Hi, my name is Leon Rowe, currency trader and trading coach at trading180.com. And in this video, I've got another student, Jarb Red, who has been with me again for a little bit. And I wanted to again, get invite him on a video and get his perspective and experience, I guess, get his, from his own words as to how he's found trading180, the mentoring that I provided, and how his trading has really kind of transformed and changed for the better. So yes, Jarb Red, how are you doing? You okay? Hey, blessings, brother. I give thanks for being on your podcast and I give thanks for having this time to share with you. I'm doing well, man. I'm looking forward to chopping it up and hopefully sharing some of the benefits that I get from you so that others might find those benefits too. Ah, brilliant. Thank you very much. So give us just a little bit maybe about your background and how you kind of got into trading forex. Yeah, so I'm a priest. I'm an Episcopal. I was ordained the Episcopal church. I don't go by demon nations, but I'm a priest who's kind of been exiled from the church, you know, kind of like those following American football you familiar with Colin Kaepernick and how he took a knee and people got upset and he's no longer played football. In similar vein, you know, I started talking about where things were going with white supremacy and everything and the church was like, yeah, you gotta go. And so I kind of stumbled into trading from there. Another pastor friend that I knew that I had here in Central Florida where I live, introduced me to forex through eye markets. I don't know if anybody's familiar with eye markets. I don't even know if it's still around, but it was one of those pyramid scheme things, multi-level marketing things. But it introduced me to forex. But I knew quickly, because I'm one of those intellectual types I had to read and figure things out. So I learned quickly that they weren't really trading. They were selling you the dream of trading. I gave thanks for the opportunity because I wasn't aware of the currency market. So I gave thanks for the opportunity to become aware of the currency market. It really hit to me because again, I deal with geopolitics all the time. And so the idea that my studies of geopolitics might actually fund my lifestyle. I'm like, cool, that's two birds with one stone. So I dove even deeper into it. And again, being that intellectual type, I started off by reading all of those books, like Marcel Link's High Probability Trading. I read some Van Tharp early on. So like heavy stuff early on. So I was never in the just trading to trade thing. The just pure technicals, just this going up to day, let me trade it. This is going down to day, let me trade it. I've always wanted to understand things on a deeper level. That's how I got into Ichimoku actually because Ichimoku kind of slows things down. It makes you look at a longer horizon. And so stumbling across your videos, again, I don't know if we said this in the recorded part or not, but stumbling across your video, I've seen a lot of people and some great guys that I'm still do stuff with, but just I learned completely different skills with. But listening to your videos, I was like, man, this is how I wanna look at things. I wanna be able to understand the deeper levels, the deeper realities of things because it fits with my vocation, my work. And so it's like a symbiotic whole. It kind of marries together very well for me, understanding what's going on in geopolitics and the economies or knowing that economies drive geopolitics and just understanding those deep relationships helped me in my work with my clients. And so I needed to get to a point where I was slowing things down and moving beyond just technical charts. And it was trading 180, it was your videos that helped me to do that. And so I stumbled across your videos and I was like, yeah, this is how I wanna look at things. I need to be in a group like this because I need to be around other people who are thinking this way. We may not agree. I'm not expecting anyone to agree with me. I didn't come into it expecting agreement. What I expected was a space where people are paying attention to the fundamentals. And they're not just going to be a sounding board in the terms of echo chamber would be the better word. They're not just going to be, teach me your style, give me your signals. Let me go trade what you trade. I'm gonna find a room of thinkers where I can hold to my crazy ideas and have them maybe probe, maybe refined, maybe shaped, maybe shot down by a group of people that I trust at least know fundamentally what's going on. And so that's how I got into trading and got full circle to be in with you. That's very interesting, a lot to unpack there, a lot to unpack in so many different directions we could go in, but it's funny you say, what was it, the multi-level marketing thing because I was speaking to a trader the other day who's recently, I would say recently just joined, maybe joined a few months, maybe in the last intake and he said pretty much the same thing. He kind of got into trading but he ended up being in some sort of multi-level marketing thing where it's about kind of selling courses rather than actual trading, do you know what I mean?  There is a trading thing behind this, right? You know what I mean? There is a way to make money actually trading. So, and what's quite interesting is the fact that you were quite interested in geopolitics anyway and geopolitics has a direct connection really with fundamental analysis, right? So you kind of came into it maybe different because a lot of traders don't always come into it knowing the fundamental analysis, they get into it with the technicals straight away, just purely technicals, but you came into it from a different perspective and not realizing, I guess, that your geopolitical, I guess, interest actually could make you money. Yeah, you know, that's exactly, and but I quickly found that out, right? Like, when I started understanding, you know, what exactly are currency pairs and what's happening? I'm like, oh, this is simply geopolitics. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yep. And I'm like, oh, and I can get paid for understanding geopolitics? Yeah. Sign me up. Yeah, that's it, that's it, right? And I was never interested in kind of fundamentals. I got into it like everyone else as far as, you know, the technical side of things. And it was, you know, just, I guess maybe a bit of sidetrack. I got into fundamentals when my mentor, Mark Chapman, told me about the euro-dollar. So we got into the euro-dollar, he got into the euro-dollar short around the time when quantitative easing was first being introduced around that 2013, 2014. And then when Greg's it, when Greek was gonna exit from the European Union, right? And you see that, the politics, you see the geopolitics and you see monetary policy play out in the currency markets. He was telling me to get short. Well, he didn't tell me outright, but because he couldn't, he's not financial advisor, but he was hinting. And for, I'm telling you, jar bread, I was so driven on the technicals, I kept thinking that I could still go long at levels of support, right? And the technicals that he was teaching where it would, levels are just being blown through, right?  In fact, this is gonna be an interesting one, right? You'll see back in like 2014, 2015, we'll go back, right? We'll go back and just delete this, 2014, 2015, you'll see this move right here. Here it was. There it is. There it is, right? Oh, way down, exactly. This was 2015, right? And I kept trying to take those gadgets and kept trying to take them here and not realizing the fundamentals of what- We're driving things. Exactly, and like you said, the geopolitics was driving this massive move, right? Right. Crazy, crazy, crazy, crazy. So a question for you, right? So why weren't you deterred by the failure statistics? So I don't know if you would have heard that, you know, there's like a 1990 rule, right? When 90% of traders lose 90% of their account in 90 days. Had you heard of that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear that statistic all the time. It's ever-present. Right, so what kept you going? Because a lot of traders listening will call trading a scam and that it can't be, you know, you can't make money from it, et cetera.  