Periodically, after crucial and unexpected turns in the market, the study of Dow Theory gains renewed attention from the public. Because a handful of Dow Theorists correctly interpreted last year's reaction and also predicted this year's historic advance, a good deal of interest has been revived today in this oldest and most indispensable method of forecasting price movements and economic trends.
Now just what is the Dow Theory? Basically, it is a system based on the premise that the closing prices of the Dow-Jones Industrial and Rail Averages give us a complete index of all the knowledge, hopes and fears of everybody who knows anything about financial matters. Each investor, acting on what he knows of his own business and the economy, is represented in an emotionless balance which we call the Averages. For this reason, the effects of coming events (excluding acts of God) always are anticipated by the movements of these two indicators.
Talleyrand, the famous French foreign minister, once remarked: "I know somebody that knows more than anybody, and that is everybody." Financially speaking, that "everybody" is the market. When the majority of informed opinion feels that factors favorable to business are in the offing, stocks are purchased and the market advances. Conversely, when informed opinion feels that conditions are deteriorating, cash is preferred to equity and stocks are sold, thus touching off a decline.
Richard Russell, The Dow Theory Today (December 1, 1958 article)
[Here is another quote from the same book pertaining to this subject]
The basic premise of the Theory is that the averages discount everything. The closing prices of the Dow Jones rail and industrial averages give us a complete index of everything known by anybody that can possibly affect the economy and corporate profits (excluding acts of God). "Consciously or unconsciously, the movements of prices reflect not the past but the future. When coming events cast their shadows before, the shadows fall on the New York Stock Exchange." (Hamilton)
Richard Russell, The Dow Theory Today (February 16, 1959 article)
[Another great quote from same book]
In determining the trend, it is never to be forgotten that the movements of both averages must be considered together. The movement of one average must always confirm the other (although not necessarily on the same day), and conclusions drawn from the action of one average unconfirmed by the other are usually deceptive. The confirmation principle is based on logic. If there is to be a valid increase in manufacturing and production, there will also be an accompanying increase in shipping and transportation. Goods produced, if they are not to sit idly in the warehouses, must be distributed to their destinations. If distribution occurs, some of it will be by rail. Regardless of the fact that other forms of transportation are now competing with the rails, an increase in shipping must affect the rails to some favorable extent. It is not necessary for the rail average to move to new highs in each succeeding bull market, but within a given bull market rails must merely advance above preceding high points to confirm.
Richard Russell, The Dow Theory Today (February 16, 1959 article)
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
KC Zieg on Fundamental Analysis
Investing involves a very limited number of decisions:
What stock (futures contract, equity option, index option, or other item) should I buy?
When should I buy it?
Having purchased it, where should I sell it?
To be a successful investor, one needs to do more than just select the best stocks or commodities to own. They must be purchased correctly. The investor must then employ appropriate exit strategies to stop losses and let profits run.
Most investors, investment services, newsletters, advisors, and brokerage firms select stocks to purchase through the use of fundamental analysis. Fundamental analysis involves the study of the quality of the company, its sales, earnings, management, and other factors relating to how the company has recently performed, how it should fair in the future and how it compares with other firms within its industry. There are hundreds of factors, ratios, and indicators that can and are employed to track past performance, anticipate future results, and measure one company against its peer group. A few of these fundamental factors for stocks are listed in Exhibit 1.1***. The goal of fundamental examination is to determine what stock to buy.
Fundamental analysis of commodities involves an entirely different set of factors often unique to the futures product being reviewed. For example, in studying soybeans one would consider weather, planting intentions, crush, storage levels, import/export, feedlot activity, carry charges, and the like.
***Included in the exhibit are: asset turnover, beta, book value growth, book value per share, capital spending growth, capital spending per share, cash per share, current ratio, debt to equity, debt service to EPS, dividend growth, dividend rate, dividend yield, EPS% change, EPS growth rate, float, free cash flow per share, gross margin growth, gross margin, PE, historic relative PE, insider ownership, institutional ownership, interest coverage, inventory turnover, last split date, last split factor, payout ratio, receivables turnover, return on assets, return on equity, return on investment, return on sales, revenue growth, revenue per employee, revenue per share, shares outstanding, short interest, short interest ratio.
KC Zieg, Point and Figure Commodity and Stock Trading Techniques
What stock (futures contract, equity option, index option, or other item) should I buy?
When should I buy it?
Having purchased it, where should I sell it?
To be a successful investor, one needs to do more than just select the best stocks or commodities to own. They must be purchased correctly. The investor must then employ appropriate exit strategies to stop losses and let profits run.
Most investors, investment services, newsletters, advisors, and brokerage firms select stocks to purchase through the use of fundamental analysis. Fundamental analysis involves the study of the quality of the company, its sales, earnings, management, and other factors relating to how the company has recently performed, how it should fair in the future and how it compares with other firms within its industry. There are hundreds of factors, ratios, and indicators that can and are employed to track past performance, anticipate future results, and measure one company against its peer group. A few of these fundamental factors for stocks are listed in Exhibit 1.1***. The goal of fundamental examination is to determine what stock to buy.
Fundamental analysis of commodities involves an entirely different set of factors often unique to the futures product being reviewed. For example, in studying soybeans one would consider weather, planting intentions, crush, storage levels, import/export, feedlot activity, carry charges, and the like.
***Included in the exhibit are: asset turnover, beta, book value growth, book value per share, capital spending growth, capital spending per share, cash per share, current ratio, debt to equity, debt service to EPS, dividend growth, dividend rate, dividend yield, EPS% change, EPS growth rate, float, free cash flow per share, gross margin growth, gross margin, PE, historic relative PE, insider ownership, institutional ownership, interest coverage, inventory turnover, last split date, last split factor, payout ratio, receivables turnover, return on assets, return on equity, return on investment, return on sales, revenue growth, revenue per employee, revenue per share, shares outstanding, short interest, short interest ratio.
KC Zieg, Point and Figure Commodity and Stock Trading Techniques
Martin Pring on Point and Figure Charting
Point and figure charts differ from bar charts in two important ways. First, bar charts are plotted at specific time intervals regardless of whether there is any change in price. A new plot on a point and figure chart, on the other hand, is made only when the price changes by a given amount. Point and figure charts are only concerned with measuring price, whereas bar charts measure both price (on the vertical axis) and time (on the horizontal axis).
The second major difference is that bar charts record every change in price for the period they are measuring, but point and figure charts ignore all price movements that are smaller than a specified amount. For example, if a box is set at price movements of 5 points for the Dow Industrial Average (DJIA), only price changes in excess of 5 points will be recorded, and smaller fluctuations will not appear.
Martin Pring, Technical Analysis Explained
The second major difference is that bar charts record every change in price for the period they are measuring, but point and figure charts ignore all price movements that are smaller than a specified amount. For example, if a box is set at price movements of 5 points for the Dow Industrial Average (DJIA), only price changes in excess of 5 points will be recorded, and smaller fluctuations will not appear.
Martin Pring, Technical Analysis Explained
John Murphy on Point and Figure Charting
The first charting technique used by stock market traders before the turn of the century was point and figure charting. The actual name "point and figure" has been attributed to Victor deVilliers in his 1933 classic, The Point and Figure Method of Anticipating Price Movements. The technique has had various names over the years. In the 1880s and 1890s, it was known as the "book method". This was the name Charles Dow gave it in a July 20, 1901 editorial of the Wall Street Journal.
Dow indicated that the book method had been used for about 15 years, giving it a starting date of 1886. The name "figure charts" was used from the 1920s until 1933 when "point and figure" became the accepted name for this technique of tracking market movement. RD Wyckoff also published several works dealing with the point and figure method in the early 1930s.
The Wall Street Journal started publishing daily high, low, and closing stock prices in 1896, which is the first reference to the more commonly known bar chart. Therefore, it appears that the point and figure method predates bar charting by at least 10 years.
John Murphy, Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets
Dow indicated that the book method had been used for about 15 years, giving it a starting date of 1886. The name "figure charts" was used from the 1920s until 1933 when "point and figure" became the accepted name for this technique of tracking market movement. RD Wyckoff also published several works dealing with the point and figure method in the early 1930s.
