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Attain Capital merges with Growth Financial !

April 3, 2006

 

Attain Capital is excited to announce the merger of Growth Financial with Attain Capital as of today - April 3rd, 2006. Growth Financial is a independent introducing brokerage firm specializing in managed futures and trading systems much like Attain. The entire Growth team will be moving under the "Attain" name with Barbara Mueller and Tony Montini moving into Attain's Chicago offices, and Lisa H. Smith managing her current grand Rapids, MI offices as an Attain branch.

Barbara Mueller and Lisa Smith founded Growth Financial in 1999 with a vision of offering clients a truly unsurpassable level of personalized service. According to their reputations and client feedback, we believe they accomplished that goal, and are excited to help them take their client relationships to the next level with Attain's systems, tools, and support.

As Attain has grown, so have our client interests and needs; and in order to best provide the high level of service our clients deserve, we have been looking to add highly experienced brokers with superb reputations. They don't come more experienced than these three - with Barbara, Lisa and Tony having been in the futures brokerage business collectively for over 68 years!

Along with this expertise and experience comes new systems not previously available to Attain clients. One investment many readers know of that which will now be available to Attain clients is the ACE Investment Program - with only three losing months out of the last 30. (Past Performance is no guarantee of Future Results) Other systems we're excited about include Russell Targets & Russell Hourly by Don Ostrowski and Gettess Bonds.

The addition of the Growth team will allow Attain to continue to offer the excellent level of service, experience and expertise you have come to expect and will benefit both the clients of Growth and Attain. The new members of the Attain team are:

Barbara Mueller - One of the first female commodity brokers in the country, Ms. Mueller has been a broker in the industry for nearly 30 years - working at well known Wall Street firms such as Bear Stearns, Drexel Burnham Lambert, and Man Financial before launching Growth Financial in 1999. Barbara executed most of the bond futures orders for NedBank in the 1980's. She has done extensive lecturing on futures and options across the US and Canada, and is as well liked for this ability to teach and educate as her good humor. Barbara also has a knack for establishing relationships with talented system developers such as Don Ostrowski, a skill we're excited to put to use at Attain.

Lisa Smith - Also one of the first female brokers in the futures industry, Lisa has been a registered commodity broker since 1984. Starting out in the east coast as a retail broker, Lisa eventually formalized the service of following trading hotlines, fax services and now email and software services after seeing a need for people too busy earning a living to follow these systems in a disciplined manner. The result was the launching, Growth Financial in 1999. Lisa is an avid sailor, owning and racing a sailboat with her husband out of Holland, Michigan

Tony Montini - A third generation cattle rancher from Colorado, Tony started in the futures industry in 1988 as a clerk in the Cattle and Hog trading pits. His task was to learn the dynamics of the cattle hedging business in order to apply it to the family business, and in 1999 Tony became a futures broker catering to hedgers and speculating in the agriculture futures markets. Tony also worked as a market analyst for DACS, a leading supplier of technical analysis., furnishing market statistics to floor traders at the CME and CBOT. Tony began working with Lisa Smith in 1997 to couple system trading with his hedging knowledge, and was with Growth form 1999 though the present. Tony is married with two daughters, and enjoys hitting the golf course or Arlington Park when not working.

New Systems:

One of the most exciting parts of this merger is that several trading systems utilized by Growth Financial for use by their clients are now available to Attain clients. These systems have been traded in real time and have actual trading track records to back up the performance. The systems we're most excited about are:

1. Russell Targets & Russell Hourly - These systems by Don Ostrowski were developed specifically for the e-mini Russell market. A quick glance below at the top performing systems at Attain in the first quarter of the year shows all five of the top systems operate on the e-mini Russell 2000 futures. The Russell Targets system initiates each trade with 3 contracts and 3 price targets. The Russell Hourly system works identically, just on a shorter time frame.

Once the first price target is reached stops on the remaining two contracts are moved to breakeven. The system can hold positions overnight. In strong trending markets all three price targets are normally touched on the first day. In quieter markets the system may hold for 2-3 days. An example of a typical order would be; Entry Short = 705.30, Target 1 = 702.00, Target 2 = 701.00, Target 3 = 699.50, STOP = 708.60.

2. Gettess Bonds - With Lee Gettess having executed orders through Barbara Mueller for nearly 10 years, this program has a lot of history. The system trades 30yr Bonds, risks 40 ticks ($1,250) on each trade, and holds positions for 2 to 3 days trying to hit its variable profit targets. We haven't had time to input the results into our database yet, but according to the hypothetical track record - the system earned $9,930 in '02, $4,620 in '03, $4,985 in '04, and $4,735 in '05 for a total gain of +$24,270 between 2002 and 2005 on an initial investment of just $10,000. These results must be considered hypothetical until Attain can audit and confirm the old records, so please see hypothetical disclaimer below.

3. ACE SIPC - The success of ACE has been well documented, with the program ranked #1 in performance and #2 in Sharpe ratio (the Zenith program offered by Attain was #1) among stock index advisors as ranked by Barclay's. (Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results) Attain has assumed Growth Financial's relationship with Vision, and can now offer clients access to the ACE program.

