CHAPTER IX You can't think how glad I am to see you again, you dear old thing," said the Duchess, as she tucked her arm affectionately into Alice's, and they walked off together. Alice was very glad to find her in such a pleasant temper, and thought to herself that perhaps it was only the pepper that had made her so savage when they met in the kitchen. When I'm a Duchess, she said to herself, not in a very hopeful tone, though, I won't have any pepper in my kitchen at all, soup does very well without. Maybe it's always pepper that makes people hot-tempered, she went on, very much pleased at having found out a new kind of rule, and vinegar that makes them sour, and chamomile that makes them bitter, and—and barley-sugar and such things that make children sweet-tempered. I only wish people knew that, then they wouldn't be so stingy about it, you know. She had quite forgotten the Duchess by this time, and was a little startled when she heard her voice close to her ear.  I can't tell you just now what the moral of that is, but I shall remember it in a bit. Perhaps it hasn't one, Alice ventured to remark. Tut-tut, child, said the Duchess, everything's got a moral, if only you can find it. And she squeezed herself up closer to Alice's side as she spoke. Alice did not much like keeping so close to her, first because the Duchess was very ugly, and secondly because she was exactly the right height to rest her chin upon Alice's shoulder, and it was an uncomfortably sharp chin. However, she did not like to be rude, so she bore it as well as she could. The game's going on rather better now, she said, by a way of keeping up the conversation a little. "'Tis so,' said the Duchess, and the moral of that is, oh, tis love, tis love, that makes the world go round.' "'Somebody,' said, Alice whispered, that it's done by everybody minding their own business. "'Ah, well, it means much the same things,' said the Duchess, digging her sharp little chin into Alice's shoulder as she added. "'And the moral of that is, take care of the sense, and the sounds will take care of themselves.' "'How fond she is of finding morals in things,' Alice thought to herself. "'I dare say you're wondering why I don't put my arm round your waist,' the Duchess said after a pause. "'The reason is, that I'm doubtful about the temper of your flamingo, shall I try the experiment?' "'He might bite,' Alice cautiously replied, not feeling at all anxious to have the experiment tried. "'Very true,' said the Duchess, flamingos and mustard both bite, and the moral of that is, birds of a feather flock together. "'Only mustard isn't a bird,' Alice remarked. "'Right as usual,' said the Duchess, what a clear way you have of putting things.' "'It's a mineral, I think,' said Alice. "'Of course it is,' said the Duchess, who seemed ready to agree to everything that Alice said. "'There's a large mustard mine near here, and the moral of that is, the more there is of mine, the less there is of yours.' "'Oh, I know,' exclaimed Alice, who had not attended to this last remark. "'It's a vegetable. It doesn't look like one, but it is.' "'I quite agree with you,' said the Duchess, and the moral of that is, be what you would seem to be, or if you would like it put more simply. Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.' "'I think I should understand that better,' Alice said very politely. "'If I had it written down, but I can't quite follow it, as you say it.' "'That's nothing to what I could say if I chose,' the Duchess replied, in a pleased tone. "'Pray don't trouble yourself to say it any longer than that,' said Alice. "'Oh, don't talk about trouble,' said the Duchess. "'I make you a present of everything I've said as yet.' "'A cheap sort of present,' thought Alice. "'I'm glad they don't give birthday presents like that.' But she did not venture to say it out loud. "'Thinking again,' the Duchess asked, with another dig of her sharp little chin. "'I have a right to think,' said Alice sharply, for she was beginning to feel a little worried. "'Just about as much right,' said the Duchess, as pigs have to fly, and the mmm.' But here, to Alice's great surprise, the Duchess's voice died away, even in the middle of her favourite word, moral, and the arm that was linked into hers began to tremble. Alice looked up, and there stood the Queen in front of them, with her arms folded, frowning like a thunderstorm. "'A fine day, Your Majesty!' The Duchess began, in a low, weak voice. "'Now I give you fair warning,' shouted the Queen, stamping on the ground as she spoke.  The Duchess took her choice, and was gone in a moment. "'Let's go on with the game,' the Queen said to Alice, and Alice was too much frightened to say a word, but slowly followed her back to the croquet-ground. The other guests had taken advantage of the Queen's absence, and were resting in the shade. However, the moment they saw her, they hurried back to the game, the Queen merely remarking that a moment's delay would cost them their lives.  Those whom she sentenced were taken into custody by the soldiers, who of course had to leave off being arches to do this, so that by the end of half an hour or so there were no arches left, and all the players, except the King, the Queen, and Alice, were in custody, and under sentence of execution. Then the Queen left off, quite out of breath, and said to Alice, "'Have you seen the mock-turtle yet?' "'No,' said Alice.  "'I never saw one or heard of one,' said Alice. "'Come on, then,' said the Queen, and he shall tell you his history. As they walked off together, Alice heard the King say, in a low voice, to the company generally, "'You are all pardoned.' "'Come, that's a good thing,' she said to herself, for she had felt quite unhappy at the number of executions the Queen had ordered. They very soon came upon a griffin lying fast asleep in the sun. If you don't know what a griffin is, look at the picture.' "'Up, lazy thing,' said the Queen, and take this young lady to see the mock-turtle, and to hear his history, I must go back and see after some executions I have ordered.' Then she walked off, leaving Alice alone with the griffin. Alice did not quite like the look of the creature, but on the whole she thought it would be quite as safe to stay with it as to go after that savage Queen, so she waited. The griffin sat up and rubbed its eyes. Then it watched the Queen till she was out of sight. Then it chuckled. "'What fun!' said the griffin. "'Half to itself, half to Alice.' "'What is the fun?' said Alice. "'Why, she!' said the griffin. "'It's all her fancy that. They never executes nobody, you know. Come on!' "'Everybody says, come on here,' thought Alice, as she went slowly after it. I never was so ordered about in all my life, never. They had not gone far before they saw the mock-turtle in the distance, sitting sad and lonely on a little ledge of rock. And as they came nearer, Alice could hear him sighing as if his heart would break. She pittied him deeply. "'What is his sorrow?' she asked the griffin, and the griffin answered, very nearly in the same words as before. "'It's all his fancy that. He hasn't got no sorrow, you know. Come on!'  "'This here young lady,' said the griffin, she wants for to know your history, she do. "'I'll tell it her,' said the mock-turtle in a deep hollow tone. Sit down, both of you, and don't speak a word till I've finished.' So they sat down, and nobody spoke for some minutes. Alice thought to herself, "'I don't see how he can ever finish if he doesn't begin.' But she waited patiently. "'Once,' said the mock-turtle at last, with a deep sigh. "'I was a real turtle.' These words were followed by a very long silence, broken only by an occasional exclamation of from the griffin, and the constant heavy sobbing of the mock-turtle. Alice was very nearly getting up and saying, "'Thank you, sir, for your interesting story. But she could not help thinking there must be more to come. So she sat still, and said nothing. When we were little, the mock-turtle went on at last, more calmly, though still sobbing a little now and then. We went to school in the sea. The master was an old turtle. We used to call him tortoise. "'Why did you call him tortoise if he wasn't one?' Alice asked.  "'Really you are very dull.' "'You ought to be ashamed of yourself for asking such a simple question,' added the griffin, and then they both sat silent and looked at poor Alice, who felt ready to sink into the earth. At last the griffin said to the mock-turtle, "'Drive on, old fellow, don't be all day about it.' And he went on in these words. "'Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you may not believe it.' "'I never said I didn't,' interrupted Alice. "'You did,' said the mock-turtle. "'Hold your tongue,' added the griffin, before Alice could speak again. The mock-turtle went on. "'We had the best of educations. In fact, we went to school every day.' "'I've been to a day school, too,' said Alice. "'You needn't be so proud as all that.' "'With extras?' asked the mock-turtle a little anxiously. "'Yes,' said Alice, we learned French and music.' "'And washing?' said the mock-turtle. "'Certainly not,' said Alice indignantly. "'Ah, then yours wasn't a really good school,' said the mock-turtle, in a tone of great relief. Now at hours they had, at the end of the bill, French, music, and washing, extra. "'You couldn't have wanted it much,' said Alice, living at the bottom of the sea. "'I couldn't afford to learn it,' said the mock-turtle with a sigh. I only took the regular course.' "'What was that?' inquired Alice. "'Reeling and writhing, of course, to begin with,' the mock-turtle replied, and then the different branches of arithmetic—ambition, distraction, uglification, and derision. "'I never heard of uglification,' Alice ventured to say. "'What is it?' The griffin lifted up both its paws in surprise. "'What? Never heard of uglifying?' it exclaimed. "'You know what to beautify is, I suppose.' "'Yes,' said Alice doubtfully. "'It means to make anything prettier.' "'Well, then,' the griffin went on.  