The Wall Street Journal started publishing daily high, low, and closing stock prices in 1896, which is the first reference to the more commonly known bar chart. Therefore, it appears that the point and figure method predates bar charting by at least 10 years.
John Murphy, Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets
Monday, January 26, 2009
Types of Sentiment Indicators
This link -- if you scroll down to the bottom -- provides a nice summary of the 9 or so different types of sentiment indicators available to traders.
They are listed as
They are listed as
- Volatility Measures
- Put/Call Ratios
- Breadth Ratios (Are these really sentiment indicators?!)
- Rydex/Proshares Mutual Fund Asset Flows
- Sentiment Surveys
- Commitments of traders
- Short Sales Analysis
- Coroporate Insiders
- Cash Levels
Adam Hewison, My Hero
About Adam Hewison
Adam Hewison is a former floor trader and past member of several major exchanges including the International Monetary Market (IMM) a division of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in Chicago, Index and Options Market (IOM) Chicago, New York Futures Exchange (NYFE) and The London Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE). Adam is the author of “Right on the Money, The Definitive Guide to Forecasting Foreign Exchange Rates” and numerous other financial ebooks and web videos. Adam is frequently seen on CNBC and Bloomberg TV as the credible expert on crude oil analysis. Adam is sought after and interviewed by the financial press including the Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, The Financial Times, Reuters, Dow Jones and Associated Press for his views on the market.
Adam founded INO.com in 1995 and was a champion of using the web as a delivery mechanism for financial quotes and charts. In addition to trading, Adam continues to enjoy educating others in how to trade the markets successfully.
His latest project along with his partner, David Maher is MarketClub, a new website dedicated to catching big moves in the markets using Adam’s “Trade Triangle” technology.
Adam and his wife live on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and summer at their home in Maine.
Adam Hewison is a former floor trader and past member of several major exchanges including the International Monetary Market (IMM) a division of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in Chicago, Index and Options Market (IOM) Chicago, New York Futures Exchange (NYFE) and The London Financial Futures Exchange (LIFFE). Adam is the author of “Right on the Money, The Definitive Guide to Forecasting Foreign Exchange Rates” and numerous other financial ebooks and web videos. Adam is frequently seen on CNBC and Bloomberg TV as the credible expert on crude oil analysis. Adam is sought after and interviewed by the financial press including the Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, The Financial Times, Reuters, Dow Jones and Associated Press for his views on the market.
Adam founded INO.com in 1995 and was a champion of using the web as a delivery mechanism for financial quotes and charts. In addition to trading, Adam continues to enjoy educating others in how to trade the markets successfully.
His latest project along with his partner, David Maher is MarketClub, a new website dedicated to catching big moves in the markets using Adam’s “Trade Triangle” technology.
Adam and his wife live on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and summer at their home in Maine.
John Murhpy on Dow Theory
... an understanding and appreciation of Dow Theory provides a solid foundation for any study of technical analysis. Much of what is discussed in [this entire book] represents some adaptation of Dow's original theory. The standard definition of trend, the classification of a trend into three categories and phases, the principles of confirmation and divergence, the interpretation of volume, and the use of percentage retracements (to name a few), all derive, in one way or another, from Dow Theory.
John Murphy, Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets
John Murphy, Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Good Info on Graphing Software
Just wanted to post this link to suggestions of graphing software that outstrips MSFT Excel.
Edward Tufte (on the link) says:
"Now and then some of my students have been able to hack Excel to do good graphics. But for serious data analysis and publishable graphics, use a high-end statistics package such as Origin 6.0 (good review in Science, July 16, 2000; Windows only, reads into Adode Illustrator); SYSTAT; Datadesk; STATA; SAS; SPSS; SigmaPlot; or the like. All these programs will give you excellent data analysis and statistically competent displays more or less suitable for scientific publication or serious presentations.
Edward Tufte (on the link) says:
"Now and then some of my students have been able to hack Excel to do good graphics. But for serious data analysis and publishable graphics, use a high-end statistics package such as Origin 6.0 (good review in Science, July 16, 2000; Windows only, reads into Adode Illustrator); SYSTAT; Datadesk; STATA; SAS; SPSS; SigmaPlot; or the like. All these programs will give you excellent data analysis and statistically competent displays more or less suitable for scientific publication or serious presentations.
For the highest level graphics (elegant, custom, expensive), enter the crunched data or the graphical output into Adobe Illustrator. Or have all your graphical templates designed and set up in Illustrator. This program gives complete control over typography, line weight, color, grids, layout--just what we need for doing graphical work. It is a serious, complex design program; you may want to work with real graphical designers who will surely know their way around Illustrator. The graphics for the medical interface in my book Visual Explanations (pages 110-111) were done first by scaling the medical data with custom software, and then those statistical results were brought into Adobe Illustrator to produce the complex data/image display on page 111. The output from Illustrator is directly publishable.
More generally, set up a few really good templates for tables and graphics. Use these really good architectures for everything you can. Also when you see excellent graphics, find out how they were done. Borrow strength from demonstrated excellence. The idea for information design is: Don't get it original, get it right."
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sentiment Indicators
This post from another blogger (an author) seemed to be too good not to take note of on my blog.
Margin Debt as a Contrarian Indicator
Note the important reference to www.pinnacledata.com
Margin Debt as a Contrarian Indicator
Note the important reference to www.pinnacledata.com
Interesting Quote on Dow, the Man
Charles H Dow was the founder of the Dow-Jones financial news service in New York, and founder and first editor of the Wall Street Journal. He died in December, 1902 in his fifty-second year. He was an experienced newspaper reporter, with an early training under Samuel Bowles, the great editor of the Springfield Republican. Dow was a New Englander, intelligent, self-repressed, ultra-conservative; and he knew his business. He was almost judicially cold in the consideration of any subject, whatever the fervor of the discussion. It would be less than just to say that I never saw him angry; I never saw him excited. His perfect integrity and good sense commanded the confidence of every man in Wall Street, at a time when there were few efficient newspaper men covering the financial section, and of these still fewer with any deep knowledge of finance.
Hamilton, 1922
Hamilton, 1922
Sunday, January 18, 2009
RMMS Recommended Reading List
Rocky Mountain Mystery School Reading List
Alice A. Bailey
- Initiation, Human and Solar
- The Reappearance of the Christ
- Letters on Occult Meditation
- The Destiny of the Nations
- The Consciousness of the Atom
- Glamour: A World Problem
- A Treatise on Cosmic Fire
- Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle
- Problems of Humanity
- The Soul and Its Mechanism
- The Externalisation of the Hierarchy
- The Unfinished Autobiography
- Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. I
- Discipleship in the New Age, Vol. II
- From Intellect to Intuition
- A Treatise on White Magic
- From Bethlehem to Calvary
- The Light of the Soul Education in the New Age
- A Treatise on the Seven Rays:
- Volume I, Esoteric Psychology, Vol. I
- Volume II, Esoteric Psychology, Vol. II
- Volume III, Esoteric Astrology
- Volume IV, Esoteric Healing
- Volume V, The Rays and the Initiations
Gareth Knight
- The Circuit of Force
- Dion Fortune and the Inner Light
- Dion Fortune’s Magical Battle of Britain
- Esoteric Training in Everyday Life
- Evoking the Goddess
- Experience of the Inner Worlds
- An Introduction to Ritual Magic
- Magical Images and the Magical Imagination
- The Magical World of Charles Williams
- The Magical World of C.S. Lewis
- The Magical World of J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Magical World of Owen Barfield
- The Magical World of the Tarot
- The Magical World of the Inklings
- Magic and the Western Mind
- Merlin and the Grail Tradition
- The Occult, An Introduction
- Occult Exercises and Practices
- Practical Occultism
- A Practical Guide to Qabalistic Symbolism
- The Practice of Ritual Magic
- Principles of Esoteric Healing
- Principles of Hermetic Philosophy
- Pythoness: The Life and Work of Margaret Lumley Brown
- The Rose Cross and the Goddess
- The Secret Tradition in Arthurian Legend
- Spiritualism and Occultism
- Tarot and Magic
- The Treasure House of Images
H.P. Blavatsky
- The Secret Doctrine
- Isis Unveiled
- The Key to Theosophy
- Voice of the Silence
- Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett
W.G. Grey
- Magical Rituals Methods & Seasonal Occult Ritual
C.G. Jung
- Memories, Dreams, Etc.