So what is it that kept you going, you know, after maybe certain setbacks? Sean, you know, I appreciate that. I appreciate having to think about that in this context talking to you. I was, because I have to say, because I was thinking about all the pad answers that I could give, you know what I mean?  But if I'm real about it, and this is one of the things, we talked about it in one of the calls. This is one of the opportunities, I think, that a lot of us miss with trading is that, I mean, trading is my psychologist, you know, and you learn a lot about yourself. And I appreciate learning about myself. I'm learning to appreciate learning about myself. And in this quest to learn about myself, journaling my trades and, you know, not just journaling my trade in terms of the technicals, but journaling, not just the fundamentals, but journaling me in the trade, me taking the trade. What was I thinking? Why was I thinking that? What was I doing? Why was I doing that? You know, what was going on when I was doing that? You know, what happens when I trade if I've been in a bad headspace? What happens when I trade, when I'm not in a bad headspace? What's the difference, you know? What do I do differently? What routines? What recipes do I need? You know, I'm trying to... I guess because I live in exile and I have to fend for self in a different kind of way, I understand that if it's all on me, I better be the best that I can be. And trading helps me get my mind right. So I guess the only reason I didn't quit, because I had more than enough reasons to quit. Oh, of course. Oh, we needed one. You know, we can source ourselves out of just one. You know what I mean? I guess the only reason I didn't quit is because I haven't quit working on myself. And so trading is always there to help me see who am I, especially when risk is on the line. Very interesting. That's a very, very in-depth and interesting answer. And I concur, right? You find out so much about yourself when it comes to trading. You don't realize it at first, right? But then it forces you to think how to think. Yeah. Does that make sense? Yeah, yeah. You become more conscious, more conscious, more aware of how, you know, like why do I revenge trade? Why do I, why do I homo? You know, why do I keep making the same mistake? Even though I said to myself, I'm never gonna do this again. Do you know what I mean? Why haven't I got the discipline? I thought I was a disciplined person, yet I keep making these same mistakes over and over. It forces you to examine yourself. It really does, it really does. One of them young rappers over here, I don't know how young he is anymore. As young Jeze said, women lie, men lie, numbers don't lie. Numbers don't, exactly. Numbers don't. Numbers don't lie. And I could tell you anything I wanna tell you about who I am, you don't know me. Man, that trading account don't lie. Yeah, exactly, exactly. It doesn't lie, the numbers won't lie, right? And it's interesting we talk about, you know, psychology.  Well, in terms of the group and psychology, I'd say the most compelling stuff has happened spur of the moment. Okay. I can't even, and that's one of those things that you gotta be in the group to do it, right? Because it, and I know there's, you know, you have the psychological channel and things of that nature, but for me, the most compelling piece are the conversations that we stumble into on the group calls where someone is bringing forward something in real time and we're talking it through.  Cause then you start bringing out quotes or posts from a book that you've been reading and you know, I'll do the same and we'll start having a further conversation on something that just started as someone sharing in the group a struggle that was identified as a psychological struggle. And then just having that group where there are like-minded people that are gonna share what they know from their perspective on that psychological struggle. So that's why I say it's kind of the stuff that's happened spur of the moment, more than any of the scripted opportunities that I know do exist. So maybe a bit more specific, was, is there something, what have you found out about yourself at Trading 180 when being Trading 180 psychologically that you didn't really know before? Maybe or you weren't necessarily aware or maybe you were aware, I don't know what the end is gonna be looking for, right? Because I realized even towards the end of this year and I'm going on, I think I'm going on two years with you now. And it was towards the end of this year where I realized how susceptible I still am to the crowd. And it's kind of like you said earlier, I'm usually on an island with my trade ideas. Even among y'all, even among y'all, I'll send out a trading idea and it'll be crickets. Like everybody will be like, yeah. I'm like, you sure, you sure? Okay. But we'll get into that a bit later and go on. But I realized towards the end of this year that I found myself taking trades that I did not agree with because the trades that I was looking at weren't ready yet. They're just coming through. And like you said, we'll talk about that later. And I found myself still with that fear of missing out that had me taking trades that were not the trades that I take. And so realizing that I'm still susceptible to the crowd. Very interesting. Very interesting. And that's a growing edge for me. You know what I mean? It's like, I appreciate you all, you know what I mean? But by now I need to know that I should expect to be nine times out of 10 on the other side. And I should be okay with that. And I forget her name, but she wrote non-consensus trade and non-consensus investing. Just came out a little while ago, brilliant book. But she talks about being comfortable, being the odd man out, being the only one on that island. And I realized that I still have that little inkling of wanting to be with some sort of crowd. And how that- We all do, we all do. And how that, but how that then influences the trading. And then compels you to take risks that are not your risks to take. They may be risks for somebody else to take. And I can celebrate them. Some of the other guys in the group, y'all have trades that, and I'm like, no, I'm not going that way, but hey, go at it. You remember we had the group and I was like, one guy was a buyer and I was a seller. And I was like, I'll let you know when I'm ready to sell so you know where to get out. I remember that was the pound Aussie, wasn't it? I remember that, yeah, yeah, yeah, very interesting. But I realized that I'm still not, I still struggle with that comfort in standing alone. Okay. Yeah. Okay, that's quite interesting because there's so many things I want to go off on and talk to you about, but we've only got a limited amount of time, but it's interesting you say that. And the reason why is because I always, in the way that I was taught, I guess, was the saying, I guess I'll repeat this over and over again in the podcast is catch a man, sorry, yeah, catch a man of fish or woman of fish or person of fish and they eat for a day. If you teach a person to fish, they eat for a lifetime, right? Now, the thing with the Trading 180 group ultimately is we're not trying to create copycats, we're not trying to create that, yeah?  Right. But what did you learn?  Do you know? You can still trade, you'll be sad, I'll be sad that you ain't doing it no more and I'll be like, yo, how can we continue talking but I can still trade. Exactly, exactly and trade profitably, right? You can generate your own trade ideas, you know what's going on in the market. Know how to track the fundamentals, understand how to identify it. Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, definitely and that's the constant thing that you hammer on, you know? And it's interesting as, you know, being in this group for a while now and seeing when the new intakes come in and you have to go back to that hammer mode, you know? Yes. I didn't even say that.  