Alice did not feel encouraged to ask any more questions about it, so she turned to the mock-turtle and said, "'What else had you to learn?' "'Well, there was mystery,' the mock-turtle replied, counting off the subjects on his flappers. Mystery, ancient and modern, with seeography, then drawing—the drawing master was an old conger eel that used to come once a week. He taught us drawing, stretching, and fainting in coils. "'What was that like?' said Alice. "'Well, I can't show it to you myself,' the mock-turtle said. "'I'm too stiff, and the griffin never learnt it.' "'Hadn't time,' said the griffin. "'I went to the classics master, though. He was an old crab, he was.' "'I never went to him,' the mock-turtle said with a sigh. He taught laughing and grief, they used to say. "'So he did, so he did,' said the griffin, sighing in his turn, and both creatures hid their faces in their paws. "'And how many hours a day did you do lessons?' said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject. "'Ten hours the first day,' said the mock-turtle, nine the next, and so on.' "'What a curious plan!' exclaimed Alice. "'That's the reason they're called lessons,' the griffin remarked, because they lessen from day to day. This was quite a new idea to Alice, and she thought it over a little before she made her next remark. "'Then the eleventh day must have been a holiday.' "'Of course it was,' said the mock-turtle. "'And how did you manage on the twelfth?' Alice went on eagerly. "'That's enough about lessons,' the griffin interrupted in a very decided tone. "'Tell her something about the games now.' End of Chapter 9 Read by Kara Schellenberg, March 2010, in San Diego, California. The mock-turtle sighed deeply and drew the back of one flapper across his eyes. He looked at Alice and tried to speak, but for a minute or two Sobs choked his voice. "'Same as if he had a bone in his throat,' said the griffin, and it set to work shaking him and punching him in the back. At last the mock-turtle recovered his voice, and, with tears running down his cheeks, he went on again. "'You may not have lived much under the sea.' "'I haven't,' said Alice. "'And perhaps you were never even introduced to a lobster.' Alice began to say, "'I once tasted, but checked herself hastily,' and said, "'No, never.' "'So you can't have no idea what a delightful thing a lobster quadril is.' "'No, indeed,' said Alice, "'what sort of a dance is it?' "'Why?' said the griffin. "'You first form into a line along the seashore.' "'Two lines,' cried the mock-turtle. "'Seals, turtles, salmon, and so on. Then, when you've cleared all the jellyfish out of the way, that generally takes some time,' interrupted the griffin. "'You advance twice.' "'Each with a lobster as a partner,' cried the griffin. "'Of course,' the mock-turtle said. "'Advanced twice, set to partners.' "'Changed lobsters and retire in same order,' continued the griffin. "'Then you know,' the mock-turtle went on. "'You throw the—' "'The lobsters,' shouted the griffin, "'without bound into the air. "'As far out to see as you can.' "'Swim after them,' screamed the griffin. "'Turn a somersault in the sea,' cried the mock-turtle, capering wildly about. "'Changed lobsters again,' yelled the griffin at the top of its voice. "'Back to land again, and that's all the first figure,' said the mock-turtle, suddenly dropping his voice, and the two creatures, who had been jumping about like mad things all this time, sat down again very sadly and quietly, and looked at Alice. "'It must be a very pretty dance,' said Alice timidly. "'Would you like to see a little of it?' said the mock-turtle. "'Very much indeed,' said Alice. "'Come, let's try the first figure,' said the mock-turtle to the griffin. "'We can do without lobsters, you know. Which shall sing?' "'Oh, you sing,' said the griffin. I've forgotten the words.' So they began solemnly dancing round and round Alice, every now and then treading on her toes when they passed too close, and waving their forepaws to mark the time, while the mock-turtle sang this, very slowly and sadly. "'Will you walk a little faster?' said a whiting to a snail. "'There's a porpoise close behind us, and he's treading on my tail. See how eagerly the lobsters and the turtles all advance. They are waiting on the shingle. Will you come and join the dance?' "'Will you won't you? Will you won't you? Will you join the dance?' "'Will you won't you? Will you won't you? Won't you join the dance?' "'You can really have no notion how delightful it will be when they take us up and throw us with the lobsters out to sea. But the snail replied, "'Too far, too far,' and gave a look a scans, said he thanked the whiting kindly, but he would not join the dance. Would not, could not, would not, could not, would not join the dance. Would not, could not, would not, could not, could not join the dance.' "'What matters it how far we go?' his scaly friend replied. There is another shore you know upon the other side. The further off from England, the nearer is to France. Then turn not pale, beloved snail, but come and join the dance. Will you won't you? Will you won't you? Will you join the dance?' "'Will you won't you? Will you won't you? Won't you join the dance?' "'Thank you. It's a very interesting dance to watch,' said Alice, feeling very glad that it was over at last. And I do so like that curious song about the whiting.' "'Oh, as to the whiting,' said the mock turtle. They—you've seen them, of course.' "'Yes,' said Alice. I've often seen them at din.' She checked herself hastily. "'I don't know where din may be,' said the mock turtle. But if you've seen them so often, of course you know what they're like.' "'I believe so,' Alice replied thoughtfully. They have their tails in their mouths, and they're all over crumbs. "'You're wrong about the crumbs,' said the mock turtle.  "'Tell her about the reason and all that,' he said to the griffin. "'The reason is,' said the griffin, that they would go with the lobsters to the dance, so they got thrown out to sea, so they had to fall a long way, so they got their tails fast in their mouths, so they couldn't get them out again. That's all.' "'Thank you,' said Alice. "'It's very interesting. I never knew so much about a whiting before.' "'I can tell you more than that, if you like,' said the griffin. "'Do you know why it's called a whiting?' "'I never thought about it,' said Alice. Why?' "'It does the boots and shoes,' the griffin replied very solemnly. Alice was thoroughly puzzled. "'Does the boots and shoes?' she repeated in a wondering tone. "'Why, what are your shoes done with?' said the griffin.  Alice looked down at them and considered a little before she gave her answer. "'They're done with blacking, I believe.' "'Boots and shoes under the sea,' the griffin went on in a deep voice, "'are done with a whiting. Now you know.' "'And what are they made of?' Alice asked in a tone of great curiosity. "'Souls and eels, of course,' the griffin replied rather impatiently. Any shrimp could have told you that.' "'If I'd been the whiting,' said Alice, whose thoughts were still running on the song, "'I'd have said to the porpoise, "'Keep back, please. We don't want you with us.' "'They were obliged to have him with them,' the mock-turtle said. No wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise.' "'Wouldn't it really?' said Alice in a tone of great surprise. "'Of course not,' said the mock-turtle. "'Why, if a fish came to me and told me he was going on a journey, I should say, with what porpoise?' "'Don't you mean purpose?' said Alice. "'I mean what I say,' the mock-turtle replied in an offended tone. And the griffin added, "'Come, let's hear some of your adventures.' "'I could tell you my adventures beginning from this morning,' said Alice a little timidly, but it's no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.' "'Explain all that,' said the mock-turtle. "'No, no, the adventures first,' said the griffin, in an impatient tone. Explanations take such a dreadful time.' So Alice began telling them her adventures from the time when she first saw the white rabbit. She was a little nervous about it just at first. The two creatures got so close to her, one on each side, and opened their eyes and mouths so very wide. But she gained courage as she went on. Her listeners were perfectly quiet till she got to the part about her repeating, "'You are old, Father William,' to the caterpillar, and the words all coming different, and then the mock-turtle drew a long breath and said, "'That's very curious.' "'It's all about as curious as it can be,' said the griffin. "'It all came different,' the mock-turtle repeated thoughtfully. "'I should like to hear her try and repeat something now. Tell her to begin.' He looked at the griffin as if he thought it had some kind of authority over Alice. "'Stand up and repeat. "'Tis the voice of the sluggered,' said the griffin. "'How the creatures order one about, and make one repeat lessons,' thought Alice, "'I might as well be at school at once.'  "'Tis the voice of the lobster,' I heard him declare. "'You have baked me too brown. I must sugar my hair. "'As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose, "'trims his belt and his buttons, and turns out his toes. "'When the sands are all dry, he is gay as a lark, "'and will talk in contemptuous tones of the shark, "'but when the tide rises and sharks are around, "'his voice has a timid and tremulous tone. "'That's different from what I used to say when I was a child,' said the griffin. "'Well, I never heard it before,' said the mock turtle, "'but it sounds uncommon nonsense.' Alice said nothing. She had sat down with her face in her hands, wondering if anything would ever happen in a natural way again. "'I should like to have it explained,' said the mock turtle. "'She can't explain it,' said the griffin hastily. "'Go on with the next verse.' "'But about his toes,' the mock turtle persisted, "'how could he turn them out with his nose, you know?' "'It's the first position in dancing,' Alice said, but was dreadfully puzzled by the whole thing, and longed to change the subject. "'Go on with the next verse,' the griffin repeated impatiently. "'It begins, I passed by his garden.' Alice did not dare to disobey, though she felt sure it would all come wrong, and she went on in a trembling voice. "'I passed by his garden and marked with one eye how the owl and the panther were sharing a pie. The panther took pie crust and gravy and meat, while the owl had the dish as its share of the treat. When the pie was all finished, the owl, as a boon, was kindly permitted to pocket the spoon, while the panther received knife and fork with a growl, and concluded the banquet. "'What is the use of repeating all that stuff?' the mock turtle interrupted. "'If you don't explain it as you go on, it's by far the most confusing thing I ever heard.' "'Yes, I think you'd better leave off,' said the griffin, and Alice was only too glad to do so.' "'Shall we try another figure of the lobster quadrill?' the griffin went on. "'Or would you like the mock turtle to sing you a song?' "'Oh, a song, please, if the mock turtle would be so kind,' Alice replied, so eagerly that the griffin said, in a rather offended tone. "'Hm! No accounting for tastes. Sing her turtle soup, will you old fellow?' The mock turtle sighed deeply, and began, in a voice sometimes choked with sobs, to sing this. "'Beautiful soup, so rich and green, waiting in a hot terrine. Who for such dainties would not stoop? Soup of the evening. Beautiful soup. Soup of the evening. Beautiful soup. Beautiful soup. Beautiful soup. Soup of the evening. Beautiful, beautiful soup. Beautiful soup. Who cares for fish, game, or