R. Petitpierre
- Findings of Exorcism
Joseph Campbell
- The Power of Myth
John Dee
- Enochian Magick
Israel Regardie
- A Garden of Pomegranates
- The Tree of Life
- My Rosicrucian Adventure
- The Art of True Healing
- The Middle Pillar
- The Philosopher’s Stone
- The Romance of Metaphysics
- The Art and Meaning of Magic
- Be Yourself, the Art of Relaxation
- New Wings for Daedalus
- Twelve Steps to Spiritual Enlightenment
- The Eye in the Triangle
- Roll Away the Stone
- The Legend of Aleister Crowley (with P.R. Stephenson)
Richard Bach
- Jonathan Livingston Seagull
- Illusions : The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
- Messiah’s Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul
- One
- The Bridge Across Forever : A Love Story
Francis King & Stephen Skinner
- High Magic
R.A. Gilbert
- The Sorcerer and his Apprentice
Chic and Sandra Cicero
- Self Initiation into the Golden Dawn Tradition
His Holiness the 14th Dali Lama of Tibet
- Art Of Happiness
- How To See Yourself As You Really Are
- How To Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life
- The Path To Tranquility: Daily Meditations By The Dalai Lama
- The Path to Bliss
- Imagine All the People: A Conversation with the Dalai Lama on Money, Politics, & Life as it Could Be
- The Art Of Happiness In A Troubled World
Baron Gudni von Thoroddsen
- Cherubim’s Flames
- Advanced Exorcism Manual
- And more…
More Books….
- The Hermetica (**A must for all Initiates**)
- The (A) Book of 5 Rings - written by Miyamoto Musashi
- The Lone Samurai: The Life of Miyamoto Musashi - by William Scott Wilson
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Important Dow Theory Quote
The most important quote on Dow Theory (according to Jack Schannep) comes from Dow himself
"A person watching the tide coming in and who wishes to know the exact spot which marks the high tide, sets a stick in the sand at the points reached by the incoming waves until the stick reaches a position where the waves do not come up to it, and finally recede enough to show that the tide has turned. This method holds good in watching and determining the flood of the stock market.
The average of twenty stocks is the peg which marks the height of the waves. The price-waves, like those of the sea, do not recede at once from the top. The force which moves them checks the inflow gradually and time elapses before it can be told with certainty whether a high tide has been seen or not."
From Schannep, Dow for the 21st Century
Dow also said, in a related comment (same book)
"There is always a disposition in people's minds to think that existing conditions will be permanent. When the market is down and dull, it's hard to make people believe that this is the prelude to activity and advance. When prices are up and the country is prosperous, it is always said that while preceding booms have not lasted, there are circumstances connected with this one which make it unlike its predecessors and give assurance of permanency. The one fact pertaining to all conditions is that they will change."
"A person watching the tide coming in and who wishes to know the exact spot which marks the high tide, sets a stick in the sand at the points reached by the incoming waves until the stick reaches a position where the waves do not come up to it, and finally recede enough to show that the tide has turned. This method holds good in watching and determining the flood of the stock market.
The average of twenty stocks is the peg which marks the height of the waves. The price-waves, like those of the sea, do not recede at once from the top. The force which moves them checks the inflow gradually and time elapses before it can be told with certainty whether a high tide has been seen or not."
From Schannep, Dow for the 21st Century
Dow also said, in a related comment (same book)
"There is always a disposition in people's minds to think that existing conditions will be permanent. When the market is down and dull, it's hard to make people believe that this is the prelude to activity and advance. When prices are up and the country is prosperous, it is always said that while preceding booms have not lasted, there are circumstances connected with this one which make it unlike its predecessors and give assurance of permanency. The one fact pertaining to all conditions is that they will change."
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Crystals For Chakras
Root Chakra
Lodestone, ruby, garnet, bloodstone, (red jasper)
Second/Sacral Chakra
Carnelian, moonstone, coral
Solar Plexus/Third Chakra
Amber, topaz, yellow citrine, rutilated quartz
Heart/Fourth Chakra
Emerald, tourmaline, jade, rose quartz
Throat/Fifth Chakra
Turquoise, aquamarine, celestite
Pineal Gland/Fifth Chakra
Lapis lazuli, quartz, star sapphire
Pituitary/Seventh Chakra
Amythest, diamond
From Anodea Judith, Wheels of Life
Lodestone, ruby, garnet, bloodstone, (red jasper)
Second/Sacral Chakra
Carnelian, moonstone, coral
Solar Plexus/Third Chakra
Amber, topaz, yellow citrine, rutilated quartz
Heart/Fourth Chakra
Emerald, tourmaline, jade, rose quartz
Throat/Fifth Chakra
Turquoise, aquamarine, celestite
Pineal Gland/Fifth Chakra
Lapis lazuli, quartz, star sapphire
Pituitary/Seventh Chakra
Amythest, diamond
From Anodea Judith, Wheels of Life
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Dow Theory
Who were the Dow Theorists?
Charles H. Dow
William Peter Hamilton
Robert Rhea
Richard Russell
George Schaefer
Jack Schannep (?)
Great Dow Theory Web Sites
Richard Russell -- www.dowtheoryletters.com
Jack Schannep -- www.thedowtheory.com
Richard Moroney -- www.dowtheory.com
Robert Colby -- www.robertwcolby.com
Books on Dow Theory
William Peter Hamilton, The Stock Market Barometer (chapters)
Robert Rhea, The Dow Theory (chapters used)
Richard Russell, The Dow Theory Today (amazon)
E. George Schaefer, How I Helped More Than 10,000 Investors to Profit in Stocks (amazon used)
Jack Schannep, Dow Theory for the 21st Century (chapters)
George Stansbury ,The Dow Theory Explained (?; amazon used)
Fritz and Shumate, Making the Dow Theory Work (?; amazon used)
Charles H. Dow
William Peter Hamilton
Robert Rhea
Richard Russell
George Schaefer
Jack Schannep (?)
Great Dow Theory Web Sites
Richard Russell -- www.dowtheoryletters.com
Jack Schannep -- www.thedowtheory.com
Richard Moroney -- www.dowtheory.com
Robert Colby -- www.robertwcolby.com
Books on Dow Theory
William Peter Hamilton, The Stock Market Barometer (chapters)
Robert Rhea, The Dow Theory (chapters used)
Richard Russell, The Dow Theory Today (amazon)
E. George Schaefer, How I Helped More Than 10,000 Investors to Profit in Stocks (amazon used)
Jack Schannep, Dow Theory for the 21st Century (chapters)
George Stansbury ,The Dow Theory Explained (?; amazon used)
Fritz and Shumate, Making the Dow Theory Work (?; amazon used)
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Futures Trading For Dummies (Duarte), Final Chapter
Goverment Web Sites
The Web sites of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC -- www.cftc.gov), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA -- www.usda.gov), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (www.federalreserve.gov) are useful in their own ways. If you're a data hound, there's no better place to look than the St. Louis Fed's Web site (stlouisfed.org/default.cfm)
The CFTC Web site is a great resource for reviewing trading laws and regulations and finding out what kind of recent advisory rulings have been handed down. When laws and regulations change, your trading can be affected. These changes can affect anything from higher fees to what you can and can't trade under certain circumstances.
The USDA Web site runs the gamut from importan crop and livestock reports to vital weather information. The USDA site can be of great use to you when you trade commodities.
The Federal Reserve Web site offers the Fed Beige Book, a great summary of where the Fed things the economy has been and is headed. The Beige Book is the Fed's road map for interest rates, and it sets the stage for much of the action in the bond and stock markets.
The St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank Web site is full of charts and statistics that I like to use when I'm doing my history homework, such as when I want to see a chart of interest rates for the last several years. This site is also different from the Fed's main Web site in that it has a more news-oriented, less academic feel to it.
