I skipped a week on the newsletter, so there's plenty to talk about. Let’s dive right in:

It seems that the more I travel, the more places I want to go.

If you’re interested in meeting with me for a small seminar in India, Hawaii, New York, or Australia, please send an email to rob@robbooker.com with the name of one of the four places above in the subject line. Please respond right away, as I’m making some travel arrangements this week.

I’ll be in London for a seminar April 24-25, and that’s nearly sold out, with just two or three places left. For more information about it, click here.

Last, if you’re willing to have me come visit you at your home, and do some writing, I need someplace to get away and finish sections of my upcoming book, The Handbook of Counter-Trend Trading. If you’d like to trade together for a few days (a week?), and let me write in a place where no one knows how to reach me, let me know. I’m pretty much open to anywhere in the world as long as you’ve got running water, wi-fi and … we’ll that’s all I really need.

You can reply about this by emailing me at rob@robbooker.com.

Citigroup gained a huge amount (like more than 50%) in the last week or so. Not bad for a company on the brink of total collapse. And Oil shot up -- we've been looking at $60 for a target. For now, I don't think we need to take a look at the actual charts, since we've looked at them nearly every week for a while.

If you've got any stories to share about trading Citigroup or Oil recently, let me know. I'd love to hear from you.

I’ve seen quite a few traders come and go. Thousands, in fact, over the past 5-6 years. I’d like to tell you about two of the traders I’ve worked with recently. My messages below are directed towards Adrian and Michael – but what I've got to say applies to most traders I've met, hopefully including you.

Adrian

Here is what worries me: I get the feeling you are looking for direction from the outside, when you have plenty of talent on the inside. It could become easy for you to get stalled in your trading progress, as you worry about whether you are doing something “right,” in some universal sense, rather than worrying about whether you are doing something right for you. You seem to be tentative in your willingness to fully accept that it’s possible to trade for a living, although you are extraordinarily hopeful that it’s possible, and you really, really, really want it to be possible.

You should forget about whether anyone else has anything to teach you about what is right for you in trading. Feel free to read and learn and listen and study: but choosing what is right for you to trade is your decision, and you can completely trust your judgment. Also, it’s time to move away from the hope of being able to trade for a living, and simply accept that it’s going to happen and you are on a unalterable path to trading success. It’s just the way it is: whether you believed it or not, whether you can see it in yourself or not, it’s true.

Here’s what impresses me: You are ready. You want to trade for a living more than anything else that you can think of. You are completely dedicated to putting as much time as necessary into this, in order to get it done. Once you put your mind to something, you are focused and you have no trouble with hard work, or long evenings of backtesting and experimenting and deep thinking about trading. More than anything, this willingness to do whatever it takes impresses me. You will need this storage of commitment when it gets difficult. Get to work!

Michael

Here is what impresses me: I have seen few people with more commitment. You are completely dedicated to personal improvement and trading for a living. You have no doubt that this is going to work. You are not hopeful; you are (even) peacefully settled into the realization that you’re going to trade for a living. You have no doubt that spectacular returns are possible. Most of all, when I asked you to do testing and work on your own, you blew away my expectations. What’s more, you didn’t just test: you thought deeply about what you were doing, and you became playful and creative in that testing so that you could innovate changes of your own to the systems that I taught you. I am completely positive that you are going to make a spectacular amount of money because of your attitude.

I'm launching a big new project in the next three months, and I'd very much like to hear from you if you've had experiencing with any of the following:

Non Profit Organizations, especially in the developing world or working with the extremely needy;

Law (in the United States);

Accounting

If you've had experience in any of the above areas, please email me at rob@robbooker.com and let me know. There are big things coming, and I'd love for you to be a part of it.

Happy Trading!