any other dish? Who would not give all else for two penny-worth only of beautiful soup? Penny-worth only of beautiful soup. Beautiful soup. Beautiful soup. Soup of the evening. Beautiful. Beautiful soup.' "'Chorus again,' cried the griffin, and the mock turtle had just begun to repeat it, when a cry of, The trial's beginning was heard in the distance. Come on,' cried the griffin, and, taking Alice by the hand, it hurried off without waiting for the end of the song. "'What trial is it?' Alice panted as she ran, but the griffin only answered, Come on!' and ran the faster, while more and more faintly came, carried on the breeze that followed them, the melancholy words, The soup of the evening. Beautiful. Beautiful soup.' And of Chapter 10. Read by Kara Schellenberg, March 2010, in San Diego, California. Chapter 11 of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 11. Who Stole the Tarts? The King and Queen of Hearts The King and Queen of Hearts were seated on their throne when they arrived, with a great crowd assembled about them, all sorts of little birds and beasts, as well as the whole pack of cards. The nave was standing before them in chains, with a soldier on each side to guard him, and near the King was the white rabbit, with a trumpet in one hand, and a scroll of parchment in the other. In the very middle of the court was a table, with a large dish of tarts upon it. They looked so good that it made Alice quite hungry to look at them. I wish they'd get the trial done, she thought, and hand round the refreshments. But there seemed to be no chance of this, so she began looking at everything about her, to pass away the time. Alice had never been in a court of justice before, but she had read about them in books, and she was quite pleased to find that she knew the name of nearly everything there. That's the judge, she said to herself, because of his great wig. The judge, by the way, was the King, and as he wore his crown over the wig— look at the frontest piece, if you want to see how he did it— he did not look at all comfortable, and it was certainly not becoming. And that's the jury box, thought Alice, and those twelve creatures— she was obliged to say creatures, you see, because some of them were animals, and some were birds. I suppose they are the jurors. She said this last word two or three times over to herself, being rather proud of it, for she thought, and rightly too, that very few little girls of her age knew the meaning of it at all. However, jury men would have done just as well. The twelve jurors were all writing very busily on slates. What are they doing? Alice whispered to the griffin. They can't have anything to put down yet before the trials begun. They are putting down their names, the griffin whispered in reply, for fear they should forget them before the end of the trial. Stupid things, Alice began, in a loud, indignant voice, but she stopped hastily for the white rabbit cried out. Silence in the court! And the king put on his spectacles, and looked anxiously round to make out who was talking. Alice could see, as well as if she were looking over their shoulders, that all the jurors were writing down stupid things on their slates, and she could even make out that one of them didn't know how to spell stupid, and that he had to ask his neighbor to tell him. A nice muddle their slates will be in before the trials over, thought Alice. One of the jurors had a pencil that squeaked. This, of course, Alice could not stand, and she went round the court and got behind him, and very soon found an opportunity of taking it away. She did it so quickly that the poor little girls quickly that the poor little juror—it was Bill, the lizard—could not make out at all what had become of it, so, after hunting all about for it, he was obliged to write with one finger for the rest of the day, and this was of very little use, as it left no mark on the slate. Harold, read the accusation, said the king. On this the white rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet, and then unrolled the parchment scroll and read as follows. The queen of hearts she made some tarts, all on a summer day. The nave of hearts he stole those tarts, and took them quite away. Consider your verdict, the king said to the jury. Not yet, not yet, the rabbit hastily interrupted. There's a great deal to come before that. Call the first witness, said the king, and the white rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet, and called out, The first witness was the hatter. He came in with a teacup in one hand, and a piece of bread and butter in the other. I beg pardon, your majesty, he began, for bringing these in, but I hadn't quite finished my tea when I was sent for. You ought to have finished, said the king. When did you begin? The hatter looked at the march-hair, who had followed him into the court, arm in arm with the door-mouse. Fourteenth of March, I think it was, he said. Fifteenth, said the march-hair. Sixteenth, added the door-mouse. Write that down, the king said to the jury, and the jury eagerly wrote down all three dates on their slates, and then added them up, and reduced the answer to shillings and pence.  It isn't mine, said the hatter. Stolen, the king exclaimed, turning to the jury, who instantly made a memorandum of the fact. I keep them to sell, the hatter added, as an explanation. I've none of my own. I'm a hatter. Here the queen put on her spectacles, and began staring at the hatter, who turned pale and fidgeted. Give your evidence, said the king, and don't be nervous, or I'll have you executed on the spot. This did not seem to encourage the witness at all. He kept shifting, from one foot to the other, looking uneasily at the queen, and in his confusion he bit a large piece out of his teacup, instead of the bread and butter. Just at this moment Alice felt a very curious sensation, which puzzled her a good deal, until she made out what it was. She was beginning to grow larger again, and she thought at first she would get up and leave the court. But on second thoughts she decided to remain where she was, as long as there was room for her. I wish you wouldn't squeeze so, said the door-mouse, who was sitting next to her. I can hardly breathe. I can't help it, said Alice, very meekly. I'm growing. You've no right to grow here, said the door-mouse. Don't talk nonsense, said Alice, more boldly. You know you're growing, too. Yes, but I grow at a reasonable pace, said the door-mouse, not in that ridiculous fashion. And he got up very cell-cally, and crossed over to the other side of the court. All this time the queen had never left off staring at the hatter, and just as the door-mouse crossed the court, she said to one of the officers of the court, bring me the list of the singers in the last concert, on which the wretched hatter trembled so that he shook both his shoes off. Give your evidence, the king repeated angrily, or I'll have you executed, whether you're nervous or not. I'm a poor man, your majesty, the hatter began in a trembling voice, and I hadn't begun my tea, not above a week or so, and what with the bread and butter getting so thin, and the twinkling of the tea? The twinkling of the what? said the king. It began with the tea, the hatter replied. Of course twinkling begins with a tea, said the king sharply. Do you take me for a dunce? Go on. I'm a poor man, the hatter went on, and most things twinkled after that, only the march-hair said, I didn't, the march-hair interrupted in a great hurry. You did, said the hatter. I deny it, said the march-hair. He denies it, said the king, leave out that part. Well, at any rate, the door-mouse said— the hatter went on, looking anxiously round, to see if he would deny it too, but the door-mouse denied nothing, being fast asleep. After that continued the hatter, I cut some more bread and butter. But what did the door-mouse say, one of the jury asked? That I can't remember, said the hatter. You must remember, remarked the king, or I'll have you executed. The miserable hatter dropped his teacup and bread and butter, and went down on one knee. I'm a poor man, your majesty, he began.  Here one of the guinea-pigs cheered, and was immediately suppressed by the officers of the court. As that is rather a hard word, I will just explain to you how it was done. They had a large canvas bag, which tied up at the mouth with strings. Into this they slipped the guinea-pig, head first, and then sat upon it. I'm glad I've seen that done, thought Alice. I've so often read in the newspapers, at the end of trials, there was some attempts at applause, which was immediately suppressed by the officers of the court, and I never understood what it meant till now. If that's all you know about it, you may stand down, continued the king. I can't go no lower, said the hatter. I'm on the floor as it is. I'm on the floor as it is. I'm on the floor as it is. I'm on the floor as it is. I'm on the floor as it is. I'm on the floor as it is. Then you may sit down, the king replied. Here the other guinea-pig cheered and was suppressed. Come, that finished the guinea-pigs, thought Alice. Now we shall get on better. I'd rather finish my tea, said the hatter, with an anxious look at the queen, who was reading the list of singers. You may go, said the king, and the hatter hurriedly left the court, without even waiting to put his shoes on. And just take his head off outside, the queen added to one of the officers, but the hatter was out of sight before the officer could get to the door. Call the next witness, said the king. The next witness was the duchess's cook. She carried the pepper-box in her hand, and Alice guessed who it was, even before she got into the court, by the way the people near the door began sneezing all at once. Give your evidence, said the king. Shant, said the cook. The king looked anxiously at the white rabbit, who said in a low voice, your majesty must cross-examine this witness. Well, if I must, I must, the king said, with a melancholy air, and after folding his arms and frowning at the cook till his eyes were nearly out of sight, he said in a deep voice, what are tarts made of? Pepper, mostly, said the cook. Treacle, said a sleepy voice behind her.  