General Investment Information Web Sites
The Economy section of the Wall Street Journal.com: This section of Wall Street Journal's Web site is one of my favorites. It's an excellent resource for catching up on the big picture before you trade. The editorial content is first calss, but for a futures trader, the best part is the data library, where you can find charts that chronicle the major economic indicators and enable you to perform a good visual inventory of economic activity.
Investor's Business Daily's "The Big Picture" column: This is a great resource for getting a fix on the overall trend of the stock market. This column can help your timing of stock index futures as it features clear and easy to understand analysis of when the stock market changes its major trend, up or down. This is a subscription service which has an excellent digital web site (www.investors.com), which I highly recommend and use of a daily basis.
Marketwatch.com's "Commodity Summary" (www.marketwatch.com): This summary provides a great overview of the commodities markets, usually with a pretty heavy emphasis on oil. The best part: It's free, but it works better if you register.
Reuters.com (www.reuters.com): Another excellent free news site, I especially like to check out Reuters early in the morning because it offers good summaries of the overnight markets.
Barchart.com (www.barchart.com): The most complete Web-based charting service specializing in the futures markets, Barchart.com offers real-time data to subscribers, but its delayed data and charting are excellent for beginners who are trying to get a grip on the knowledge part of trading befoore they move on to the real thing.
CandlesExplained.com (www.candlesexplained.com): This free site is from Greg Morris, the author of Candlestick Charting Explained (McGraw-Hill). It's a good site for anyone who wants an online review or a quick reference to candelstick charting beyond what's available in this book.
FX-charts.com: You can find free, real-time, foreign exchange charts at www.fx-charts.com/pgs/toolbox_livecharts.php. This is a great place to get a good feel for real-time charts in the currency market. The charts also have indicators that you choose, including the ability to draw your own trend lines.
Joe-Duarte.com (www.joe-duarte.com). Sure, this seems like self-promotion, but it's not. If you like what you read in this book, what a better place to get more of the same as well as clarifying any doubts that you may get from time to time. I offer a good deal of market timing information, especially using ETFs for trading energy, stock indexes, and currencies. it is a paid subscription site, but also offers a good deal of free information.
Commodity Exchanges
The Web sites of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME -- www.cme.com), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT www.cbot.com), and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX www.nymex.com) are excellent resources, especially for beginning traders.
All three exchanges provide excellent overviews of the commodities that trade within their jurisdictions, margin requirements, and delayed charting.
Trading Books
Trading Commodities and Financial Futures (Financial Times-Prentice Hall, 2005) is written by George Kleinman, and author with a pure trader's mind-set. It offers an excellent step-by-step guide into the analysis and execution of trading.
Starting Out in Futures Trading, 5th Edition, by Mark J Powers (Probus Publishing, 1993, largely out of print) offers a trader's point of view, moving between an analyst's and an academic's perspective on the futures markets. You can find used copies at very low prices online.
[Duarte also mentions the Murphy Triad, as well as other books]
Newsletter and Magazine Resources
The Hightower Report (www.futures-research.com): As Fred Sanford of Sanford & Son used to say "This is the big one, Elizabeth." The Hightower Report is the m ost widely circulated futures newsletter in the United States, and it covers the entire futures complex.
Consensus National Futures and Financial Weekly (www.consensus-inc.com): This subscriber-supported service, whose major calling-card is its weekly sentiment index, provides a poll of bullish and bearish investors on all commodities and futures, from interest rates to energy and livestock.
Futures Magazine (www.futuresmag.com): The name says it all; it's the monthly bible of the industry covering all aspects of the trade.
Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities (www.traders.com): This magazine is written by traders, and it's where I got my start as a writer and analyst. It's a good resource to scan regularly for good trading ideas.
Active Trader: Similar to Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities: This publication tends to offer more about short-term trading.
The Web sites of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC -- www.cftc.gov), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA -- www.usda.gov), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (www.federalreserve.gov) are useful in their own ways. If you're a data hound, there's no better place to look than the St. Louis Fed's Web site (stlouisfed.org/default.cfm)
The CFTC Web site is a great resource for reviewing trading laws and regulations and finding out what kind of recent advisory rulings have been handed down. When laws and regulations change, your trading can be affected. These changes can affect anything from higher fees to what you can and can't trade under certain circumstances.
The USDA Web site runs the gamut from importan crop and livestock reports to vital weather information. The USDA site can be of great use to you when you trade commodities.
The Federal Reserve Web site offers the Fed Beige Book, a great summary of where the Fed things the economy has been and is headed. The Beige Book is the Fed's road map for interest rates, and it sets the stage for much of the action in the bond and stock markets.
The St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank Web site is full of charts and statistics that I like to use when I'm doing my history homework, such as when I want to see a chart of interest rates for the last several years. This site is also different from the Fed's main Web site in that it has a more news-oriented, less academic feel to it.
General Investment Information Web Sites
The Economy section of the Wall Street Journal.com: This section of Wall Street Journal's Web site is one of my favorites. It's an excellent resource for catching up on the big picture before you trade. The editorial content is first calss, but for a futures trader, the best part is the data library, where you can find charts that chronicle the major economic indicators and enable you to perform a good visual inventory of economic activity.
Investor's Business Daily's "The Big Picture" column: This is a great resource for getting a fix on the overall trend of the stock market. This column can help your timing of stock index futures as it features clear and easy to understand analysis of when the stock market changes its major trend, up or down. This is a subscription service which has an excellent digital web site (www.investors.com), which I highly recommend and use of a daily basis.
Marketwatch.com's "Commodity Summary" (www.marketwatch.com): This summary provides a great overview of the commodities markets, usually with a pretty heavy emphasis on oil. The best part: It's free, but it works better if you register.
Reuters.com (www.reuters.com): Another excellent free news site, I especially like to check out Reuters early in the morning because it offers good summaries of the overnight markets.
Barchart.com (www.barchart.com): The most complete Web-based charting service specializing in the futures markets, Barchart.com offers real-time data to subscribers, but its delayed data and charting are excellent for beginners who are trying to get a grip on the knowledge part of trading befoore they move on to the real thing.
CandlesExplained.com (www.candlesexplained.com): This free site is from Greg Morris, the author of Candlestick Charting Explained (McGraw-Hill). It's a good site for anyone who wants an online review or a quick reference to candelstick charting beyond what's available in this book.
FX-charts.com: You can find free, real-time, foreign exchange charts at www.fx-charts.com/pgs/toolbox_livecharts.php. This is a great place to get a good feel for real-time charts in the currency market. The charts also have indicators that you choose, including the ability to draw your own trend lines.
Joe-Duarte.com (www.joe-duarte.com). Sure, this seems like self-promotion, but it's not. If you like what you read in this book, what a better place to get more of the same as well as clarifying any doubts that you may get from time to time. I offer a good deal of market timing information, especially using ETFs for trading energy, stock indexes, and currencies. it is a paid subscription site, but also offers a good deal of free information.
Commodity Exchanges
The Web sites of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME -- www.cme.com), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT www.cbot.com), and the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX www.nymex.com) are excellent resources, especially for beginning traders.
All three exchanges provide excellent overviews of the commodities that trade within their jurisdictions, margin requirements, and delayed charting.
Trading Books
Trading Commodities and Financial Futures (Financial Times-Prentice Hall, 2005) is written by George Kleinman, and author with a pure trader's mind-set. It offers an excellent step-by-step guide into the analysis and execution of trading.
Starting Out in Futures Trading, 5th Edition, by Mark J Powers (Probus Publishing, 1993, largely out of print) offers a trader's point of view, moving between an analyst's and an academic's perspective on the futures markets. You can find used copies at very low prices online.
[Duarte also mentions the Murphy Triad, as well as other books]
Newsletter and Magazine Resources
The Hightower Report (www.futures-research.com): As Fred Sanford of Sanford & Son used to say "This is the big one, Elizabeth." The Hightower Report is the m ost widely circulated futures newsletter in the United States, and it covers the entire futures complex.
