Tharp's Thoughts Weekly Newsletter

• Article: How Coachable Are You? by Van K. Tharp, Ph.D.
• Workshops: Peak Performance 101 This August
• Tip: Twitter & Fake News — Same Scam, Different Century by D. R. Barton, Jr.
• New Swing Home Study!: Swing Trading Systems at Your Fingertips!

Van Tharp Teaches Peak Performance In August

Attending Peak Performance 101 is the absolute best choice
for students who want to become masterful traders.

Join thousands of others who have taken this important step in their trading education, and attend Van Tharp's cornerstone workshop. The continued attendance by traders from all corners of the globe is a testament to the powerful impact it has on students.

Think about the biggest mistake you made last year. How much did it cost you? What if you could "save" that amount every year by eliminating similar mistakes? How much would it be worth? Eliminating self-sabotaging behaviors could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to you over your lifetime; for some of you, it could be worth millions.

Learn what all the best traders and investors have in common — their real secrets to success, and how and when you to apply them to your own trading. When students put these concepts into practice - they see the difference. Just think what performing at a peak level can mean to your bottom line! Then, add the compounding effect of more consistent performance, and you begin to understand the real value of this course.

Dr. Tharp guarantees that you will be delighted with this workshop. In fact, we're prepared to take all of the risk ourselves! If you aren't totally satisfied by 12 PM on the second day of the course, we'll give you a full refund. Why are we willing to assume your risk? The key to our guarantee is this: If you are ready to work on yourself, there is ultimately no risk to us. We know you'll be delighted. Click this link to learn more...

Feature Article

How Coachable Are You?

by Van K. Tharp, Ph.D.

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I’ve been reviewing notes from a coaching class I took recently. Several people involved in the class make a million dollars a year or more just from doing one-on-one coaching. One of the things these coaches do is to offer a free one-hour coaching session and 90% of those people then become clients. The 10% rejection rate are the people these coaches absolutely do not want to coach — the people who don’t seem coachable.

So what is coaching all about? Well the essence of coaching is to help you self-actualize and achieve self-mastery — the subject of my article a few weeks back. Primarily, coaching is done through skilled questioning (i.e., based upon the belief that you have all the resources you need inside) and moves you toward possibilities. People who have attended my workshops may notice that I usually answer questions from students with a question. The following diagram shows what happens as you move from problem to possibility and from direct intervention (here is a problem — let’s fix it) to indirect (you find the resources to get what you want through questions).

The following table should give you some clues as to how ready you are for self-actualization. Rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 on each item.

So the ultimate form of self-actualization is when you take charge of your own life and find the resources to get what you want. When that happens, you can just have an intention for something and get it. Now sometimes, different methods of support are required for helping people self-actualize. Various situations require one or more of the following kinds of support: therapy (help getting through particular existing issues), training (help learning new knowledge or new skills); consulting (finding your own resources through questioning for solving existing problems); and coaching (finding your own resources through questioning to achieve whatever new possibilities you desire).

At The Van Tharp Institute we provide all four kinds of support in some way or another, however, we believe the ultimate method for personal transformation is through great coaching. Coaching can take more than one form. We typically don’t do traditional one-on-one coaching at the Van Tharp Institute, but the coaching approach is built into the Peak Performance Home Study course, our various Peak Performance workshops, and, of course, it’s a major part of the Super Trader Program.

About the Author: Trading coach and author Van K. Tharp, Ph.D. is widely recognized for his best-selling books and outstanding Peak Performance Home Study Program—a highly regarded classic that is suitable for all levels of traders and investors. You can learn more about Van Tharp at www.vantharp.com. His new book, Trading Beyond The Matrix, is available now at matrix.vantharp.com.

Interested in the Super Trader Program?
Apply before August 31st to get the current rates.

Recently, Dr. Tharp announced a price increase that will soon affect new students entering the Super Trader Program. You still have time to apply and be accepted into the program at the current rates!

There is one final opportunity to attend a qualifying workshop and be considered for the program before the price increase. If you haven't yet done so, consider enrolling in Peak Performance 101 in August! Several slots have already been spoken for with new applicants joining the program in the last two months. Be sure to act swiftly to be considered for one of the few remaining openings in the program.