For some minutes the whole court was in confusion, getting the door-mouse turned out, and by the time they had settled down again, the cook had disappeared. Never mind, said the king, with an air of great relief, call the next witness, and he added in an undertone to the queen. Really, my dear, you must cross-examine the next witness, it quite makes my forehead ache. Alice watched the white rabbit as he fumbled over the list, feeling very curious to see what the next witness would be like. For they haven't got much evidence yet, she said to herself. Imagine her surprise when the white rabbit read out, at the top of his shrill little voice, the name Alice. End of Chapter 11. Read by Kara Schellenberg, March, 2010, in San Diego, California. Chapter 12 of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 12. Alice's Evidence. Here, cried Alice, quite forgetting in the flurry of the moment how large she had grown in the last few minutes, and she jumped up in such a hurry that she tipped over the jury-box with the edge of her skirt, upsetting all the jurymen onto the heads of the crowd below, and there they lay sprawling about, reminding her very much of a globe of goldfish she had accidentally upset the week before. Oh, I beg your pardon, she exclaimed, in a tone of great dismay, and began picking them up again as quickly as she could, for the accident of the goldfish kept running in her head, and she had a vague sort of idea that they must be collected at once, and put back into the jury-box, or they would die. The trial cannot proceed, said the king, in a very grave voice, until all the jurymen are back in their proper places. All, he repeated, with great emphasis, looking hard at Alice as he said so. Alice looked at the jury-box and saw that, in her haste, she had put the lizard in head downwards, and the poor little thing was waving its tail about in a melancholy way, being quite unable to move. She soon got it out again, and put it right. Not that it signifies much, she said to herself, I should think it would be quite as much use in the trial one way up as the other. As soon as the jury had a little recovered from the shock of being upset, and their slates and pencils had been found and handed back to them, they set to work very diligently to write out a history of the accident, all except the lizard, who seemed too much overcome to do anything, but sit with its mouth open, gazing up into the roof of the court. What do you know about this business, the king said to Alice? Nothing, said Alice. Nothing whatever persisted the king? Nothing whatever, said Alice. That's very important, the king said, turning to the jury. They were just beginning to write this down on their slates, when the white rabbit interrupted, unimportant your majesty means, of course, he said, in a very respectful tone, but frowning and making faces at him as he spoke. Unimportant, of course, I meant, the king hastily said, and went on to himself in an undertone. Important, unimportant, unimportant, important, as if he were trying which word sounded best. Some of the jury wrote it down important, and some unimportant. Alice could see this, as she was near enough to look over their slates. But it doesn't matter a bit, she thought to herself. At this moment the king, who had been, for some time, busily writing in his notebook, cackled out, silence, and read out from his book, Rule 42, all persons more than a mile high, to leave the court. Everybody looked at Alice. I'm not a mile high, said Alice. You are, said the king. Nearly two miles high added the queen. Well, I shan't go at any rate, said Alice. Besides, that's not a regular rule. You invented it just now. It's the oldest rule in the book, said the king. Then it ought to be number one, said Alice.  Consider your verdict, he said to the jury, in a low, trembling voice. There's more evidence to come yet, please, your majesty. Said the white rabbit, jumping up in a great hurry. This paper has just been picked up. What's in it, said the queen. I haven't opened it yet, said the white rabbit. But it seems to be a letter, written by the prisoner, to—to somebody. It must have been that, said the king, unless it was written to nobody, which isn't usual, you know. Who is it directed to, said one of the jurymen? It isn't written to anybody, but it's written to somebody.  In fact, there's nothing written on the outside. He unfolded the paper as he spoke, and added, It isn't a letter, after all. It's a set of verses. Are they in the prisoner's handwriting? asked another of the jurymen. No, they're not, said the white rabbit, and that's the queerest thing about it. The jury all looked puzzled. He must have imitated somebody else's hand, said the king. The jury all brightened up again. Please, Your Majesty, said the nave. I didn't write it, and they can't prove I did. There's no name signed at the end. If you didn't sign it, said the king, that only makes the matter worse. You must have met some mischief, or else you'd have signed your name like an honest man. There was a general clapping of hands at this. It was the first really clever thing the king had said that day. That proves his guilt, said the queen. It proves nothing of the sort, said Alice, why you don't even know what they're about. Read them, said the king. The white rabbit put on his spectacles. Where shall I begin, please, Your Majesty? he asked. Begin at the beginning, the king said gravely, and go on till you come to the end. Then stop. These were the verses the white rabbit read. They told me you had been to her, and mentioned me to him. She gave me a good character, but said I could not swim. He sent them word I had not gone. We know it to be true. If she should push the matter on, what would become of you?  They all returned from him to you, though they were mine before. If I or she should chance to be involved in this affair, he trusts to you to set them free exactly as we were. My notion was that you had been, before she had this fit, an obstacle that came between him and ourselves and it. Don't let him know she liked them best, for this must ever be a secret, kept from all the rest, between yourself and me. That's the most important piece of evidence we've heard yet, said the king, rubbing his hands. So now let the jury— If any one of them can explain it, said Alice. She had grown so large in the last few minutes, that she wasn't a bit afraid of interrupting him. I'll give him sixpence. I don't believe there's an atom of meaning in it. The jury all wrote down on their slates. She doesn't believe there's an atom of meaning in it. But none of them attempted to explain the paper. If there's no meaning in it, said the king, that saves a world of trouble, you know, as we needn't try to find any. And yet I don't know, he went on, spreading out the verses on his knee, and looking at them with one eye. I seem to see some meaning in them, after all. Said I could not swim. You can't swim, can you? he added, turning to the nave. The nave shook his head sadly. Do I look like it, he said? Which he certainly did not, being made entirely of cardboard. All right, so far, said the king, and he went on muttering over the verses to himself. We know it to be true. That's the jury, of course. I gave her one, they gave him two. Why, that must be what he did with the tarts, you know. But it goes on. They all returned from him to you, said Alice. Why, there they are, said the king triumphantly, pointing to the tarts on the table. Nothing can be clearer than that. Then again. Before she had this fit. You never had fits, my dear, I think, he said to the queen. Never, said the queen furiously, throwing an ink-stand at the lizard as she spoke. The unfortunate little bill had left off writing on his slate with one finger, as he found it made no mark. But now he hastily began again, using the ink that was trickling down his face, as long as it lasted. Then the words don't fit you, said the king, looking round the court with a smile. There was a dead silence. It's upon the king added in an offended tone, and everybody laughed. Let the jury consider their verdict, the king said, for about the twentieth time that day. No, no, said the queen, sentence first, verdict afterwards. Stuff and nonsense, said Alice loudly, the idea of having the sentence first. Hold your tongue, said the queen, turning purple. I won't, said Alice. Off with her head, the queen shouted at the top of her voice. Nobody moved. Who cares for you, said Alice? She had grown to her full size by this time.  At this the whole pack rose up into the air and came flying down upon her.  Wake up, Alice, dear, said her sister. Why, what a long sleep you've had. Oh, I've had such a curious dream, said Alice, and she told her sister, as well as she could remember them, all these strange adventures of hers that you have just been reading about, and when she had finished, her sister kissed her and said, It was a curious dream, dear, certainly, but now run into your tea. It's getting late. So Alice got up and ran off, thinking while she ran, as well as she might, what a wonderful dream it had been. But her sister sat still just as she left her, leaning her head on her hand, watching the setting sun and thinking of little Alice, and all her wonderful adventures, till she too began dreaming after a fashion, and this was her dream. First she dreamed of little Alice herself, and once again the tiny hands were clasped upon her. and the bright, eager eyes were looking up into hers. She could hear the very tones of her voice, and see that queer little toss of her head, to keep back the wandering hair that would always get into her eyes. And still, as she listened, or seemed to listen, the whole place around her became alive with the strange creatures of her little sister's dream. The long grass rustled at her feet, as the white rabbit hurried by. The frightened mouse splashed his way through her head, the frightened mouse splashed his way through the neighbouring pool. She could hear the rattle of the tea-cups, as the March Hare and his friends shared their never-ending meal, and the shrill voice of the Queen, ordering off her unfortunate guests to execution. Once more the pig-baby was sneezing on the duchess's knee, while plates and dishes crashed around it. Once more the shriek of the griffin, the squeaking of the lizard's slate-pencil, and the choking of the suppressed guinea-pigs filled the air, mixed up with the distant sobs of the miserable mock-turtle. So she sat on with closed eyes, and half-believed herself in wonderland, though she knew she had but to open them again, and all would change to dull reality. The grass would be only rustling in the wind, and the pool rippling to the waving of the reeds. The rattling tea-cups would change to tinkling sheep-bells, and the Queen's shrill cries to the voice of the shepherd-boy. And the sneeze of the baby, the shriek of the griffin, and all the other queer noises would change, she knew, to the confused clamour of the busy farmyard, while the lowing of the cattle in the distance would take the place of the mock-turtle's heavy sobs. Lastly she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman, and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood, and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of wonderland of long ago, and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days. The End That's the end of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Read by Kara Schellenberg, www.kray.org, in March 2010, in San Diego, California.