Because the intakes are, the intakes are such, and I understand why the intakes have to be strategic, you know, have to be time. You know, it's not just a rolling basis because... Of course, of course. You know, you got to get people up to speed and it's funny when you get people up to speed and you shift to a different mode, you know? It's like, I've realized there's about three modes. Yeah, three modes, yeah, I think it's interesting. Tell me about these modes, I want to hear them, let's go. You know, there's like, you're shifting back into hammer mode because there's been a new group coming in and that hammer mode, it's a loving hammer, you know, there's all sorts of facets of love and this is, again, this is another reason that I 100% endorse the group because you need these things if you're going to be profitable. Yes, yes. You just need to understand these things. And that's hammer mode, you know? Hammer mode is, I don't really want to hear it until you've gone through the course. Yes, yes. Until you've gone through the course and have understood what we mean when we talk about all of these fundamental numbers, that's just chill, just chill. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you've seen it, yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's like, because we all come in, especially when folks come from that technical world, you want to make, they tell you the 24 hour market. Yeah. You know, I want to make money right now. Yeah, yeah. You know, and even for the technical trader, if you're wise, you learn that it ain't really true. You know, even for the technicals, you learn that it's not a 24 hour market. Yes, it's open 24 hours and they will take your money 24 hours a day. Excellent, excellent point. It ain't moving 24 hours a day, you know? Key level. But for sure, when fundamentals come to play, you understand, it ain't moving. Mm-hmm. And so why am I going to put my capital at risk when it ain't moving? Exactly. That is a brilliant, brilliant thing, right? It's because generally traders will come in and just take any level of support and resistance behind demand. And so hammer mode, and hammer mode, this is what I see, hammer mode, you're forcing the new intake to understand. Mm-hmm. Weight. Yeah. Not even weight because you don't know enough yet. No, weight because weight. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, there's no rush. There's no rush. It's not time yet. Yeah. It's not time yet. You have time to learn the course. Mm-hmm. You know? And then there's that mode after folks get through, you know, their objections to simply observing the numbers. Mm-hmm. Now as the teacher. Yeah. You know, because now you start to realize the conversation in the group starts to shift and now people are asking questions about these numbers. Yes. And they're not the questions that really wanna force the numbers to mean something else. You can see that they're now the questions of inquiry. Mm-hmm. Where they're trying to understand how to make use of these numbers. Mm-hmm.  Yeah. And then that third stage is where we're all engaged together. Mm-hmm. You know, and now I've noticed you start taking opportunity to throw out more ideas that people may not agree with. Yeah. Yeah. Because now you're not worried about throwing out ideas that people may not agree with. Exactly. Absolutely. And whether you agree or not, again, going back to, you know, I guess maybe back to, but maybe moving on with you and you're quite, and I was saying this again before we started recording is that you're quite unique in a sense that you've taken the fundamental, I guess the concept geopolitics and you've really kind of ran with it to the point where, and I really do appreciate this, where, I mean, we've bumped heads with certain things, as you know. We've bumped heads, but it's been a good experience, a great experience and for the community because it just demonstrates that we can all make money in the market regardless of, you know, everyone following each other, right? So, you know, you get certain groups where it's like a school of fish, yeah? Everyone moves in the same direction. But, you know what I mean? It's a case of, you know, trading is more dynamic than that, right? Yeah. And if you can understand that, you can stand on your own to, as an individual and make those trading decisions from top to bottom, from the fundamentals to the technicals, you know, I'm not always taking the same trade as you, you're not always taking the same trade as me, but we get to the same destination on our trading accounts, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bottom line on top. Yeah, but you followed your process. I followed a process, yeah? Right. The process is pretty much the same, yeah? It's pretty much the same, although we might be looking at different pairs and anyone who's listening to this, if you understand the fundamentals, if you come into the group, you'll understand, look, this is not a cookie cutter. This is not just, I'm gonna give you this and I'm gonna give you that idea.  Yes, I will guide you. There are options, but I'm trying to create independently profitable traders and, you know, Jarbread is a shining example of somebody who has taken that concept and literally, you know, ran with it. You know, I'm literally ran with it. I'm gonna thank you, brother. I appreciate that. You know, and I do appreciate that. So in fact, this will be a great segue to move on to, I guess, showing us one of your latest or the last trade idea that you gave to the group because it's funny because I went back to the discord and I was like, I'm sure you said that you were the first person to mention this trade and I know which trade it's gonna be. Yeah. But I'm sure that you were the person to mention this trade idea. And again, this is an example of I didn't personally take this trade, but the process of this trade was a fundamental divergent trade. That's basically what we're doing, right? Right. So talk us through... First of all, what was trade? Yeah, Aussie CAD. That was Aussie CAD selling the Aussie CAD. Right, Aussie CAD this year, right, at the beginning of this year. So let's go to the Aussie CAD. And so, yeah, talk us through maybe, you know, just the fundamentals from top to bottom so why this currency pair, fund... Well, from a broad strokes perspective, I was looking at this pair. You know, we talk about commodity pairs a lot. This is one of the areas where we kind of bump heads because you don't like buying commodity pairs. Commodities against commodities. Yeah, that's exactly what I did. But I see it as more, and I'm understanding more how to explain it to you, right, and maybe there's a good opportunity. I see it more as my performance play in my portfolio. OK. You know, which one of the commodities... So I've noticed we're in a stage post-corona, or in corona, post-corona, that the Western economies are not shutting down. And so, which means they're not stopping looking for yield. And even in times when times get rough, they're not stopping looking for yield. They're just looking for better strategic placement of that yield. For me, what that means is, which one of these commodity currencies am I going to place my bets on? I'm going to get yield somewhere. Where is best suited to get this yield? For a time, it was New Zealand. For a time, it was New Zealand in 2021. For a time, it was New Zealand because their economy was clicking on all cylinders. All of their numbers were great. Their unemployment, it came down to pre-pandemic levels. Early 2021, their central bank raised interest rates, and it was projected to continue hiking. I mean, all cylinders were go, and they were economy that was doing this all when everyone else was stalled. That shifted, once they shifted from COVID-Zero to living with the virus. That shifted. It was the same shift that we see already with the Aussie, which is why I'm bearish Aussie. Aussie also shifted away from COVID-Zero as well as geopolitics now. They've chosen a Brexit-like move in cutting themselves off from 40% of their trade in their trading spat with China because they've been siding with the US. And so Australia has made a decision to choose their military political partner over their economic partner. And so it's gonna take some time to see how that works out for them. This is also coinciding with their fundamental numbers being sluggish. They are having a rough time switching from COVID-Zero to living with the virus. They're in and out of lockdown still. Their