Every now and then we have to take a break from trading to be reminded of the real world. The passing of William Blount did that for us at MrTopStep, and today’s Opening Print will honor him. He was a father, a grandfather and a friend to many.
I call MrTopStep a collective, a group of contributors that are working together to navigate the dangerous waters of the futures markets, and at the core of our collective was William Blount. My followers have often heard me repeat what the PitBull told me that “if you want to make the money…then you have to do the work,” and no one worked harder than WB.
William began his investment career as a broker at Merrill Lynch around the same time that I started working on the trading floors in Chicago. Eventually WB decided to trade independently, stating that the moral good from his trading was to “supply liquidity in the markets.”
WB learned and implemented many methods in his work. His application of the works of Gann theory, Elliott Wave, Fibonacci, Taylor cycles, and other methods, were seemingly perfected and brought together in a unique way as none other could over the course of WB’s trading career.
His preparation for a trading day would begin the night before and then carry through to the next morning as traders in the MrTopStep IMPRO and separate subscribers would anticipate the release of his “Numbahs” before the open each day.
The wisdom and experience he offered made him the “grandfather of the markets” in our trading room, as he would offer his perspective freely and liberally throughout the trading day. He had many followers and close friends in the IMPRO room, and would “sidebar”, or private chat, with these traders responding to their various questions. He would keep so many private chats going that it was nearly a full time job just to respond to the questions and inquiries. We all have been truly blessed to have gained from his life.
On social media, people would write to MrTopStep asking questions about WB. They would send us emails to find out more, and they would crowd into his webinars. When we would hold our Bootcamps throughout the year, the subscribers would always anticipate WB’s presentations. While his work was initially difficult to grasp, he would routinely go the extra mile in order to make someone feel at home. This is part of who WB was to us.
William Blount was an honest man. I think those of us who knew him could easily say he was an opinionated man. His ideas on trading, economics, politics, history, and even religion, showed his knowledge of the world around him and his willingness to share what thoughts he had.
Humor was at the core of WB. Not a day would go by that he wouldn’t light up the room with laughter, and he would never forego an opportunity to crack a joke. This was part of his life, and just one of the things he added to our room. Whether it was a fast or slow market day, he could always fill the room with market views, opinions, and humor. The MrTopStep IMPRO will not be the same.
Lastly, WB really gave all of us an opportunity to know him, his background, and his family. He would tell stories of his childhood and how the grandmother of the NFL’s Justin Forsett helped raise him. He would talk about his college days, he would routinely mention his ex-wives in so many playful ways, and he would talk about his children and grandchildren. We all got to know him and his family, even major dates in his family history, as these dates would become markers on his shared charts noting when he thought market movements would take place.
WB was a well rounded man, with many abilities and talents, leaving behind many contributions to this world. As much as the trading world will miss him, he will be a particular loss to the MrTopStep family. However, as much as we miss him, we know his close friends and his family will suffer this loss more deeply than what we can imagine.
“Volume is a tell..time is a standard deviation…price is your ARSE” – WB
“Cash don’t lie…..futures do!” – WB
If you would like to read what many of WB’s friends and traders he influenced had to say about him, then those comments can be found here: William Blount Memories & Thoughts
We set up a GoFundMe on behalf of the Blount family to assist them during this time, please consider a contribution William Blount GoFundMe.
No TurnAround Tuesday
On yesterday’s cash session open, the S&P 500 futures (ESM17:CME) printed 2396.50, up 4.25 handles, and immediately sold off down to 2392.00. The ES found support there and climbed back up to 2399.50 just after 11:00 am cst. From there, the futures made a midday low at 2395.25 before attacking the high of day, once again touching 2399.25 in the final hour. Going into the close, the ES sold off back down to 2395.25 before settling the day at 2397.75, up 5.50 handles. The futures were held to a 7.50 handle range, with just over 1 million contracts traded, and an MOC of $515 million to sell. Overall, the day fed the bulls, but another failure at 2400 still does not look good.
While You Were Sleeping
Overnight, equity markets in Asia rallied modestly across the board, followed by Europe which is trading modestly lower. Overall, the foreign markets had a very quiet session, and the S&P 500 futures in the U.S. have been held to a 4.5 handle range. The globex open was 2397.00, the low came just after the Tokyo open at 2394.75, and the high of 2399.25 came early after the Euro open. As of 5:33 am cst the most recent print is 2397.50, down two ticks, with 81k contracts traded.
In Asia, 10 out of 11 markets closed higher (Shanghai +0.06%), and in Europe 8 out of 12 markets are trading lower this morning (DAX -0.11%). Today’s economic calendar includes the Bank Reserve Settlement, MBA Mortgage Applications, FHFA House Price Index, Existing Home Sales, EIA Petroleum Status Report, a 2-Yr FRN Note Auction, a 5-Yr Note Auction, FOMC Minutes, Robert Kaplan Speaks, and Neel Kashkari Speaks.
Our View
The ES has rallied 55 handles since last Wednesday’s big drop, and has closed higher 4 days in a row. At its current level the ESM17 is only 7 handles away from its all time high. Yes, the ES continues to ‘resist’ the 2400.00 area, but the size of the buy stops above are continuing to build up. Lets face it, there is no place for investors to go but stocks, helped by ultra low interest rates.
Our view remains the same; 2410-2412 is on TAP. You can sell the rallies and buy weakness, or just go with the trend and buy weakness.
PitBull: CLN osc 30/0 turns down on a close below 5171- ESM osc 6/2 turns down on a close below 237246 – VIX osc -6/3 turns down on a close below 1311.
Market Vitals for Wednesday 05-24-2017
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As always, please use protective buy and sell stops when trading futures and options.
- In Asia 10 out of 11 markets closed higher: Shanghai Comp +0.06%, Hang Seng +0.10%, Nikkei +0.66%
- In Europe 8 out of 12 markets are trading lower: CAC -0.06%, DAX -0.11%, FTSE +0.24%
- Fair Value: S&P -1.74, NASDAQ +1.90, Dow -23.66
- Total Volume: 1.0m ESM and 1.8k SPM traded
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