Good afternoon everyone. Everyone hear me okay? Just wait another minute before we get started. Should be all good. Today, we're going to talk about market-state awareness, a little bit of awareness in general. Before we get into it, I want to go through the disclaimer. Everything that we're going over today is going to be for educational purposes. The main thing about trading is that you are using risk capital, so you definitely want to use capital that you can afford to risk because if you can't afford to risk it, you're going to make bad decisions. You're going to make more emotional decisions and it's just going to not turn out well. So it's best to make sure you put yourself in a situation so that with the capital you're risking is either not your own or it's capital that you can afford to lose and that is the winning ticket. A little bit about me. I've been trading for over 35 years. I started out in the floor of the Mercantile Exchange as a runner. It was really literally my first summer job in high school and I've kind of caught the bug and I'm still addicted. I've been working with traders since 1984. I started my analytics business and again right off the floor. I got involved with the professional local traders and also the institutions that were feeding the orders to the traders. So I kind of started out on the professional side and been working with aspiring traders as well to bring them into the business, provide them with a foundation so they can really succeed. So my background is futures but I got involved in crypto in 2013. I've been through a lot of cycles with crypto so a big believer in the space, big fan of Ethereum and Web 3.0 and what the blockchain can do and so definitely carrying the flag on that one and a lot of what we do and what we're going over today in our analytics is really tools that empower traders through fact-based methods and self-awareness. So fact-based trading before I get into it, what is that? Basically trading, making decisions based on objective data and analysis rather than subjective emotion or opinions. You know absolutely experience matters in trading, you know just playing basketball matters, you know how long you practice, the insights that you have but they need to be grounded in truce and you need to have a fact foundation to you know to check yourself. It's so easy to let your emotions guide you and you know and also having that consistency so when you're dealing with a subjective approach it's not scalable, you know you're limited and you know really comes down to having you know a fact check to help guide you and so you can really you know leverage, I don't really like to call it opinions, I like to call it intuitive function. You know your ability to trade intuitively I think is the main power that any discretionary trader has and how do you get to that state of flow? How do you know what's the best way to do it? Well the best way to do it is if you really know the facts and your body knows that, your body knows that if it's a subjective opinion versus it's a truth and when it's a truth it can trust it more and when it can trust it more it can just you know help get into that state of flow and when it can't it basically causes anxiety so having having a fact foundation is really paramount in trading. So we're talking about market state awareness and you know the challenges for day traders you know the conditions change every day you know that's the dynamics and so you've got your tactics and tools and and how do you apply them when you've got different conditions and so you know having awareness of the market state is absolutely helps to solve that issue you know and then your tactics have limitations you know most tactics are you know let's say trend following or fading momentum you know and you know you're going to get when the markets don't go anywhere your trend following you get chopped up and and if you're doing a return to mean deviation strategy you're going to get run over on the market trends so your tactics are limited you know and you need to you've got to you need to have a quiver of tactics and you need to apply them in the right states and that's what we're talking about you know and there's there's constant uncertainty out there and having a fact foundation gives you some kind of benchmark to you know get get some clarity and so we're going to go into uh some of our trading tools and introduce you to our playbook which identifies market states as well as the structure of those states and and how we use book map with that as well you know one thing I wanted to get into before and you know the presentation and just kind of awareness of you know where you know who you're competing against on the trading landscape and and the and you know you're going up you know if you are an independent trader or and you're a aspiring trader what are you going up against where you're going up against the pros and they have a big team you know it's football season coming up so I figured I'd pull out some images now I'm from Chicago so there you go but you've got you know the the prop traders got a whole support team they've got you know strategists quants they've got a separate risk manager they've got a head trader who's looking at a kind of the mandate for the whole for the whole business and that's that's their team and they're going against you and so who's on your team you know JSA analytics look to be part of your team and provide you with you know some of that support definitely the quant work provide you with strategies and foundation and give you some tools to help you manage your risk we are here for you so market state what is it and how do we apply it well market state is the strategy foundation it's the baseline you know to you know pull out a widely used quote in trading you know strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat you know that that you know that says it all you know most traders are tactic masters you know you have these tools this toolkit of strategies that you use and you you apply it religiously every day and and you know you've got it down but what is the strategy foundation what's the baseline behind that and most times that's missing what we're saying is that you need a quantitative strategy foundation for your tactics so your strategy foundation for your tactics your tactics are a piece of the puzzle you know your tactics are setups you know whatever you base you know your subjective the you know methodologies that you use to make trade decisions and those setups occur you know on you know if you're playing chess your tactics are the pieces and you're playing the game but you're playing it on the board and the board is the strategy foundation and that's what market state is it's your found you know it is your foundation and it's going and sometimes that foundation is positive sometimes it's negative sometimes it's sideways but you know and and then you know and if you're put you know if you're at war you know what's the terrain of the ground you're you're playing a sport is it wet out you know basically how do you adjust your tactics based on the state you know so if you have if you only have tactics it's it can be frustrating when you have that strategy foundation along with your tactics you know you've got the whole package so market state awareness is your edge and your edge is intuitive trading so what happens and when you really are in a state of flow you it's the difference between knowing and thinking you know if I if the words go through my brain I think I immediately have to check myself that is one of my triggers that I use all the time whenever I think that I know there's an issue and I need to go fact check my facts because I should know I should know what's more likely to occur and I should know is my current position in alignment with that or not because if I know the facts and I know the state foundation I know what's more likely to occur then I'm able to anticipate I mean able to anticipate opportunity not react that's my big issue with all these indicator systems it's just you're always waiting for data to go and you're and you're reacting you can't succeed by reacting you have to anticipate what's more likely to occur absolutely you can use absolutely you can use other tools to validate your position and add to it and if they don't validate you know tighten your risk up but in trading you need to anticipate you can't react and this you know as master Yoda said you know there is no try you know it's just do if you want to get long get long you know you're executing you're knowing you're anticipating and you're executing you're not trying to do something you're doing it and we've all had days like both of these days days where you know we have a we're negative on the market and we anticipate an opportunity and then when it gets validated we press it and when we're in the state of flow we're you know and have some of our the biggest days that you've had on in your pnl they look like this you don't do a lot of trading and you catch some big moves and you just kill it you had awareness you had vision where this thing can go you're patient and you held on to versus thinking and trying you're negative and you get into a your position covering it too quickly re-entering making some money you're happy and then you start pressing it and you end up chopping yourself up and giving it all back or just having a slight winner when you called the whole move you were aligned for the whole move and you just and you let yourself give that away you're just trying too hard you're overthinking the situation this is the difference knowing anticipating and doing thinking reacting and trying and you have the fact foundation keep it simple trade with the facts trade with what's more likely to occur and execute don't think don't overthink so how do we apply market-state awareness and we're going to get into you know the actual tools that we use to identify market-state but how do you apply it you need to clear your mind you need to remove your bias you need to know the facts and this this is this is your mantra every day in trading whenever you think you think something I think this is going to occur because when you say I think you're really just saying I hope and when you when you get those doubts in your trading in your position that it's an it's a it's a trigger that I use it all the time it just I got anything I need to clear my you know just get the eraser out just erase everything in your brain we move any kind of bias you have turn the chart upside down if you have to just do a reset and then go focus on the facts what is true what are the facts and it is my current position in line with those facts you're getting your you're getting squeezed on on your stop and you're about to hit your stop you know is it true you may be in the wrong set it is my stop good yeah it is do I need to you know trigger it myself and let the market squeeze me out no all my all the facts are true I'm in alignment if that's not the case and you're not in alignment and your risk is too great absolutely now you've got awareness that hey I need to dance out of this trade I don't need to wait for it to get filled it's wrong things aren't aren't performing to expectation and I need to kind of switch gears and protect what I can and so the big difference with understanding and having market-state awareness is it switches from you know kind of this might occur to this more likely will occur you know what are the probabilities and that's it and then every time you're in you're putting your capital at risk you should understand what is more likely to occur and you should understand is my position in alignment with what's more likely to occur and if it's not and you still want that position because markets they can turn you know you know the when you're playing cards and the dealer has 15 and you have 16 and you