hospitalizations are on the rise. All kinds of stuff is going crazy over there. And so they're gonna have a hard time for quite some time. The Reserve Bank of Australia is saying that they're still remaining dovish. They're in the Europeans are the most dovish central banks out there now. So dovish, when you say dovish, just for anyone still listening. Oh, sorry, sorry. Yeah. Just maybe break that down a little bit. They are remaining loose in their monetary policy. They are keeping their bond buying going. They are not raising their interest rates. Yeah. So they're looking to basically not increase the value or appreciate their currency at the moment. Correct. Yeah, that would be the best way. Yeah, they're not looking to do anything monetary policy wise to appreciate their currency, to make their currency a bit stronger. That's basically what that is. Yeah. And in the meantime, so you have New Zealand coming back down because it's just shifted off of COVID zero. You have Australia that is good day almighty. So where am I going to get yield if I'm a commodity currency person? Right. The Canadian dollar. Exactly. So the Australian dollar is not doing great. The Canadian dollar on the other hand. It's poised to start rising, especially with oil prices being at their lows and coming off their lows with economies not shutting down and will meeting and will be needing that to resume supply chains and all that kind of stuff. The Canadian dollars should be poised to see a boom. In addition to that, the Bank of Canada has been showing its hawkish muscles meaning that it's making people think that they will raise interest rates and might even raise them sooner than people were anticipating. Things are looking on the up, on the fiscal side, on the governmental side, the Justin Trudeau's party has a solid majority in the federal government, which means that they are raising taxes, which this is another area where we butt heads. It's on MMT. You're not really into it, but I'm not into it either. I just understand what it is. For me, it's not about being into it or out of it. You know what I mean? It's just the reality of what it is, which says that in order for monetary policy to take a backseat, fiscal policy needs to take over. The only way fiscal policy can take over is if you have a majority in the parliament, in the governmental structure. Otherwise, there will be too much arguing, and that's what you're seeing in America right now with this governmental imbalance, which will only get worse. You're seeing that the Biden agenda is not getting passed so on and so forth. And so the central bank is on edge, may have to stay off of some of its hawkishness, but be that as it may, the Canadian dollar is poised to start throttling. So for me, I'm looking for a good level to get short on the Aussie cad, because it's also a trade that I, because I understand that you're not looking at it. I also understand that a lot of people aren't looking at it, and there's something for me about fishing where I know there's fish, but not a lot of people go. Right. So I'm looking for a level to go short off of, and I'm noticing that weekly, on the weekly is a trend line down too. It's a nice channel on the weekly. And we're at a great point for the continuation of that end wave. And that was back on, actually I got it on the 30th, which is another thing, you know what I mean? Y'all in a group are like, I'm not trading at the end of the year. I'm like, I'm looking for a discount. I'm looking for a Christmas special. Listen, I wanted that discount. I missed some profitable trades, not trading over Christmas, man. I really did. And it's a really nice 200 pit, 300 pit move. Yeah, so I got into that on the 30th. I got into that on the 30th. Brilliant. Brilliant, right there. 30th. I was hoping it was going to get higher, because in the weekly, I was hoping it might have came back to fair value on the weekly, but things were just too weak for the Australian dollar. Right. So now it's just a matter of see, how does it continue in that channel? Does it, what happens at that recent low? Right. By the way, I have to just point this out to the watches. Generally, you know, from a fundamental perspective, what we're looking to do is pick the direction of the trade. Right. How you get into it technically is ultimately up to the trader. Right. I personally don't, you know, teach or subscribe to, you know, things like channels. I'm, you know, guys follow the channel.  But one of the things that fundamentals allows you to do is really kind of trade any strategy. Yeah. Because as long as you have the levels in the direction, yeah, that you want to trade in, then it's just a case of looking for trades in that direction. Now, let me be clear. The entry was off of a three hour supply zone. Okay. Intra day supply, supply zone. The reality of the channel was just confluence. Right. Okay. You know, to be honest, the reality is because I don't trade channels either. I don't trade trend line bounces. I trade supply zones and I use Ichimoku as well. Right. Yeah. But you got, I got in on a three hour on an intraday on a three hour on a, on a supply zone. Brilliant. So that was somewhere around this 0.93 to maybe 0.9 to 80 level somewhere around there. Yeah. Yeah. I got in at nine to eight one four to be exact. I'm two eight one four. What a trade. Look at that. So that would have been. Short position nine to eight one. Yeah. Somewhere like that. And stop loss somewhere. Stop loss was nine to eight eight four. Nine to eight in tight one. Yeah. You know me. I trade tight. Because I told you the three hour zone, but I refined down to the five minute. Right. That was like an eight pip stock. Yeah. Yeah. Well done, man. By the way, I don't, I don't personally, again, this is, this is the beauty. But this is, this is, you know, but this is, this is, this is one of the beauties of a guest trading in a sense that we want to stick as closely to the process as possible. This is what I teach 100%. Right. I could, I say to everybody stick this closely to the process as possible. Yeah. But ultimately. Yeah. Yeah. If you can use the concepts that I teach, but adapt it in a way where you're profitable. At the end of the day, it's all about profit. You know what I mean? It is about profit. But if you're not profitable. Yeah. And you're struggling. I would say stick to the process. Do you know what I mean?  Yeah. Yeah. Which benefits him, which is, then this is fantastic. I'm so glad. And are you still in the street by the way? I am. I actually added in. At, um, I added in at. 92249. 922. Right. So to pull back on that daily up in there. 92249 to somewhere around here. Oh, okay. Back in this, I think didn't, um, Ah, who was it again? It was, it was, I think Lawrence got in. I think Dr. Ninja. I think it was. Yeah. As well. Yeah. Got in. Got in that one as well. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Brilliant. And then you ended up, um, I'm still holding both. So you're still holding both. Yeah. Brilliant. I want to see what's happening down at that. Recent low. Brilliant. So remember, and this is where the fundamentals comes into play, right? So the banks are now calling for that level to break. Right. Yes. Excellent. And this is where I guess, um, one of the questions I guess I had for you was that, um, a lot of traders who don't trade fundamentals. Um, they, they, they tend to think, or there's this general consensus that the, the banks are misleading traders and they're trying to, you know, um, bamboozle traders into taking the other side and the wrong side of the trade, right? There's a conspiracy. Right. Of some sort. Right. Don't listen to the news. The news is trying to mislead you. Don't listen to the media. Right. And there is some truth. There is some truth to that. Yeah. Yeah. But in the way that we understand fundamentals and the way that we follow the banks. Yeah. Right. In our group. It's the total opposite. Right. We use it as confluence. Right. And you know, I would say this, there's some truth to the media piece. I don't know if there's any truth to the bank piece. I don't think the banks are misleading anyone when it comes to those things. I think. I think we just have it. The majority of us just have it so set in our minds. That they're screwing with us. That and that. Um, collides with the other psychological realities of trading. That make us take levels that end up being capture pain relief. That make us take levels that end up being stop hunted. Like if you understand the psychology of what's happening, you understand exactly why it was a quote unquote stop hunt. Right. Was that bank manipulation? Hmm. Or was that really that people were late to the trend and buying at the top? Hmm. Like which came first? The chicken or the egg? I don't really know. Yeah. Yeah. You know, so we can get caught up in there manipulating or we can, you know, just understand the reality and wait. This is good. You know, I don't know if this part was recorded or not, but that goes back to the hammer mode. Right.  