Click here to read more and to confirm the deadline for current pricing.

Workshops

Combo Discounts available for all back-to-back workshops!

See our workshop page for details.

Trading Tip

Twitter & Fake News — Same Scam, Different Century

by D. R. Barton, Jr.

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I distinctly remember how skittish the markets were in the summer and fall of 2000. Heading into the end of the summer, the market was hitting its relief rally. Pundits and analysts alike were not yet sure whether the great stock market run was over.

Volatility Was Wicked High

Today, the 14-day Average True Range (ATR) of the Nasdaq 100 index is 0.97% of the index’s price. This means that on average, price moves (ranges from high to low) about one percent a day. As traders and investors, we’re amazed when we hear of swings in China’s markets at four percent or more.

Flash back to early August of 2000 when the ATR of the Nasdaq 100 was 4.2%! And that was down from high of just over 9% back in April of that year…

On the morning of August 25, 2000 a news story was running incessantly on CNBC that a little-talked-about stock named Emulex was getting slammed. A press release had been picked up by the major news agencies and stated that the CEO had stepped down and that the company was under investigation by the SEC.

Before the NASDAQ exchange could halt trading, the stock plunged over 60%. Later in the the day, the press release was found to be a hoax, the stock resumed trading and it actually closed up on the day. Interestingly, the hoax could not be immediately debunked because Emulex’s headquarters are on the west coast and no one was there to answer the phone at 6:30 a.m. local time when the markets were opening! But the news agencies made a poor decision (in hindsight) to release the information to a wider audience.

Some digging revealed that a former newswire employee shorted Emulex stock, used his knowledge of the press release business to get the false info released, and made a six-figure profit when the stock took a dive. He ended up serving 44 months in prison.

Yesterday we got another stock hoax about Twitter. Same song — different verse.

Twitter Pops 8% - The Irony of the Hoax

Twitter’s stock was the focus of a hoax yesterday and that’s ironic for two reasons. First, as one might expect some of the earliest reporting on Twitter’s stock price jump was done via Twitter. But what seems more ironic to me is that the little pop that happened to the company’s stock yesterday is dwarfed by what the company has done to itself in terms of poorly managing what is truly an imposing global brand. Look at this chart and see if you can pick out the hoax day:

If you haven’t read much about it, this hoax originated from a post on a bogus website that emulated the look and feel of Bloomberg’s highly regarded site. The perpetrators even used a real reporter’s name and byline and linked his name back to his real profile page on Bloomberg’s site. The fake post claimed that Twitter had received an offer to buy the company and the stock popped as much as 8% on the fake news.

It’s not clear how the phony site’s content got wider distribution. Unlike the Emulex story above, there was no overt presentation of the information in form of a press release or direct use of social media by those orchestrating the hoax. The best guess is that automated webcrawlers identified the site and its contents and those folks out there who are hungry for stock news (reporters, traders, etc.) found the first inklings of a “deal” and it spread from there.

Even though the story was quickly discredited, it shows that the ages-old practice of stock scams is still alive and well. The Wall Street Journal had a great article on highlighting the “Napoleon Is Dead” scam from 1814. I’m sure our well-read readers out there can e-mail me some even older stock scam examples (there’s a good challenge!).

The bottom line: caveat emptor on big moves that have a “fishy smell”…

Send me your favorite or even interesting stock scams to drbarton “at” vantharp.com — I always enjoy hearing from you!

Great Trading,
D. R.

About the Author: A passion for the systematic approach to the markets and 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".

NEW! Swing Trading Systems E-Learning Course

We are excited to announce that our new Swing Trading Systems home study course is now available! Learn with Dr. Ken Long as he teaches his Swing Trading Systems Workshop via streaming video!

This new e-learning course includes Ken Long's Swing Trading Workshop, 5 swing trading systems and a bonus workshop featuring Van Tharp on Tharp Think principles. The course also includes extensive downloadable files to support your learning.

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....

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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