decide to hit and you can't hit a five but it's not likely that's going to happen so but I can things can always happen that's what risk management is all about but align yourself with what's more likely to occur and understanding the difference between hoping and what might occur or what you want to have happen versus what's more likely to and so when we talk about market states you know most traders are looking at a market state as it's trend state or it's not trend state you know I call these general market state types I actually added a pivotal to that I added extremes but these are you know these are more general states and as you'll see with our tools we get into a little more detail than just general because markets you know positive trending market market that makes higher move highs higher move lows it's a bull trend and our tech we're going to apply certain tactics in a positive trend state we're new you know some of those trending tactics will work the same in a negative trend state but they might be a little different most markets when they make you know just move negatively a lot of times you know that that's a little faster than the upside maybe not crypto but they both you know they both have their nuances and they definitely have their nuances when you go in if the market's in a non-trend state or if it's pivotal or if it's at an extreme you know and so this is where we go into you know we need to adjust our tactics so we you know having that awareness and just because a market's in a bull trend or a bear trend or a non-trend state you know you know if it's in a bull trend doesn't mean it's you know you come out and you're just buying it you know positive trends have pullbacks markets aren't linear but the important thing about market state to understand is it's the foundation it's that plane it's the playing field bottom line and having that awareness that we're on this field and absolutely the expectation is that the market is going if the market is going to perform the expectation it's going to make higher move lows and higher move highs and trend up it doesn't mean that this session we're in this corrective phase and this and the market opens up higher breaks out to the upside and trades lower all day it's just part of what a positive trend is and so that's part of the expectation and that's the key what is your expectation you know if we're in a positive trend we're expectations we're having you know the market's going to have positive structure if it's and if it's a accelerating trend it's those pullbacks are going to become shorter and shorter what's more likely to occur what's more likely to occur is the market's going to trend and trend following tactics are going to work better and what trend tactics will typically work better buying ones positive ones so we're looking to accept buy signals so you know if we have a tactic tool kit and we have you know an oscillator system we have a you know a setup that is to fade markets and then we have a trend following system you know our trend following system is when we're going to we're going to want to lean on that's going to be the the one of focus you know so if we if we you know if we're masters at all these tactics and we just run these all these tactics all the time we're going to have some issues so here's here's a you know market and we've got a overbought oscillator tactic we've got a trend following our trend following tactic and we have our fade deviation tactic and we're running them all you know and when the market shifts into trend mode oscillators just don't work you're going to get run over they're going to get overbought and they're going to stay overbought and you're going to sell it and you're going to get that you know run over with that same with fade tactics when you fade you know fading the market fading the market we're going to get you know we might pick up some little gains but more likely we're just going to keep getting stopped out because we're fading the moves you know we'll pick up some gains and some fades but we're going to give a lot of it back but our trend following tactic it's going to work great so if we have we don't have a strategy foundation we're going to our non-trend tactics are going to lose and our trend tactics are going to win and if we have good market state awareness we're not going to execute our non you know our non trending tactics you know we're going to shelve those till the market proves us otherwise as long as the market's holding that structure we're going to trade our trend following strategy and we're going to have and we're going to catch that move we're going to you know participate in that opportunity and that kind of goes us brings us to the next section of you know understanding market state awareness understanding the market structure not thinking but knowing so here's our playbook application and this is what it's designed to do identify market states this is what we call our market grid and for crypto we're covering finance book map um on blockfills i'm sorry um coinbase and kraken are some of the exchanges that we cover they're all similar a little different you know a lot of you know most people are involved in perpetuals the grids color coded so you can red hues are more negative so this identifies that cardinals in a bear trend and bitcoin cash is in a bull trend ethers in a neutral digestive state doge is in a bear trend correction ether pound cross is in a neutral positive shift so the grid allows you you know our grid allows you to really identify market states through your tactics or work best in so if you're in a non-trend you know a general market state that's a non-trend and if we these commentaries they don't change from one non-trend to the next they're just they're there to identify what is a non-trend you know it's a sideways environment with choppy trading conditions in this market state directional rules are not expected to be sustained so we're not expecting follow-through opportunity exists on both sides of the market but profit potential is limited and should be realized sooner than later so take your money if they give it to you you know markets that do end a session with a strong directional bias will have trouble sustaining that bias in the coming session without the support of a positive shift in the next section's market state so if you know we're making a big strong certain if you have a market in neutral digestion that has a kind of a linear one-way trade typically that those are the times with just that exhaust and then the market goes into the next session it just turns around falls back into neutral you know the one thing about neutral digestion though and this is important for your tactics is that they can be the precursor to a breakout so absolutely the expectation is more likely to occur as the market's not going to follow through but as the market continues to coil and digest it's a precursor to a breakout and typically what happens in a neutral digestive state is that when it changes into a trend it's signaled by an early trend session move with no break in positive or negative structure so if the market is going to break out it starts right from the get-go from the new session and so for crypto that's 12 am utc time so i'm in chicago so that's 7 p.m central standard time and during that initial phase that you know kind of the first four hours of trading the market makes a decision and a lot of times you'll see it just starting to build momentum you can use like a simple moving average just to you know give you some guidance of hey it's building structure and it just goes it doesn't stop you know even you know it's even mentioned here simple moving average is a great tool to identify possible breakout day with the expectation that the market's going to scale up or down or maintain the trade above or below that moving average and so that's just kind of a simple tool to use in a neutral digestive state so the expectation is going sideways unless the market's showing you that it can it's trending and it's holding positive price structure or negative structure so it's holding a you know a simple moving average let's say and it's been doing so since the beginning of the session those are tells as well not to just step out and fade momentum when the market's in neutral digestion so that so the idea with the commentaries is all about giving you nuances giving you tells just like a bull trend yeah what's the definition of bull trends of markets making higher move highs higher move lows if it's not doing that it's then it's the definition of the bull trend is not true and that's a huge huge thing to you understand when you're trading is you know if the markets are going to tell you if it's true or not true and one thing about a trending market if it's true it's going to hold higher move highs higher move lows or for a bear trend situation it's going to hold lower lows lower highs it's going to hold negative structure and as long as the market continues to hold to hold structure you know in a bear trend further losses should be expected it doesn't mean there can't be corrective pullbacks but you know positive price action is expected to exhaust below the high inflection point that will maintain structure simple as that the things that you know intuitively or not you know this but you have to make you know keep that you understand that that's the foundation you know because any violation of that break in negative structures more likely to produce a neutral shift in a positive transition so if the market isn't staying in its trend mode and we do break the first structure point what's more likely to occur we're probably going to have a sideways terrible day you know if the market's been trading on the offer all session but it's not been able to follow through on any negative breakout you know those are those are situations where the market's making a new move low and it can't follow through there could be a corrective squeeze into the close you know it's typical in trending markets they make that they've had that big move during the day and then they can't then near the end of the day they haven't been able to really follow through on their breakout and you can get those corrective surges so this is you know because if it is going to trend lower just it'll continue to create that negative price structure so it's all about just being aware of your environment and that's that's what the the market grid does it gives you insight into the environment and you know literally this is a book on your on the coffee table when it comes down to defining what that state is what the background is one of the things that this application also does it gives you additional insight to that state so you know understanding the general context of the market expectation you know what's what type of momentum is expected you know so in a bear trend correction you know we expect it's a corrective trade so it's non-trending so non-trending that's more sideways so again this is like a little more detail than just trending or non-trending it's it this is a non-trending bear trend correction so this is a I love market states like this because it gives me the opportunity to potentially get at the the next the initiation of the next trend move so I search out corrective trend states for opportunities you know they they're not I'm not anticipating so much momentum but I'm I'm looking for those squeezes because generally you know it's it's a we're in this positive bias of a bear trend a corrective bias and so markets states shift are in constant shift they're always transitioning from one state to the next and also the structure of the market can change you know can change this tone so this market ICP I like this protocol is in a bear bear trend correction so it's a negative trend we had a positive signal so we want to take a look so now we're going to get