Consensus National Futures and Financial Weekly (www.consensus-inc.com): This subscriber-supported service, whose major calling-card is its weekly sentiment index, provides a poll of bullish and bearish investors on all commodities and futures, from interest rates to energy and livestock.
Futures Magazine (www.futuresmag.com): The name says it all; it's the monthly bible of the industry covering all aspects of the trade.
Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities (www.traders.com): This magazine is written by traders, and it's where I got my start as a writer and analyst. It's a good resource to scan regularly for good trading ideas.
Active Trader: Similar to Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities: This publication tends to offer more about short-term trading.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Review of Week of Nov 21-28
Since Nov 21, 2008, I’ve been trying to accomplish a set of about 3 goals. [I wrote this during the last week of November; I had originally planned a two week project into accomplishing these goals, but I feel ill for the entire second week; the following is a summary, though perhaps not complete, of that one week I did spend on these goals. I should probably underline that the following is not a complete summary of the discoveries I made, there are issues that pertain to the constitution of humans, both physical and spiritual, that I have not included, but have kept in a journal in the form of many scribbles and a few diagrams -- the understanding of the physico-spiritual constitution of the human, however, is far from complete.]
1. To fully understand how to manifest things, i.e. to fully understand the process of accomplishing things.
Regarding this goal, I have discovered that, basically the system of 7 chakras provides a nice framework for the different steps necessary to accomplish any goal, namely,
The capacity to think because all manifestation begins as a thought,
The capacity to imagine, because imagination fills out and adds specificity to the thought
The capacity to communicate, both to oneself and to others about what you want to manifest, this capacity helps to root the goal in one’s life, and involves three essential elements, first, the statement of the goal itself, then the addition of a time element (e.g. a deadline) and lastly, the establishment of a measure of success (how do you know when the goal is accomplished?). I’ll speak more about these issues below.
The capacity to cultivate relationships and resources that are necessary to accomplish the goal. This capacity is generally the ability to relate to all things outside of oneself in order to manifest the goal, and that includes both relationships with people (the labor), and with resources (the ability to gather them).
The capacity to exercise the will. Nothing is truly manifested but through the exercise of the will, it is the most important capacity we possess to accomplish any goal!
The capacity to feel – which allows us to get truly involved in the accomplishment of the goal and also to help us to make the right decisions, choices necessary to succeed. The latter assertion would imply that most decisions, including the right ones!, are based on feelings rather than thoughts. This may sound counterintuitive, but the ability to get in touch with our own feelings is truly the essential ingredient in sound decision making.
Lastly, the capacity to have, to enjoy the fruits of our own labor!
Some Further Explanations
The capacity to communicate, both to oneself and to others about what you want to manifest – this includes, I believe adding a time element to your goal – when you want it done by – and adding a “measure of success” element, that is, how do you know when your goal will be accomplished – this is part of communicating to yourself or others about the goal. Other than the goal itself, the time element and the measure of success are the two most important elements of defining the goal, and if they’re not established, then it may be said that no goal has been set!
The time element and the measure of success are, I believe, very key to accomplishing anything. The trickiest of these is the measure of success and it’s a big reason why it’s so difficult to be a self made person in this world, we’re so encouraged to work for somebody else rather than set up our own standards of success. This process of standard setting involves a potentially long process of soul searching to discover one’s ultimate
value, goal, mission, purpose, motivation, and meaning. Truly knowing one’s ultimate goal, for example, is no mean feat! It is a worthy goal in and of itself, and I believe in order for it to be truly accomplished one must be fully initiated into the workings of oneself and all of nature and the universe – this is precisely what initiation offers, and finding one’s ultimate purpose is, I believe, a key part of the discipline of “Transformational Psychology” – that is the application of transcendental philosophy/the fruits of initiation to practical life. What I’m saying is that one must be a Buddha, a Christ, a Pythagoras, in order to truly know one’s ultimate value, goal, mission, i.e., one must have all the facts, all the knowledge, all the information in order to make a truly informed decision about what one’s ultimate purpose is – any attempt at knowing this purpose before gathering all the facts is simply groping in the dark (welcome to my life!).
Nevertheless, today (Nov 26) I spent some time reflecting on what may be my ultimate purpose, and something causes me to reject the simple answer “to be happy”. Besides, I believe happiness is a byproduct of fulfilling your goal, purpose, etc. It’s how we know we’re doing things right! Therefore, I don’t buy the notion that it is worthy of pursuit in and of itself. The “pursuit of happiness” is better left to those who believe that life, and more specifically human life, has no ultimate purpose. Similarly, “success” is the result of obeying the principles of right doing and right living, and not something worthy of pursuit in and of itself. It has been a sad cause of retardation of my own personal development that I believed the opinion of others that happiness and success are more than simply shadows or reflections of finding and living one’s true purpose. Happiness is the pursuit of those who work for a living, not for those who perform, instead, their life’s work!
After some reflection today, I’ve come up with a few tentative answers, as follows.
Basically, there are three elements as to what I believe is my ultimate purpose (I use the other terms, mission, goal, etc. as semi-synonyms). These three are, MASTERY, UNDERSTANDING, and WHOLENESS.
Now, as regards to the ultimate purpose of my life, I believe it is no different than the ultimate purpose of the species to which I belong, i.e. humanity. I borrow from Genesis Chapter 1, where men and women were created on the sixth day to be the shepherds of the earth, to be lords of the earth, everything on it, and everything in it, to tend to this “garden.” That purpose I equate with MASTERY, to lord over, to shepherd, to sustain, to tend, etc. We are like “the keepers” on this physical plane of existence; just like Christ is the keeper of the soul (of Christians) we are supposed to be the keepers of the earth. We’re like physical angels, tending over the physical realm. Of course we’re not doing a very good job at the moment.
Now, though my understanding might be a little muddy here, I believe mastery is the natural result of a combination of UNDERSTANDING and WHOLENESS. Understanding is something involved in the process of growth, and involves a “breaking” of the original WHOLENESS that most of us are born with into its component parts. WHOLENESS is the true meaning of the word HEALING, and implies BALANCE, but not just BALANCE but a full possession on the part of the individual (and on a broader scale the species) of all of his capacities and potentialities. So we’re born whole, full of creative expression, spirituality (children are much more in touch with their spiritual nature than adults), vitality, energy, curiosity, capacity to learn, all of our capacities are obvious in children. But, there is a process of GROWTH that involves a breaking up of that wholeness into its component parts, which if properly performed, involves the UNDERSTANDING of the exact constitution of that original WHOLENESS. At the age of adulthood, 18, or 21, we should, then, re-attain the WHOLENESS we were born with, but this time with full UNDERSTANDING. It is the combination of WHOLENESS and UNDERSTANDING that leads to our true purpose, MASTERY.
The fifth element in the accomplishment of any goals is the exercise of the will. I’ve come to believe that exerting effort and force is antithetical to the true exercise of the will. The will is a capacity, a function that we cannot turn off, it’s the function of our 3rd chakra to will, just like it’s the function of our liver to purify, store energy, etc. and the function of our mind is to think, we cannot turn off our wills, and yet we don’t feel every second of every day that we’re forcing or making an effort. Now, I believe that the will properly defined is “the capacity of the individual to effect consciously controlled change”. And its effective use can come only from the development of the quality known as SELF-ESTEEM. SELF-ESTEEM is a tricky notion not properly defined in mainstream culture or perhaps even mainstream psychology. It is not “self-image” or “one’s regard for oneself”, but rather, one’s capacity to say “I am capable,” “I can”, it is the belief the individual has in his or her capacity to DO and to ACCOMPLISH. It is a belief, i.e., little more than a thought pattern, a discipline or habit of mind.
To properly direct our will towards the accomplishment of any task we desire to accomplish, we must have the following thought pattern sufficiently ingrained in our subconscious thinking: “I have the capacity to [statement of goal, e.g. find a romantic partner, get a better job]” The exercise of the will therefore in the accomplishment of any goal involves the cultivation of a discipline of mind (some people, the high achievers, are already blessed with this discipline of mind), a sufficient possession/control of one’s own mind, or more specifically, one’s thoughts. The cultivation of the skill of thought-control is key therefore to exercising one’s will. The third goal, see below, speaks to the issue of how exactly one can go about controlling one’s own thoughts in order to effect change in one’s life.
