the market closes. The process is iterative and reinforces a host of great trading habits. Participants in the workshop are invited to prepare their daily trading plans alongside Ken, make their trades during the day, and share with the group their most valuable experiences at the end of the day. In effect, the workshop becomes a live version of Ken’s trading chat room where traders go through a similar process each day and learn from each other.

Ken’s approach to day trading is an archetype for the rule-based discretionary trader—the type of trader that Dr. Tharp has found to be the most successful (click here to learn more). According to the principles of Tharp Think, discretion means that you use rules in a disciplined and logical manner. It doesn’t mean doing whatever you feel like doing.

Despite its discretionary title, this workshop has a good bit of structure and Ken promises that the group will do the following:

1. Build a daily trading plan with “framed” trades based on the Tortoise daily report.

2. Scan for intraday opportunities after the market opens and find turbo or day-1 trades.

3. Employ Mastermind techniques to practice collaborative learning and trading.

4. Utilize pivot point techniques to SPY as a guide for large cap and ETF positions.

5. Use "gapstat" and "rangestat" figures to calibrate targets and overnight risk.

6. Explore position sizing™ strategies and trade management strategies to manage intraday risk.

7. Adapt position sizing strategies to maintain constant risk levels for any positions held overnight.

8. Frame various short-term Tortoise trading patterns.

9. Break into smaller groups of like-minded traders to explore collaborative trading.

10. Participate in the chat room to learn the different ways that the chat room aligns with individual learning styles.

11. Explore the 4-bullet money management strategy.

When we first offered this workshop, a number of attendees who’d attended Ken Long’s workshops in the past signed up for this one before a workshop description had even been made available. Why? Because they know that Ken is an outstanding trader and an outstanding teacher. They also know that through this workshop, Ken will help them trade more profitably—especially in the current market conditions. If you want to learn from a master and improve your trading, enroll now.

Here's what a few students had to say:

“I now have a better understanding of my trading strengths and weaknesses.”—Paul Waldo Laurel, MD

“Great center, great class, invaluable information that I don’t think can be found anywhere else.”—Peter Wechter New York, NY

“Every question I had was answered. Ken is sure to explain everything thoroughly. If you have a question, he will explain in a way you’ll understand.”—Wade Fisher, Lewistown, PA

“Live trading is very instructive. I felt it was an excellent capstone to the Mechanical Swing & Day trading course.”—Kurt Wessels, San Francisco, CA Francisco, CA

We've been amazed at some of the high R-multiple trades that Ken and some of his students have made during the live trading sessions. Here are the averages from past workshops, which span several different market types:

May 2011: Bull Normal Market

7R per trader week, 1.45 R per trader day average

Oct 2011: Bear Volatile Market

9.6R per trader week; 2R per trader day average

March 2012: Bull Quiet Market

8R per trader week; 1.6R per trader day average

We had one trader tell us that he not only covered the cost of the workshop with his winning trades during the week, but also covered all of his expenses for international travel. Another attendee said that if he hadn’t gone to the workshop himself, he would never have believed that the kinds of results Ken generated were even possible.

The figures above are averages. We’ve had everyone from beginning traders to Super Traders to hedge fund managers in the workshops. Most attendees made money during their week, but some lost money or made very little. We can’t guarantee that you’ll make money during these trading sessions, because you are responsible for your results. However, regardless of the individual R-multiples for any participant’s trades over the course of the week, we’re confident that the constructive coaching each person receives will improve their trading and yield valuable, practical lessons that will remain useful for years to come.

The workshop is held in the Van Tharp Institute in-house workshop facility at 102A Commonwealth Court, Cary, North Carolina.

The price of the workshop varies depending on the number of days you attend. These prices run from $2,500 to $3,500 for all 5 days. There are additional discounts when attending both Mechanical and Discretionary back-to-back.

Bring a friend with you who is new to the Van Tharp Institute and you both will get an additional $200 off your tuition. Call 800-385-4486 or 919-466-0043 to register yourself and your friend, or to learn more.

• To read an interview with Ken Long about his approach to trading, click here.
• Read a student's perspective on Ken's workshops here.
• For Ken's perspective on his systems and teaching style, click here.
• Check out this detailed case study and 8-minute video of successful trades from Ken Long for the week of February 20 here.
• Every Sunday evening, Ken analyzes his weekend report and records the video of his interpretations about the market. Attendees of his workshops receive access to these recordings and reports for one year. To watch the February 13, 2012 analysis, click here.

The Van Tharp Institute totally guarantees that you will be delighted with this workshop. In fact, we'll take all of the risk ourselves. If you aren't totally satisfied by the end of the first day of the workshop, you can request a full refund. Just return your notebook to a staff member and we'll refund your workshop fee even though you've already had the benefits of half the workshop.

Why are we willing to assume your risk? The key to our guarantee is that if you are ready to work on yourself, there is no risk to us. We know you'll be delighted.