Exactly. And I mean, I just want to make this clear as well. I'm not saying that, you know, banks don't, um, you know, you know, aren't misleading in some way shape or form. So for example, not to go off tangent too much, but for example, JP Morgan last year were found to manipulate, you know, the silver market, for example, but fine. Yeah. Yeah. And we also know, like Michael Hudson talks about in a couple of videos about how they've gotten 10 trillion dollars. The US banks have gotten 10 trillion dollars last year. Yeah. I mean, yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So there's a lot going on. There is, but, but, but, but bringing it back, I guess, to what, how we use that bank information within the group. Yeah. It aids us, right? When we see bank forecasts, you know, more often than not, they're not trying to mislead their capital investors. Exactly. They're not trying to mislead them, right? If anything, they're trying, they, they got the track records. And when they put out. I guess that's the difference. I go, I just say that because that's the difference. You know what I mean? Yeah. What you may hear on the news for the consumer. Yeah. That's misleading. Yeah. You know, but what's, what's being sent to the people who are investing real money with these banks, they're not trying to mislead those people. Exactly. Because if they mislead those people, they ain't going to get that money again. Exactly. And we just fried those, that coattails, their coattails, right? Right. That's just, it's not like, you know, we just have to look at their forecasts, we look at their analysis and then we say, this is where they're going. And more often than not, they will, it will go in that direction. You got to wait. You got to be patient. You've got to wait and you've got to be patient. And that's, that to me is the benefit of the group, right? And the camaraderie that's developed between those who, who, who become and remain active. You know, because people come and go. You know, because it's not, it's not, different levels. But the benefit of the group is you learn, you're surrounded by that culture of patience. I got anxious and got into a trade early just the other day on that poundcat. I'm still looking at that. And Lawrence was like, I'm still waiting. And I had to come back at the close of the day. And be honest, you were right to wait. I should have listened to you. Yeah, I thought the comment. But again, it's learning with others, learning in the group. Right. You know what I mean? And that reinforced learning and the education and everything like that. So yeah, to kind of just, I guess, wrap the interview up. And thank you for doing this, by the way, really, really appreciate it, really in depth. And I just want to say, like, if you had anything to say to anybody who was maybe on the fence with joining Trading 180 and they were like, kind of umin and arin about it, what would you say to them? I'll say this. I'll say this. Give it a shot. Yeah. And give it a shot. I laugh like this because Leon may cut this piece out. Give it a shot. Give it a shot at the lifetime membership level. Because it's too cheap. I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna cut that out. But or maybe I won't, or maybe I won't. But but you know, but no, no, no.  Yeah, I'll say give it a shot. Because it is worth you gonna spend, if you're, if you are serious about trying to learn to trade, you're gonna spend a ton of money on this and on that and on all kinds of things. Um, you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. And, and, and like Leon said, trust the process. Um, before you deviate from the process, speaking as on who deviates from the process, trust the process before you deviate from the process and see, and give it a shot. See how, see how it goes. See what your development is.  Um, I mean, and that's, that's, that's what it's about at the end of the day. Will you grow? And how did you grow? And if you, if you, if you can say you grow, then you know it's worth it. And so that's what I would say. Give it a shot. And, um, you know, add job bread when you're in the group and cuss me out if I'm wrong. Oh, mate, thank you so much for that. And, um, again, I'll see you in the group, my man. And, brilliant. Thank you so much for coming on. It was fun. It was fun, man. It was fun. I appreciate doing this with you and I appreciate what you do. So, um, thank you, my man. Thank you. Yeah. All right. Peace.


We're competing in a four-year competition sponsored by General Motors Argonne National Labs in the Department of Energy to redesign a Chevy Camaro and make it a hybrid electric vehicle. We're competing with 15 other teams across the nation. All of the work is student-designed and student-done. So the first year and a half we're working on the design and simulating the car. Ever since year two we've been working on getting our design into the car which includes two electric motors and a battery pack so we can operate in four different modes. We got the car with the V6 engine in it and to transfer it into what it is now year one was a bunch of planning and design work to figure out where all the components were going to go into the vehicle. So there's coding that goes involved into it. Mechanical, electrical, computer engineering all went into making the vehicle as you see it today. Out here today we are testing some events that we'll be competing in at competition specifically zero to 60, skid pad and 50 to 70. Zero to 60 is just measuring the performance of the vehicle. We have a target time of quicker than 5.7 seconds and what we're able to do with the results we have today is figure out where we need to add power if there's shifts that are taking too long. So that's what we'll use those results for. The skid pad is more about handling of the vehicle so seeing if we need to change the suspension a little bit to balance it out because we did add quite a bit of weight to the vehicle. So figuring out how that weight needs to be redistributed or counteractive with the suspension is key in the skid pad event. My team creates simulations on computers and a lot of code that goes together to simulate the car in a virtual and digital environment so that we can actually create the control code that makes the car work. The only thing that's stock that's still in the car is the transmission. So we had to incorporate all of these non-shevy components into a Chevrolet Camaro. So first it's the mechanical hurdle and then it's creating from scratch and control strategy which is pretty much like the brain for the car. Creating some kind of control strategy that the car can follow from nothing from one blank file. So we actually tested two different control strategies in the car today on a zero to 60 test and a ride and handling test and got some good data with that. So we're going to use that to incorporate it into our current control strategy and make it better. So from here on out we do exactly what we did today over and over again. We come out next week and then the week after and then we keep just making improvements to the control strategy and the mechanical things in the car. So it's all optimization from here on out.


