Alright guys, that’s it – I’m calling it a week. Watching this low participation summer tape is an utter waste of time. Clearly we are not going to see any type of resolution anytime soon, especially ahead of not one but two Federal Reserve speeches scheduled for today and then tomorrow, both at 10:00am Eastern. That’s right, our venerable Fed Chairman Jerome ‘Kryptonite’ Powell is about to reach for the mic and when that happens usually hilarity ensues.

We are halfway through my least favorite season of the year, which of course is summer. For one I hate excessive heat, herds of annoying tourists are practically everywhere you venture, the days are starting to get shorter already, and of course the tape is a pain in the ass. Nevertheless equities seem to have managed to actually turn somewhat directional over the past two weeks.

Since my big announcement three weeks ago (how time flies) I have been working hard to fix a very annoying data related problem in VIXEN that turned out to be a bit of the exotic type, but in the end had to yield to the untiring scrutiny of good old fashioned German engineering (none of that neo-hippy organic VirtueKraut bullshit) plus an extra heaping of politically incorrect and borderline creepy stubbornness. Okay, it was a lot more of the latter than the former but I’m now ready to stick a fork into VIXEN and let her loose onto my intrepid steel rats for an extended bout of beta testing.

Say what? What the heck are hardcore traders? They are comprised of a small minority of people who do not accept failure as an option, who are willing to give whatever it takes to make it to the top, to reach their full potential and join a select community of pros who are profitable on a consistent basis. Hardcore traders are not born, but forged in the flames of their own passion, their unyielding determination, and their willingness to succeed – not matter what. They are the few among the many who regard failure as nothing but an opportunity to learn, improve, and push themselves to the next level.