Incidentally, SELF ESTEEM is contrasted with the notion of SELF-VALUE or SELF-WORTH. The latter two, I equate with each other, and I believe they signify one’s believe in one’s RIGHT TO HAVE. This relates to self-respect. People with self-value/self-worth believe they deserve a certain basic degree of respect and will not be found abusing themselves (with drugs for example) or tolerating abuse from others. People with high self-value/worth do not tolerate getting their rights trampled on.
It is instructive to compare the personalities of those who are missing, alternately, the traits of self-esteem or self-value. For example, a child that is very spoiled, that gets everything he or she asks for, may grow up with high self-worth – a strong sense of entitlement. Nothing wrong with that, but if everything is done for him or her, he or she may find one day that he or she has no belief in his or her capacity to DO anything, make money, take out the trash, cook dinner. Here we find high self-value (having), low self-esteem (doing).
[N.B. I had originally a paragraph here regarding an example of someone with low self-value and high self-esteem. It appears to be missing! Basically, the ultimate example of low self-value, high self-esteem is a slave -- someone who may be able to perform tasks, various and wonderful, but does not believe in his or her ability to own the fruits of their own labor, i.e. to have.]
2. To develop the ability, skill of actually accomplishing things, of manifesting my desires and my thoughts.
As far as my progress with this goal, I’ve found that the ability to accomplish goals does not stem from writing them down, imagining them accomplished, communicating them, or acquiring relationships or resources – that is to say, the most important step in the accomplishment of any goal is the 5TH step, the exercise of the will. Also, the “exercise” of the will is a bit misleading – remember, I said above that the will wills, every minute of everyday, and no one can stop their will from willing, what is required to develop the ability to accomplish goals is to acquire the capacity to direct the will to the accomplishment of whatever task you have set. Again, to direct one’s will does not entail forcing or making an effort, these things work against the will and are a sign that you have not properly directed your will the goal you have set. So, we’ve established that the most important ability when it comes to developing the skill of accomplishing things is the ability to direct your will to the accomplishment of your goal. The question then is, how is the will directed? I’ve already said that it’s not through force or effort, so, what is it? The will is properly directed towards your goal in proportion to only one variable, namely, your degree of belief in your capacity to carry out that goal. It is your fundamental belief or conviction in your own ability to actually accomplish the goal that determines, ultimately, whether or not you will accomplish it. It follows logically from this that once you have sufficient belief or conviction in your capacity to accomplish the goal, all other stages in the process of goal accomplishment, from imagination, to gathering resources, from emotional involvement to communication of the goal to yourself or others, all these tend to fall into place quite naturally.
3. a) To develop the power and ability to control my thoughts, to control my mind, to control my subconscious thoughts, including my subconscious thoughts.
Thought has no value whatsoever if it is not in line with truth. What value is an erroneous thought? It is the very purpose of thought to mend the error of our ways. Therefore, I believe that the only way to truly control our thinking is to make sure that our thoughts are in line with truth. We must fervently guard against error, especially error in thinking.
Regarding my progress with this goal, I’ve decided that in order to take control and possession of one’s own thoughts, one must make certain, to the degree that one can, that one’s thoughts are in line with TRUTH. It is truth’s function to amend error, and to correct our poor patterns (discipline) of thought and behavior. The foundation of our lives must be truth, and our thoughts must be in line with truth. All suffering, pain, and misery may be a result of the negation of truth, be that believing in lies or trusting in error. Therefore, all happiness, health, wealth, etc., is the result of the affirmation of truth.
One way to make sure our thoughts are in line with truth is to seek out truth, i.e. to never accept authority for truth, but only accept truth as the authority. It is only the greatest of all historical figures that have done so, and many have bravely given up their lives simply because those around them were not ready to mend their own erroneous thinking.
The second, and only other way I know of, to make sure our thoughts are in line with truth, is to AFFIRM TRUTH! The true power of affirmations is granted to those whose affirmations are rooted in truth.
Incidentally, it is transformational psychology that is the only form of psychology that seeks to apply truth to daily living, its goal is an error free life, a life built upon rock and not sand, a life built with a secure foundation, namely truth – the absence of error and belief in falsehood. The ultimate value of science, also incidentally, is truth – this much is obvious from Karl Popper’s famous assertion that no scientific thesis can be deemed worthy of the name unless it is falsifiable! That is, unless its veracity can be checked! Truth is the foundational value of science.
[I realize I have repeated myself quite a bit in this section, and the following is also somewhat of a repetition. I should also state that I found out quite early on in the week-long foray into these goals that there is a link between affirmation of truth and the proper direction of the will towards the accomplishment of any goal -- and it pertains precisely to the subconscious pattern of thinking involved in directing the will mentioned in section 1 above, namely "I have the capacity to [insert goal here].] Science arose from a rebellion against false doctrine. The scientific revolution was precisely that, a revolution of rebels against false doctrine, false belief. It arose from the work of men whose conviction was that truth existed apart from human beliefs, desires, and wishes, and that a life lived in error was truly not a life worth living.
[Digression] The ultimate value of religion is absolute truth (though not mass religion, who’s ultimate value is deception and therefore enslavement of the unthinking). Science may be said to share the same ultimate value, which is why science and religion were never separate entities among the learned of antiquity. The ultimate value of modern science is relative truth – that is to say, assertions whose veracity can be checked (K. Popper) through a) the senses that we have all agreed that we share with each other (those that claim to have senses beyond the 5 ‘consensus senses’ are relegated to research beyond the scientific, called the ‘paranormal’ – even though these people may share the same ultimate value of modern science – relative truth), and b) through the comparison of that assertion with other verified assertions in a manner pleasing to our rational nature. This two-fold aspect of attaining to the ultimate value of modern science – relative truth – is summarized in the two words that encapsulate what is known as “the scientific method”, namely, “inductive logic” – which perhaps could also be called “empirical reason.” Is it not strange that modern science says, therefore, that “as it is on earth, so it is in heaven,” (inductive logic) whereas the theologian says, and has always said “as it is in heaven, so it is on earth.” (the Lord's Prayer). The fact is that if either of these statements is correct, then they both are. And, the fact that they’re both correct is precisely the reason why ancient wisdom never allowed these two complementary currents of thought to be separated in the first place.
3. b) to understand what role thought plays in manifestation.
Regarding this goal I have come to believe that thought plays a secondary role in the process of manifestation when compared to the will. The exercise of the will is the most important of the requirements in the manifestation of any goal. Of course, one cannot have a goal without being able to think, but thought does not make things happen, only the will makes things happen – in that sense the will is almost synonymous with manifestation itself. Such is what I’ve come to believe. Having said that, I’ve come to believe that the will is properly directed and exercised not through conscious effort or forcing oneself to accomplish the goal, but rather the will is unleashed when one has cultivated the thought pattern “I have the capacity to [insert goal here].” Without the thought pattern, the will cannot unleash its power towards the accomplishment of that goal. The key to accomplishing anything is to awaken the will.
1. To fully understand how to manifest things, i.e. to fully understand the process of accomplishing things.
Regarding this goal, I have discovered that, basically the system of 7 chakras provides a nice framework for the different steps necessary to accomplish any goal, namely,
The capacity to think because all manifestation begins as a thought,
The capacity to imagine, because imagination fills out and adds specificity to the thought
The capacity to communicate, both to oneself and to others about what you want to manifest, this capacity helps to root the goal in one’s life, and involves three essential elements, first, the statement of the goal itself, then the addition of a time element (e.g. a deadline) and lastly, the establishment of a measure of success (how do you know when the goal is accomplished?). I’ll speak more about these issues below.
The capacity to cultivate relationships and resources that are necessary to accomplish the goal. This capacity is generally the ability to relate to all things outside of oneself in order to manifest the goal, and that includes both relationships with people (the labor), and with resources (the ability to gather them).