The next item of business is a debate on motion 7078, in the name of Martin Whitfield, on behalf of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee on Standing Orders temporary rule change proxy voting pilot. I would invite those members who are wishing to speak in the debate to please press the request to speak buttons. I call on Martin Whitfield to speak to and to move the motion on behalf of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee up to five minutes, please, Mr Whitfield. I'm very grateful, Deputy Presiding Officer, and it is a pleasure to open this debate, even if it has one of the longest titles that the chamber has been confronted with. I would like to go back to what the founding principles of this Parliament are, that's to be open, to be accountable, the sharing of power and equal opportunity. It is worth considering the foundations of this Parliament as we go forward to design the Parliament of the future and not to become a Parliament that is stuck in the past, but to revisit the past, and in particular 1999, when Susan Stewart recalled in Lord's estate and Lusty Banquetting, a lot of the MSPs, when they were taking their oaths, had their children in the gallery, it had a less formal feel to it than the Parliament we were all used to, Westminster, and right from the started signalled that this is a family-friendly Parliament, it is going to be a Parliament that represents all Scotland, all both men and women. But despite this hope to be family-friendly Parliament, before the last election, there were four female MSPs who cited family as their reason for not seeking re-election this year, and it is on this foundation that the committee looked to see what changes could be made, and it is a pillar of this Parliament that we are family-friendly, it is an important one because it speaks to those principles that I mentioned, but currently our standing orders do not provide for proxy voting, that is one vote cast by one MSP on behalf of another MSP. The committee's inquiry report on future parliamentary procedure and practices included the recommendation that a proxy vote pilot should take place. The evidence indicated that there were certain circumstances in which MSPs, indeed like the rest of the population, have periods of time in their life when illness, bereavement or parental responsibilities mean that they cannot vote in person or indeed use the remote voting platform, and they are unable to attend the Parliament. I thank the three categories that are reported in the committee's work that I very much agree with. However, if people know that there is an organisation called the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, there are also some other international events that parliamentarians can attend. Is that something that was given consideration to the committee's work? I am very grateful to Stuart McMillan's intervention, and it is right that for this short-term investigation we have limited the areas where we think proxy votes should be used, but that does not mean that this Parliament cannot look at other areas going forward. Indeed, if parliamentarians and chamber colleagues have responsibilities that take them away to other countries, for example the Commonwealth Parliament, as has just been mentioned, we can look at that. Although this is a temporary measure, we will be observing how it takes place over the year, and indeed it would be helpful for the committee to be informed on the situation of using a proxy vote that was not available to a member so that we can take that into account as well. I am grateful for that. What lies behind motion today? The committee published a relatively short report, which came about on the basis of consultation with members, with the Presiding Officer and with the Parliamentary Bureau on key elements of what the proxy voting scheme for the chamber should look like. It is important to say that this just extends to the chamber. It will not be available to the committees for which there is a separate substitute provision made. The proposed pilot is a means of complementing the existing remote voting platform and the informal pairing arrangements that are in place between some members. It provides an institutional provision that will allow members an additional route in certain circumstances to vote. The committee is very mindful of one person holding significant numbers of proxy votes for others, both of their party or indeed across the chamber. So our recommendation is that a single member should hold no more than two proxy votes, because the holding of such votes and the granting of such votes is based on trust between those two members, and that is best dealt with between people who trust each other. It may indeed be someone from another political party, but it is on the basis of trust that the proxy will be given. The committee has made a number of recommendations for the voting scheme, and I would draw attention just to two in particular. The first is that the proxy vote will have the same status as a vote cast by a member in person for the prevention of doubt. Secondly, the proxy vote will be recorded in the minutes of that meeting so that that pillar of transparency can be addressed. There is a crucial relationship between MSPs in this Parliament and between MSPs and their constituents. It speaks volumes to the trust that the constituents place in us when they cast their vote to send us here. It is that same basis that should exist when a member, in certain circumstances, trusts another to cast their vote, and respect between those two members must be held. We have invited the Presiding Officer not to adjudicate on proxy voting but to administer the scheme. With the Presiding Officer's consent, she is willing to do that. On that basis, I would move the motion in my name on behalf of the committee and invite members of this chamber to endorse this temporary change so that we can see whether proxy voting is right for this chamber and for this Parliament going forward. I am grateful. As always, I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate on behalf of the Scottish Government. The Parliament debated the committee's report on 20 September on its inquiry into virtual hybrid working. There was a clear and broad consensus around the need for its working practices to retain the flexibility offered by new ways of working. The Scottish Parliament has adapted, over time, not only because of the need to react to the pandemic but in light of practical experience and Scotland's ever-evolving constitutional journey. The committee identified the establishment of a proxy voting scheme as a necessary and prudent reform. I would reiterate that it is for the Parliament to consider any proposals in relation to its operation, including any changes to its voting arrangements. Colleagues may recall that I noted that the merits of a proxy voting scheme as outlined in the committee's report were clear. That view was widely shared and, as evidenced by those who had contributed to the committee's inquiry, the committee also recognised the need to ensure that any such arrangements are robust and fit for purpose and would engage further with the bureau and others to refine the detail of the model scheme. As a member of the bureau, along with other business managers, I had the opportunity to consider the correspondence from the committee seeking further input on the practical implications of proxy voting and how any issues could be addressed. I found those exchanges on the technical and procedural aspects of the arrangement both helpful and productive. The Scottish Government welcomes the committee's position that decisions around agreeing a member's request for a proxy vote should rest with the Presiding Officer. That ensures the integrity of the scheme and that such requests are monitored and considered on a consistent basis. It is my belief that this is an extremely important as we move forward with this pilot. It is especially important in terms of success of the pilot scheme in handling requests for proxies sought in relation to illness. That aspect of the scheme clearly adds a further dynamic to the implementation in relation to evaluating fairness. The Government would also like to highlight the issues of ensuring that those nominated to exercise a proxy vote do so in a manner consistent with the wishes of the absentee. In other words, that they vote the right way for the individual that asks for it. It is important to mention the committee's finding that the Parliament was able to fulfil its scrutiny function despite recent events. That