a little more detail on this bear trend and we're going to look at the structure so we know that this is you know bear trend correction it's what I call a signature state so it's you know it's not as basic as just a bear trend it's a correct of the bear trend so it's a nuance but what is that but now we're going to take a look at what we call our sentiment bias and currently the sentiment bias has no bias and it's located at what we call our directional which is in the midpoint of what we call our critical range for us right now and you know focused on market state awareness we're just getting more granularity into the detail of this bear trend correction so we know we're bear trend correction but now how does sentiment skew that that state well because sentiment is has no bias and it's balanced you know the market that's in a bear trend correction signature state with the r level equal to the directionals defining the base for any corrective shift if the market's going to hold firm it'll maintain a trade above here so this is this sentiment bias is identifying the price point that says if this bear trend correction is true the market's going to trade above this price point and if it's not true we're more you know the market's more vulnerable to reestablishing that bear trend so sentiment bias is going to skew the market state it's a real key piece these two price points up and DP and really the structure is just made up of three price points so if this looks complicated just focus on three points you got one point the green line it's like over under number above but it's positive below it's negative well because we're if the market's in a bear trend correction and a bear trend correction is is a you know basically has a positive bias because it's a corrective move in a bear trend that's the expectation well this is telling you where that expectation is true it's true if it's above this price point if it's not it's we're more likely that we're going to be in this situation where we're there's a potential for a bear trend correction so let's go let's go take a look at ether and then we'll go to some live markets I've got that teed up and then this is also more of a general market state so it should be a little more straightforward so we went over the neutral digestion before it's a sideways environment take profit sooner than later this can be a precursor to a breakout calling action will build power if it's going to break out the tell is that the market's going to make a move early in the session it's going to hold structure you know with the market states as well and with the grid you we can look at you know previous period uh grids and so just for fun you know we did have a big positive move yesterday and prior to that the market was in a bear trend and so what happened is the market transitioned and it transitioned into a neutral market state and as you'll see as we're getting to talk about structure the structure point yesterday for ether was 1652 which was basically telling us in this bear trend that the mark as long as the market's below 1652 the bear trend's all good everything is all good for negative trend but if we get it we can't hold a buck below this price point there's an issue with the bear trend and we could see a corrective trade and that then that's that's what happened and so today we come in and that that market did transition we had a big surge transitioned above 1652 and rallied and it it didn't turn us into a positive situation it just turned us into neutral so we understand the neutral state so let's take a look at structure and what what how does that how does that come into play now and how does that help us give us better market aware you know market state awareness of based on what the structure is well sentiment today for ether is at 1660 so let's take a look at um let's take a look at that structure so these blue just this is my ether daily chart i've got a five minute up here this was yesterday's action the big surge so here was that 1652 actually like this is a integration that we have you're interested in this integration you can get it with our subs with your subscription with us so here's that sentiment bias yesterday and we had the uh you know the mark was in a bear trend and then when it couldn't maintain a trade below sentiment it produced the sharp rally which transitioned ether into more of a neutral market state so so now we're in a neutral state i'm going to remove yesterday's action yeah the integration is great you can kind of get a lot of different views so here we have sentiment for ether is at 1660 and so this is our market what we call our market structure bias so we have our neutral digestion what's the parameters that define that digestion that's going to be the critical range these three price points and what this is identifying is that sentiment is positive because it's below the market it's below the market here so what this is telling us is that ether is in a neutral digestive state but the structure bias is is positive because the sentiment is below the market so the expectation is that we're you know we're going sideways but it's a buy break environment you know buys are more valuable than sells because sentiment is below the market so the positive this positive momentum from yesterday is basically still in command along as we're above 1660 those are metric boundaries kind of the areas of influence around the inflection points so if you were looking for it a trade opportunity this is the area of signal acceptance so you're you know you're to help with your risk management this helps to identify a boundary of where your signal you know where you can accept buy signals in this but right now we're you know just going through market state awareness improving that awareness and so the market structure bias it takes this expectation market expectation of a sideways trade within parameters and it defines those parameters and then it gives you a bias and so that bias changes adds a little more granularity to that commentary and so with the r level you know this range between the down the dp stands for downside pivot 1680 and i'll put the critical range on right now so what this is saying is this band defines the lower support extreme of this technical state so anticipate an underlying positive sentiment bias with all trading above this range this band here so really any exhaustive signals that come into this area are an opportunity you know if the market's going to keep its legs under it'll it'll base above here with the expectation for a rally targeting the upper resistance band at the up so the ideal situation is the market gives us a break to buy into this area with the expectation that we're going to get a move up to this area now a break below the sentiment a break below this structure then that's going to make this neutral digestion state not true because it's broken structure and so that that would have the market vulnerable to a negative transitional shift and you can see you know this section of the playbook helps to identify risk so in the current situation trading here at 1702 between what we call the directional and the downside pivot we're in this less risk area less risk meaning there you know the market has more propensity to to go higher prices have more propensity to go higher when we start trading below the downside pivot which is below you know below this critical range you know this area is kind of an actionable area and we and it identifies it's kind of at risk because if the market you know this is where the market's going to make a decision is it going to transition lower or is it going to stabilize in the rally and it'll do that within this zone and then if we trade below the sentiment it puts us in a risk on situation this is when the market's vulnerable to negative events just as if we start trading above the upside pivot this this room this makes it more likely it could have a positive event why because the market's breaking out of the neutral digestion to the upside and it's in alignment with the sentiment bias versus if we start to break structure here that's going to tell us that the market is transitioning lower we got this negative bias so again it's just you know further granularity of what it means to be in a neutral digestive state with sentiment below the market you know since we now we have this this awareness of this is the foundation that we're you know that the market's in and we can you know even without the price map levels just having that state awareness and here's the here's the you know close or the you know at 12 12 a.m. UTC time here's our close and our backdrop and our foundation is sideways neutral so that alone with you know the market coming having this big strong surge yesterday we're coming in today and saying okay hold on you know we didn't transition into a positive or transitional state we basically just moved ourselves out of the bear trend state and into a neutral posture and what's more likely to occur is that we're going to go sideways and so then we can even just looking at price structure you know it is let me blow this up just a little bit so we you know market makes a surge higher high makes a low makes a high makes a low it's consolidating we have this price point here we open up for the new session we're breaking structure here which is a tell kind of setting up some sideways action and then when we break structure here it's a tell the market wants to go lower here's the previous days high previous days closed previous days midpoint previous days low so that was the tell the setup to for the market to you know basically test the previous days midpoint so now if we add some structure to the to this we can see you know sentiments below the market here the directional is the rotational number within this critical range so here you had kind of validation also here the markets struggling to you know it's basically topping out at the metric boundary of the directional again it's just all the different pieces factual information this is all quantitative that come together to give you give you clarity for the moment and then if we had the critical range so we're sideways situation we have these additional structure points that help to position manage opportunities within the critical range so it's kind of a stopping point also for a neutral digestive state as you you know get more into our work you'll understand that you know when the markets do get into a neutral situation and they and they get and they get this you know the part of what happens in neutral is the market digesting and coils a lot of times they when they tighten their coil they will tighten it up within what we call our critical range positive critical range negative so right now they you know that that stabilization there we've got some pretty good definition here at 1692 so I'm going to just as we kind of close out the presentation just kind of bring it all together of you know how we use this the market state awareness with the structure and with the order book you know again these are just you know one thing I like a book map so much is that you know it's given us the facts of the microstructure so these are the facts of the macro structure we know we're in neutral digestion we know that this is the low point of that neutral digestion we know that this is a positive bias this is our kind of our by zone area that we're looking for potential exhaustive opportunities so now we also understand that since we are in neutral and you can we're more than midway through the period that this area and the market did stabilizing above the previous day's midpoint and the previous day's midpoint is a great momentum level so if you know we had that big we had the big surge yesterday we the market is performed the expectation of the state so that's what we're you know what's more likely to occur market goes sideways it's