The capacity to exercise the will. Nothing is truly manifested but through the exercise of the will, it is the most important capacity we possess to accomplish any goal!
The capacity to feel – which allows us to get truly involved in the accomplishment of the goal and also to help us to make the right decisions, choices necessary to succeed. The latter assertion would imply that most decisions, including the right ones!, are based on feelings rather than thoughts. This may sound counterintuitive, but the ability to get in touch with our own feelings is truly the essential ingredient in sound decision making.
Lastly, the capacity to have, to enjoy the fruits of our own labor!
Some Further Explanations
The capacity to communicate, both to oneself and to others about what you want to manifest – this includes, I believe adding a time element to your goal – when you want it done by – and adding a “measure of success” element, that is, how do you know when your goal will be accomplished – this is part of communicating to yourself or others about the goal. Other than the goal itself, the time element and the measure of success are the two most important elements of defining the goal, and if they’re not established, then it may be said that no goal has been set!
The time element and the measure of success are, I believe, very key to accomplishing anything. The trickiest of these is the measure of success and it’s a big reason why it’s so difficult to be a self made person in this world, we’re so encouraged to work for somebody else rather than set up our own standards of success. This process of standard setting involves a potentially long process of soul searching to discover one’s ultimate
value, goal, mission, purpose, motivation, and meaning. Truly knowing one’s ultimate goal, for example, is no mean feat! It is a worthy goal in and of itself, and I believe in order for it to be truly accomplished one must be fully initiated into the workings of oneself and all of nature and the universe – this is precisely what initiation offers, and finding one’s ultimate purpose is, I believe, a key part of the discipline of “Transformational Psychology” – that is the application of transcendental philosophy/the fruits of initiation to practical life. What I’m saying is that one must be a Buddha, a Christ, a Pythagoras, in order to truly know one’s ultimate value, goal, mission, i.e., one must have all the facts, all the knowledge, all the information in order to make a truly informed decision about what one’s ultimate purpose is – any attempt at knowing this purpose before gathering all the facts is simply groping in the dark (welcome to my life!).
Nevertheless, today (Nov 26) I spent some time reflecting on what may be my ultimate purpose, and something causes me to reject the simple answer “to be happy”. Besides, I believe happiness is a byproduct of fulfilling your goal, purpose, etc. It’s how we know we’re doing things right! Therefore, I don’t buy the notion that it is worthy of pursuit in and of itself. The “pursuit of happiness” is better left to those who believe that life, and more specifically human life, has no ultimate purpose. Similarly, “success” is the result of obeying the principles of right doing and right living, and not something worthy of pursuit in and of itself. It has been a sad cause of retardation of my own personal development that I believed the opinion of others that happiness and success are more than simply shadows or reflections of finding and living one’s true purpose. Happiness is the pursuit of those who work for a living, not for those who perform, instead, their life’s work!
After some reflection today, I’ve come up with a few tentative answers, as follows.
Basically, there are three elements as to what I believe is my ultimate purpose (I use the other terms, mission, goal, etc. as semi-synonyms). These three are, MASTERY, UNDERSTANDING, and WHOLENESS.
Now, as regards to the ultimate purpose of my life, I believe it is no different than the ultimate purpose of the species to which I belong, i.e. humanity. I borrow from Genesis Chapter 1, where men and women were created on the sixth day to be the shepherds of the earth, to be lords of the earth, everything on it, and everything in it, to tend to this “garden.” That purpose I equate with MASTERY, to lord over, to shepherd, to sustain, to tend, etc. We are like “the keepers” on this physical plane of existence; just like Christ is the keeper of the soul (of Christians) we are supposed to be the keepers of the earth. We’re like physical angels, tending over the physical realm. Of course we’re not doing a very good job at the moment.
Now, though my understanding might be a little muddy here, I believe mastery is the natural result of a combination of UNDERSTANDING and WHOLENESS. Understanding is something involved in the process of growth, and involves a “breaking” of the original WHOLENESS that most of us are born with into its component parts. WHOLENESS is the true meaning of the word HEALING, and implies BALANCE, but not just BALANCE but a full possession on the part of the individual (and on a broader scale the species) of all of his capacities and potentialities. So we’re born whole, full of creative expression, spirituality (children are much more in touch with their spiritual nature than adults), vitality, energy, curiosity, capacity to learn, all of our capacities are obvious in children. But, there is a process of GROWTH that involves a breaking up of that wholeness into its component parts, which if properly performed, involves the UNDERSTANDING of the exact constitution of that original WHOLENESS. At the age of adulthood, 18, or 21, we should, then, re-attain the WHOLENESS we were born with, but this time with full UNDERSTANDING. It is the combination of WHOLENESS and UNDERSTANDING that leads to our true purpose, MASTERY.
The fifth element in the accomplishment of any goals is the exercise of the will. I’ve come to believe that exerting effort and force is antithetical to the true exercise of the will. The will is a capacity, a function that we cannot turn off, it’s the function of our 3rd chakra to will, just like it’s the function of our liver to purify, store energy, etc. and the function of our mind is to think, we cannot turn off our wills, and yet we don’t feel every second of every day that we’re forcing or making an effort. Now, I believe that the will properly defined is “the capacity of the individual to effect consciously controlled change”. And its effective use can come only from the development of the quality known as SELF-ESTEEM. SELF-ESTEEM is a tricky notion not properly defined in mainstream culture or perhaps even mainstream psychology. It is not “self-image” or “one’s regard for oneself”, but rather, one’s capacity to say “I am capable,” “I can”, it is the belief the individual has in his or her capacity to DO and to ACCOMPLISH. It is a belief, i.e., little more than a thought pattern, a discipline or habit of mind.
To properly direct our will towards the accomplishment of any task we desire to accomplish, we must have the following thought pattern sufficiently ingrained in our subconscious thinking: “I have the capacity to [statement of goal, e.g. find a romantic partner, get a better job]” The exercise of the will therefore in the accomplishment of any goal involves the cultivation of a discipline of mind (some people, the high achievers, are already blessed with this discipline of mind), a sufficient possession/control of one’s own mind, or more specifically, one’s thoughts. The cultivation of the skill of thought-control is key therefore to exercising one’s will. The third goal, see below, speaks to the issue of how exactly one can go about controlling one’s own thoughts in order to effect change in one’s life.
Incidentally, SELF ESTEEM is contrasted with the notion of SELF-VALUE or SELF-WORTH. The latter two, I equate with each other, and I believe they signify one’s believe in one’s RIGHT TO HAVE. This relates to self-respect. People with self-value/self-worth believe they deserve a certain basic degree of respect and will not be found abusing themselves (with drugs for example) or tolerating abuse from others. People with high self-value/worth do not tolerate getting their rights trampled on.
It is instructive to compare the personalities of those who are missing, alternately, the traits of self-esteem or self-value. For example, a child that is very spoiled, that gets everything he or she asks for, may grow up with high self-worth – a strong sense of entitlement. Nothing wrong with that, but if everything is done for him or her, he or she may find one day that he or she has no belief in his or her capacity to DO anything, make money, take out the trash, cook dinner. Here we find high self-value (having), low self-esteem (doing).
[N.B. I had originally a paragraph here regarding an example of someone with low self-value and high self-esteem. It appears to be missing! Basically, the ultimate example of low self-value, high self-esteem is a slave -- someone who may be able to perform tasks, various and wonderful, but does not believe in his or her ability to own the fruits of their own labor, i.e. to have.]