was welcomed by the Scottish Government. Members who are also ministers should of course be treated equally when it comes to requests for proxy votes. To be clear, Presiding Officer, that would not detract from the Government's commitment to ensuring that ministers are made available in order to be held to account. Presiding Officer, I do not intend to take up too much more of your time. The Scottish Government once again commends the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee for its work in this matter and will closely follow the operation and experience of any pilot scheme. The Parliament prides itself on being flexible and an open institution, which accommodates as many different backgrounds and lifestyles as possible. That has been particularly clear since the pandemic, when remote participation from the parliamentary business came to place. Of course, the introduction of virtual proceedings has not been without its problems, but it is no doubt that it has helped the Parliament to evolve. Given that, it is right that we consider how further improvements to parliamentary business could be made. I welcome today's debate on the proposed pilot for a proxy voting system. We know that virtual participation has been made possible by members voting remotely, but there are also times when it is neither practical nor reasonable to expect members to participate in this way. A proxy voting system would help to address many of those circumstances. Although the informal pairing arrangements have been existed and they have worked reasonably well, there is also the opportunity to ensure that individuals who want to make sure that their vote is dealt with at the decision time get the chance and that the proxy vote would allow that to take place. I, as a member of the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee, am happy that the report outlines the effective way that a pilot could be installed. One important aspect of the pilot would be the circumstances in which the proxy vote would be granted, and those circumstances have been outlined for illness, bereavement and parental leave. They might not be the most effective, but they will also be a judgment on what can be achieved, and there will be a starting point from where we are with the scheme. The report is also right to emphasise the importance that the Presiding Officer, having the final say over when proxy votes are granted and the ensuring that it will not be a large number of votes controlled by a small number of people. That is vitally important, Presiding Officer. There are various circumstances and situations that we have seen in the past, and there are some examples of stage 3 debates that involve votes on a large number of different things. Several possible solutions have been proposed, and I know that the trial and error throughout the pilot scheme will help to determine the system that we adopt going forward. Many members are aware, for example, where such a proxy vote system would be beneficial to individuals in the past, and my colleague Edward Mountain MSP has very much been involved in the process. For a significant time, he was unable to be here due to ill health, and he spoke about the current system that made him feel that his vote did not count. As such, I have no doubt that the introduction of a proxy voting system will support MSPs effectively to ensure that it is done with accordance to ensure that they are the individual who has the right, and they are the individual who will select the person to propose their proxy and do the proxy for them. That would have been of great support to someone like Edward Mountain, and I, like him, want to see the process go forward as soon as possible. The introduction of proxy voting could be another important step forward in making this Parliament the place that is truly accommodating to different needs, backgrounds and circumstances. In conclusion, the success of the pilot scheme will depend on clear communication between members and the designated proxy. It is important that the whole Parliament is clear about the role, the process and what will take place during the pilot. However, I am very confident that the working together, which we have seen many times before in this Parliament, will be the way forward, and we will arrive at a system that truly, for the better, works for our democracy within the establishment. I join other members in commending the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee for their work into this issue, and I am pleased to support this measure on behalf of Scottish Labour. I believe that this is a victory for common sense. All members elected to this Parliament should have the opportunity to have a say on legislation or other parliamentary debates, which impact on their constituents. Illness, bereavement and parental leave should not be an obstacle to this. If we recall the circus that surrounded the Westminster votes on the knife-edge Brexit deal, where MPs were wheeled into the lobbies and wheelchairs and expectant mothers voted when past their due date, those are not the images of a modern democracy and shamed politics. It was frankly embarrassing at a time when faith in our political process by the public was already wearing thin. We, in the Scottish Parliament, have always prided at ourselves. I thank Neil Bibby for taking that brief intervention, and just to make him aware, obviously when that clearly wasn't the first time that that type of activity took place in Westminster, the last time that I certainly remembered it happened, was when there was a potential reform of the House of Lords. Neil Bibby. I thank Mr McMillan for that intervention. He is right that it has happened over a number of years, and frankly it is a situation that we should not be able to come to pass. We, in the Scottish Parliament, have always prided ourselves as being a different kind of Parliament, one less bound by ancient traditions, and open to a more family-friendly outlook to its members, but our actions have not always met this rhetoric. Today the committee has put forward a fair proposal to allow colleagues in those circumstances to represent the electorate and allow all of Parliament to have its say on the matters of the day. It is up to us now to make a success of this trial and build confidence in those processes. The pandemic was a dark chapter in this country's history, and the consequences are still being felt today. One of the silver linings, though, was forcing us all to rethink working practices so that we could function during the necessary lockdown periods and embrace technology where possible to make us more efficient. It meant changes to the way we operate as Parliament, which has been seen as theoretical or experimental, become the norm as we were forced to make them work. Today is a welcome update to this, and I am confident that this proposed trial will be a success. As a Parliament, we should not fear change and be open to better ways of working, particularly as the world around us is rapidly evolving and opening up opportunities to work smarter. My only regret is that this has come too late for many colleagues who, in the past, have been unable to balance family life with their responsibilities as a parliamentarian. As a father myself, I know the daily juggling act and how difficult it can be for new parents to keep all the balls in the air. I consider myself very fortunate that I can make all that work. However, we all know colleagues who, for different reasons, whether it be geography or a lack of support network, simply could not maintain that, and our politics is all the poorer for it. We all want to see the brightest and the best attracted to public service, and this is a small but progressive step, removing a potential barrier to elected office for good people in the future. With this welcome reform, there is also a responsibility for elected members to use this allowance wisely, as Alexander Stewart has said. It is right that proxy voting is enabled on the basis of trust with appropriate privacy safeguards in place. However, our constituents also expect us to be in Parliament when possible, representing them in person when we can. I agree that it is a privilege that proxy voting should be used judiciously, and we should be mindful of our responsibilities in order to preserve those accommodations. After all, being a politician is a very fortunate position, and we must always remember that plenty of other workers are not afforded anywhere near the level of flexibility that we enjoy. In any case, this is a positive step for the Parliament, and I look forward to working with colleagues to ensure that this trial is a success. Thank you, Mr Bibby. I now call Julian Mackay, who is joining us remotely up to four minutes. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I would like to thank the members of the SPPA committee for their work on the proxy voting scheme over the past few months. Following the steps forward during the pandemic and the potential issues that could arise from the current pairing system, I am pleased that we are now at this point. As a member of the Bureau, it is something that we have discussed on a number of occasions, and proxy voting will allow individual members the ability to exercise their vote in matters important to them when they cannot otherwise participate. With the ability to participate online, as I am today, there is less likelihood than in previous sessions for this mechanism to be used, but I do believe that it is still an important part of voting in the chamber. I am pleased that the pilot will cover illness, parental leave and bereavement, but I would ask that, after the pilot has concluded that caring responsibilities should also be considered for inclusion in the scope of reasons for a proxy vote. We should be aware that, for some caring, there will be more than parental responsibilities and that, for future sessions, an admission of caring responsibilities in any full scheme could put someone off putting themselves forward for election if there is a perceived lack of flexibility. I agree with others that, Presiding Officer, administering this scheme is the correct, appropriate and fair route. I am sure that many members across the Parliament appreciate the focus throughout the report on confidentiality. This is in no way to avoid scrutiny or to duck questions on why we may or may not be present, but questions like this measure will prevent the possibility of any member's medical condition or family situation ending up being made public against the member's wishes. As with any new system, the proof will be in the implementation and any issues will need to be considered as part of the evaluation of the pilot. I note that there are no recommendations in the report with regard to corrections should a member who is exercising a proxy incorrectly by accident exercise that vote in the wrong way. I would be keen to understand from either the convener or any other committee member whether that was discussed. Obviously, a vote cannot be changed once it is cast. Ms Mackay, I am getting a request for an intervention from Martin Whitfield. Would you wish to accept that intervention? You would. Absolutely. I am very grateful that the member gave way. On that particular point, we would sit during the trial period under the same restrictions that apply for voting in chamber now, so that, if the vote was incorrectly cast or not counted, it could appear in the record but would not affect the numbers and the calculation of how the vote went. I hope that that helps. I thank the member for that intervention. It is a very helpful clarification. I would also be interested to hear of any timescales involved for notifying the Presiding Officer of any need for a proxy. Obviously, bereavements and caring responsibilities or parental responsibilities can happen suddenly and are out with the control of the member. I would hope that that could be responsive and adaptable to any needs, obviously respecting the need to give clerks time to get a proxy in place. In paragraph 36 of the report, I welcome the flexibility around allowing members to participate in chamber business for a period of time where the proxy is in place. For those who have been off with an illness, something akin to a phased return and participating in some but not all business, I believe, would be beneficial to those who have had a long-term illness. In closing, I welcome the report and a piloting of the proxy voting system and look forward to any outcomes from it and thank the SPPA committee for their work. I now call on Bob Dorris to wind up the debate on behalf of the standards procedures and public appointments committee. Up to four minutes, please, Mr Dorris. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. It is important that brief debate has been part of a far wider consultative process. Our committee wishes to thank members who attended focus groups, completed surveys or participated in two parliamentary debates in this place. All designed to tease out how Scotland's Parliament may reform, enhance and modernise itself. This temporary rule change takes forward a key recommendation in our inquiry into future parliamentary procedures and practice published in July this year. Our committee has sought to listen and reflect the emerging broad consensus within the Parliament for those reforms. I believe that our proposals for a temporary rule change permit a year-long pilot for proxy voting fits in well with that consensus. It is our hope that the proxy voting pilot will contribute to making our Parliament both more flexible in our working practices in order to support parliamentarians to fulfil their democratic duties and also to send a clear message to those who may consider stepping forward for elective office in the future that Scotland's Parliament will do what it can to support them and their life circumstances. Ill health, parental circumstances and bereavement are, quite frankly, everyday realities for the people we all represent. There are also everyday realities for members in this place. Those temporary rule changes feel like a measured and reasonable adjustment. History may very well show that this is something that could have been rolled out some time ago. Indeed, had these adjustments been in place, as we have heard, along with important innovations developed at pace through necessity around the hybrid Parliament with remote voting, we may even have retained some now-departed MSPs. That is our loss, Presiding Officer. I like to focus on two aspects of the rule changes. One is in relation to parental circumstances and parental leave. That is taking it to its widest criteria. We talk about parents, adoptive parents, foster parents and kinship parents. All modern parenting relationships need to be reflected in these rule changes. Also, as we heard earlier, that someone who is using proxy voting is gone but not forgotten. They may still, from time to time, wish to participate in the life of this Parliament. Maybe it is a fluctuating health condition, maybe it is a particular issue that they are interested in. I think that Mr Mountain would say something about that, as we will have to be here this afternoon. It is important to know that that person can temporarily withdraw that proxy vote to allow him to participate in the life of this chamber and Parliament without interviewing that long-term request for proxy voting. However, of course, the pilot must be evaluated. The SPPA committee intends to do so towards the end of next year, with a view to deciding whether to recommend a permanent rule change. It is also worth noting, Presiding Officer, that the first time that the temporary rule provision introduced at the end of the last session has been used to pilot such a procedural change. The contributions today will help in the preparation of the proxy voting scheme. Although the committee has made recommendations, there will be further detail in the scheme about how a proxy vote can be arranged and cast. That will be in place before the temporary rule change comes into effect if the Parliament supports the motion today. Of course, as previously indicated, the motion today is also crucial about being a modern and flexible Parliament that ensures that all those who stay in Scotland can step forward and play a full part in Scotland's national Parliament. Getting our Parliament right for the future is an important responsibility for MSPs. I thank colleagues in their support in fulfilling that important endeavour this afternoon.