going sideways now if this you know if this positive momentum is going to kind of remain intact holding above the previous day's midpoint is key because if it doesn't it's really going to validate this sidewaysness and it's going to affect you know most likely tomorrow's session that we're going to kind of end the month in the sideways situation what the market is currently doing right now it's it's down shifted into neutral what did it do it's digesting this huge surge as long as we're above 1692 based on just timeframe structure we're positive the fact that we're stabilized here about 1696 cr minus which is as a you know we're still in this less risk situation and when you get into our work you'll understand that that is a validation point to make a move to here which then you have alignment with the previous day's midpoint so this is a great alignment that says hey if the market is going to rotate lower and give us a setup down to sentiment this is where it's going to be triggered below the midpoint and below this metric the fact that we're stabilizing here above this what can occur well we can do have a rotational move back up to here and it's still in alignment with this neutral digestive sideways outlook so the you know currently the two scenarios that are playing out in the current session for ether is yes we're sideways yes we want to take the money off the table when we have it if the market's going to rotate and coil it's going to coil within the cr plus and cr minus that would be a rotational trade of digestion of this huge surge makes sense so the fact that we stabilized here we anticipate the market to reject here so if we get that move up to this level it's a fade and and as the market transitioned above here there's a likelihood more likelihood it's going to make a play for that area and the other scenario is that you know and so your risk is defined here and a failure here which isn't so much a sell opportunity as it is is a setup for a break to buy and we can use the microstructure in the order book to give us insight to what's going to occur so we have the big picture structure our strategy foundation neutral digestion what's the structure of that foundation the structure bias is positive because it's below the market here the critical range gives us our big boundaries we have our minor structure levels within that critical range to help us with this trade we identify alignment with with just general price structure and this is time frame structure and now we go into the microstructure of the order book and here's an integration that we have where our levels are plotted in the cloud notes section of book map so you can see here in real time and you can also you can see how the the liquidity is building up around structure points and when you see imbalances and liquidity shifts that gives you insight you know here you've got the VWAP I like to look at that and so if the market is you know so at the moment is this market going to transition higher up to 1736 well the VWAP can be a good a good additional insight to that the beauty of the playbook is it can you know quickly go to any market it identifies its state it identifies the structure of that state with the structure bias and additionally it provides you with some key strategy themes so because we're in the state and the structure these are the strategy themes so for each ether you know just as we went over the optimal strategy is to fade momentum into the sentiment and to accept a reversal strategy off the downside pivot so what a reversal strategy is the market breaks below the date downside pivot maybe it doesn't get all the way down here but then it trades back above this metric and that's a that's a positive signal so that's a what we call a reversal signal so that's this is really where we want to spend our money when we get these opportunities these aren't the only opportunities for this state and structure but they are the best ones the other opportunity was to fade momentum against this on a surge basically what are we doing but we're fading the critical range we're fading this neutral digestive range that's the optimal thing to do and what are our head strategies well if the market fails you know if the market breaks structure below the sentiment bias or a break structure above here then that's when our trend following strategies and tactics can kick in until then it it's messy so the the opportunities in a neutral digestive state are at the extremes which is typically the case and trading in the middle can be sloppy there can be rotational trades and as I mentioned there is the potential for this this minor rotational trade which is basically is just shrinking this range so your market-state awareness you're you've got a weapon here to really identify quickly what the context of the market is what the structure of it is and what the optimal themes are and that's your statistical baseline that's your fact foundation and from there that's where you apply your tactics so if you have any questions feel free to email me directly at js at jservices.com if you want to test drive the playbook go to jsservices.io and you'll be able to sign up for a free trial and I also recommend that you if you do sign up for a free trial we will also introduce you to our educational partner Dharma Capital Trading and our live virtual trade rooms but the first step is just to get on trial with us with the playbook well thank you for your time today I hope you enjoyed the presentation and we'll see you next week


Hi everyone shot with Jaspie's case breaks calm here doing a team random randomizer for Prism football 20 box blaster break pick a team number nine where we're giving away 13 teams in the break and One spot is gonna take away $500 in break credit. So $500 break credit give away a Phil's prism blaster case guaranteed a team or $500 break credit 14 spots We'll first take all 14 customer names randomize them Customer names only then match them up with the list below which I have copied and pasted right here Now to get this filled tonight Nick actually did one more incentive. He took out two of the spots So we only sold 12. I'm gonna take the 12 customers that bought into it randomize those names Top two names on that list get the 13th and the 14th spot in the randomizer So a little bit of additional chance to get either break credit or one of the teams So here is that list of 12 customers from dawn Down to David Alsop with last spot mojo dice rolling. It's the top two after Three and a six nine times get additional spots. So ninth and final time. It is Zach Thiel and Don McCrae So nine times in the randomizer nine times in the dice Zach Thiel Don McCrae top two names So I'm gonna copy that list and add that to the bottom here. So those are the spots they won Now we're going to do a new randomizer and we're gonna copy this results and paste it right next to this This list right here. So new dice roll Two and a five seven times Seventh and final time from Don McCrae down to Terry Cahill There you go. So you can see seven times on the randomizer seven times on the dice Don McCrae with the $500 in break credit. Congratulations Don David Alsop with the Vikings last spot mojo Zach Thiel with the spot he won with the Cowboys David Alsop with the Colts Don McCrae with the spot he won in Washington Zach Thiel with the Bills David Alsop with the Raiders Don McCrae with the Broncos Ryan Harold the Rams David Alsop with the Lions David Alsop with the Jaguars Ryan Harold the Jets Terry Cahill with the Seahawks and with the Panthers as well. So there you go guys That's the team random randomizer for the upcoming prism football 20 box blaster break pick your team number nine from jaskies case breaks Com I'm Sean jaskies case breaks.com. Thanks for hanging out. We'll see you next time


What's going on everybody welcome back to another draw preview and the clay court season continues for the WTA The WTA 500 event in Stuttgart this week and there are some big names that are playing but some big names are pulled out So let's go to the withdrawals. All right, so a couple of big names here. We have Victoria Azarenka She's pulled out Burton's is out conter Ryberkina and the French open champions fiancek is also out of this event All right starting at the top of the draw We have eight seeds in this event and the top four seeds get a buy in the first round the world number one Ash Barty she gets a buy in the first round She'll play the winner of Sigmund or Barthol in the second round Then we have Osta Panko versus the qualifier Vodule winner of that's gonna play either lucky loser Corpache or the number six seed Carolina Pliskeva and Pliskeva hasn't had the greatest starts to 2021 So maybe the clay court season is where she can turn it around then we have the number four seed Spitalina she gets a buy in the first round She'll take on the winner of Kerber or the lucky loser Gorgos in the second round Then we have Sakari versus Petkovich winner that's gonna play either Brady or the number seven seed Caviteva and that is a huge first round match between Caviteva and the Australian Open finalist Brady It just shows how big this event is the fact that players like Sakari Brady are unseated in this one place to watch out for Obviously, we're gonna watch out for Ash Barty. She's a French open champion back in 2019 And it'll also Osta Panko as well former French open champion But I'm keen to see how Sakari and Brady do because they're in the top 20 yet They're unseated in this event second half of the draw now We have the number five seed Sabalenka. She versus Zhang in the first round winner That's gonna play a qualifier in the second round either Akiri or Friedsum who both came through qualifying Then we have another qualifier mid and doff up against Contevit winner That's gonna take on number three seed Sophia Kenan and the reigning finalist from the French Open of 2020 Remember that as well looking to get some form back Kenan then we have the number eight seed Benchit She takes on qualifier shunk in the first round winner That's gonna take on either Alexandrova or Makova in the second round Then we have Buscova versus Vondra Sova winner. That's gonna take on number two seed Samona Halop. So we've got Halop She's back. We haven't seen Halop since the Australian Open She was supposed to play in a couple of tournaments over the Middle Eastern hardcourt season Dubai Doha didn't play those events and didn't play Miami. So first time we're seeing Samona Let's see how she does but some names to watch out for gotta watch out for Kenan and obviously Halop as well But also keep an eye out for Vondra Sova remember she made the French open final back in 2019 So she's gonna be dangerous in this event and she could set up a second round matchup with Halop Which would be an absolute blockbuster for the second round of this event. All right, so there it is the Stuttgart Open It is an absolute stacked event. Some of the players that are unseeded in this event are crazy Some top 20 players like Sakari Brady not being seeded absolutely crazy. That just shows how big this event is Let me know down in the comments below. Who do you have winning this event? It's still very early in the clay court season So no one's really got much form on the clay so it's gonna be tough to pick Alright, so having a look at the draw now and I'll tell you what it is very tough to pick But I'm gonna go with Sophia Kenan I reckon she's gonna return things around hasn't had the greatest start to 2021 a lot of pressure on her of course being the Australian Open champion having to try and defend that title and of course she made the French open final last year So I'm gonna go with Kenan to get through and win this one again Let me know down in the comments below. Who are you think's gonna win this one? So the WTA clay court season continues with an absolutely stacked event in Stuttgart