2. To develop the ability, skill of actually accomplishing things, of manifesting my desires and my thoughts.
As far as my progress with this goal, I’ve found that the ability to accomplish goals does not stem from writing them down, imagining them accomplished, communicating them, or acquiring relationships or resources – that is to say, the most important step in the accomplishment of any goal is the 5TH step, the exercise of the will. Also, the “exercise” of the will is a bit misleading – remember, I said above that the will wills, every minute of everyday, and no one can stop their will from willing, what is required to develop the ability to accomplish goals is to acquire the capacity to direct the will to the accomplishment of whatever task you have set. Again, to direct one’s will does not entail forcing or making an effort, these things work against the will and are a sign that you have not properly directed your will the goal you have set. So, we’ve established that the most important ability when it comes to developing the skill of accomplishing things is the ability to direct your will to the accomplishment of your goal. The question then is, how is the will directed? I’ve already said that it’s not through force or effort, so, what is it? The will is properly directed towards your goal in proportion to only one variable, namely, your degree of belief in your capacity to carry out that goal. It is your fundamental belief or conviction in your own ability to actually accomplish the goal that determines, ultimately, whether or not you will accomplish it. It follows logically from this that once you have sufficient belief or conviction in your capacity to accomplish the goal, all other stages in the process of goal accomplishment, from imagination, to gathering resources, from emotional involvement to communication of the goal to yourself or others, all these tend to fall into place quite naturally.
3. a) To develop the power and ability to control my thoughts, to control my mind, to control my subconscious thoughts, including my subconscious thoughts.
Thought has no value whatsoever if it is not in line with truth. What value is an erroneous thought? It is the very purpose of thought to mend the error of our ways. Therefore, I believe that the only way to truly control our thinking is to make sure that our thoughts are in line with truth. We must fervently guard against error, especially error in thinking.
Regarding my progress with this goal, I’ve decided that in order to take control and possession of one’s own thoughts, one must make certain, to the degree that one can, that one’s thoughts are in line with TRUTH. It is truth’s function to amend error, and to correct our poor patterns (discipline) of thought and behavior. The foundation of our lives must be truth, and our thoughts must be in line with truth. All suffering, pain, and misery may be a result of the negation of truth, be that believing in lies or trusting in error. Therefore, all happiness, health, wealth, etc., is the result of the affirmation of truth.
One way to make sure our thoughts are in line with truth is to seek out truth, i.e. to never accept authority for truth, but only accept truth as the authority. It is only the greatest of all historical figures that have done so, and many have bravely given up their lives simply because those around them were not ready to mend their own erroneous thinking.
The second, and only other way I know of, to make sure our thoughts are in line with truth, is to AFFIRM TRUTH! The true power of affirmations is granted to those whose affirmations are rooted in truth.
Incidentally, it is transformational psychology that is the only form of psychology that seeks to apply truth to daily living, its goal is an error free life, a life built upon rock and not sand, a life built with a secure foundation, namely truth – the absence of error and belief in falsehood. The ultimate value of science, also incidentally, is truth – this much is obvious from Karl Popper’s famous assertion that no scientific thesis can be deemed worthy of the name unless it is falsifiable! That is, unless its veracity can be checked! Truth is the foundational value of science.
[I realize I have repeated myself quite a bit in this section, and the following is also somewhat of a repetition. I should also state that I found out quite early on in the week-long foray into these goals that there is a link between affirmation of truth and the proper direction of the will towards the accomplishment of any goal -- and it pertains precisely to the subconscious pattern of thinking involved in directing the will mentioned in section 1 above, namely "I have the capacity to [insert goal here].] Science arose from a rebellion against false doctrine. The scientific revolution was precisely that, a revolution of rebels against false doctrine, false belief. It arose from the work of men whose conviction was that truth existed apart from human beliefs, desires, and wishes, and that a life lived in error was truly not a life worth living.
[Digression] The ultimate value of religion is absolute truth (though not mass religion, who’s ultimate value is deception and therefore enslavement of the unthinking). Science may be said to share the same ultimate value, which is why science and religion were never separate entities among the learned of antiquity. The ultimate value of modern science is relative truth – that is to say, assertions whose veracity can be checked (K. Popper) through a) the senses that we have all agreed that we share with each other (those that claim to have senses beyond the 5 ‘consensus senses’ are relegated to research beyond the scientific, called the ‘paranormal’ – even though these people may share the same ultimate value of modern science – relative truth), and b) through the comparison of that assertion with other verified assertions in a manner pleasing to our rational nature. This two-fold aspect of attaining to the ultimate value of modern science – relative truth – is summarized in the two words that encapsulate what is known as “the scientific method”, namely, “inductive logic” – which perhaps could also be called “empirical reason.” Is it not strange that modern science says, therefore, that “as it is on earth, so it is in heaven,” (inductive logic) whereas the theologian says, and has always said “as it is in heaven, so it is on earth.” (the Lord's Prayer). The fact is that if either of these statements is correct, then they both are. And, the fact that they’re both correct is precisely the reason why ancient wisdom never allowed these two complementary currents of thought to be separated in the first place.
3. b) to understand what role thought plays in manifestation.
Regarding this goal I have come to believe that thought plays a secondary role in the process of manifestation when compared to the will. The exercise of the will is the most important of the requirements in the manifestation of any goal. Of course, one cannot have a goal without being able to think, but thought does not make things happen, only the will makes things happen – in that sense the will is almost synonymous with manifestation itself. Such is what I’ve come to believe. Having said that, I’ve come to believe that the will is properly directed and exercised not through conscious effort or forcing oneself to accomplish the goal, but rather the will is unleashed when one has cultivated the thought pattern “I have the capacity to [insert goal here].” Without the thought pattern, the will cannot unleash its power towards the accomplishment of that goal. The key to accomplishing anything is to awaken the will.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Aymen Fares 2
The Purpose of Life
One of the first questions to answer is that of why are you actually here. What is the purpose of being alive? This is different to the question what is the purpose of your life.
Your ultimate goal is to rejoin with the all-encompassing energy force that most people call God. Whether you believe in God or not is irrelevant. There is an intelligent energy source that permeates throughout the universe and binds it together. Call it God or whatever you like. I don't care; neither does God.
Ultimately you are here on a path to rejoin with this energy source. You are already a part of it and your mission is to become one with it again. I say again because originally that's where you started.
You rejoin with the energy source very simply by refining your energy and increasing your vibration. Over time this enables you to move through the different dimensions and ultimately rejoin with the source that is God.
Before you need to attend to this, you first have to master the physical dimension that you are now operating in. You are born onto the earth for a reason. You are given physical circumstances so that you can do something physical in them. This may just be a matter of survival or the task at hand may be your enlightenment. Everyone is different. Enlightenment is the ability to listen to your soul and allow its light to shine through you. There are different degrees of enlightenment, and when you are fully enlightened you don't need your physical body anymore -- you will be able to move to a higher dimension.
Self-improvement is the way through the physical dimension. Yes, it's really that simple. Through self-improvement you refine the energy that is you. This heightens your vibration and it allows you to eventually move through the physical realm. You improve your self by living, experiencing and learning from your experience.
Self-improvement is the purpose of your life. Rejoining with the source is the purpose of life. You will learn more about the meaning of life further on in this text.
For self-improvement to take place there must be change.
One of the first questions to answer is that of why are you actually here. What is the purpose of being alive? This is different to the question what is the purpose of your life.
Your ultimate goal is to rejoin with the all-encompassing energy force that most people call God. Whether you believe in God or not is irrelevant. There is an intelligent energy source that permeates throughout the universe and binds it together. Call it God or whatever you like. I don't care; neither does God.
Ultimately you are here on a path to rejoin with this energy source. You are already a part of it and your mission is to become one with it again. I say again because originally that's where you started.
You rejoin with the energy source very simply by refining your energy and increasing your vibration. Over time this enables you to move through the different dimensions and ultimately rejoin with the source that is God.
Before you need to attend to this, you first have to master the physical dimension that you are now operating in. You are born onto the earth for a reason. You are given physical circumstances so that you can do something physical in them. This may just be a matter of survival or the task at hand may be your enlightenment. Everyone is different. Enlightenment is the ability to listen to your soul and allow its light to shine through you. There are different degrees of enlightenment, and when you are fully enlightened you don't need your physical body anymore -- you will be able to move to a higher dimension.
Self-improvement is the way through the physical dimension. Yes, it's really that simple. Through self-improvement you refine the energy that is you. This heightens your vibration and it allows you to eventually move through the physical realm. You improve your self by living, experiencing and learning from your experience.
Self-improvement is the purpose of your life. Rejoining with the source is the purpose of life. You will learn more about the meaning of life further on in this text.
For self-improvement to take place there must be change.
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