IMPORTANT RISK DISCLOSURE
Futures based investments are often complex and can carry the risk of substantial losses. They are intended for sophisticated investors and are not suitable for everyone. The ability to withstand losses and to adhere to a particular trading program in spite of trading losses are material points which can adversely affect investor returns.

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Chart of the Week : Phoenix Performance Summary:

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***Overview***

Another month in the books, another 0.25 interest rate hike by the Fed, and with no end in site it could be the same story for the foreseeable future. That's FIFTEEN consecutive rate hikes. US Stocks rallied despite the rate hike with SP Futures gaining +1.15% and NASDAQ Futures rallying +1.56% in March. Small Caps led the way, however; with Russell 2000 futures moving +4.71% higher, and Midcap 400 futures gaining +2.08%.

In the Interest Rate markets, US Bond Futures moved lower for the month amid the interest rate hike. For the month, 30 year bond futures fell -1.88% while 10 year note futures fell -1.02%. In Currency trading the US Dollar had a rough month as Dollar Index futures fell -3.12%. The Euro did the most damage to the Dollar with Eurocurrency rising +1.49%, while the Swiss Franc -0.55% and Japanese Yen -2.06% both fell against the greenback.

Meanwhile the Energy Markets came roaring back to life as consumers are expecting Gas prices to rise again this summer. Unleaded Gas futures led the rally with gains of +18.30% for the month and was followed by Heating Oil +6.88%, Crude Oil +5.46%, and Natural Gas +4.28%.

Metals also had a big UP month as demand continues to rise around the world. Palladium, which is a sister metal of the more popular Platinum, gained +14.64% in March, while Platinum was only up +0.42%. High Grade Copper had another month however gaining +13.06% while Gold hit multi-decade highs after gaining +3.13%.

Finally, back on the farm both grains and livestock futures slumped last month wheat falling -8.72%, Soybeans were down -3.79%, Corn fell -1.15%, Live Cattle fell -10.04%, and Lean Hogs were down -7.64%.

***Day Trading***

The month of March drove stock index futures near yearly highs and closed out a first quarter that rivals the performance of Q1 of 1999. On the trading system front, it was an up and down month for day trading programs with several of the old “standby” programs underperforming as newer systems seemed to be hitting on all cylinders.

For the third consecutive month this year, RC Success eRL finished at the top of the list for day trading systems with profits of +$1,592.90 in March. The system has returned $5,580 on the year per e-mini Russell contract. SPMD which trades the S&P profited +$231.83 in March but will not be posted to the web until it has three months of real-time results under its belt. Impetus eRL traded a handful of times for gains of +$196 per contract. Finally, Tanker CL made $150 as the energy market picked up some steam towards the end of the month.

Elsewhere, Bounce MOC eMD had one trade that lost -$250, while R-Mesa SP continues to dig further into the red, losing -$2,535.80 for the moth. Finally - Compass SP continued its recent drawdown, losing -$3,761.03 in March to post its first losing quarter in the last six. We were telling anyone who would listen in July of 2004 that it was a great time to get started with Compass as it was mired in a drawdown - and this is another great opportunity to get involved with a system with over 6 years of history.

In foreign day trading, BetaCon 4/1 ESX lost -110€. Epsilon 12/12 Bund lost -1040€ on 14 trades which is fairly active for a day trading system. This system is the only day trading system we have available for the bonds. The Euro Bund is the German equivalent of the Ten Year Note and is extremely liquid and traded electronically. In the Dax market, Beta V2 lost -1282.50 € while Theta Dax lost -2,570 €.

***Swing Trading***

Swing trading systems came roaring back, for the most part, in March - with systems working on the e-mini Russell market doing particularly well.

The top performing swing systems in March is a shared title this time around seeing as both the Tzar portfolio and Ping System portfolio posted greater than 5% gains based on their respective capital requirements. On the month Ping earned +$4,233.2 or 14.11% based on a $30,000 investment – the system held long the eRL across two different time frames and also jumped in long the ES. Since beginning trading in January, of this year, the system is up 51.7% or $15,510 after all commissions and system costs.

Despite the solid performance of Ping, the system was outdone on a dollar basis as the Tzar portfolio (ES, NQ, eRL, eMD) earned +$6,674.50 or +5.56% in March based on the $120,000 recommended for the 4 market portfolio.

Other winners for the month included Axiom eRL +$2,691, Athena eRL +$2,650, Seasonal ST eRL +$1,220, Delphi eRL +$1,124, and Delphi eMD +$1,082.

There weren't winners everywhere, unfortunately, with the following index programs ending March in the red: Bounce eMD -$250, Seasonal ST ES -$297.50, Eclipse eRL -$863.30, Axiom eMD -$1,323.50, Axiom NQ -$2,040, and Axiom ES -$3,207.50.

Volatility in the bond markets in March ended up in mixed results – Mesa Notes earned +$1,112.50, Jaws Narrowneck lost -$1,168.75, and Mesa Bonds ended down -$3,643.75. Meanwhile, in the Crude Oil market - a sharp market reversal on to recent highs caused for a loss in open trade equity and subsequent long reversal for Axiom CL 90. The system ended the month down -$880. Finally, the debut of Hurricane FX ended up in a real-time loss of -$90. Investors with the system got started just after a winning trade for the month.

***Long Term***

Trend following performance in March was mixed with the sell offs in the bond, meat, and cotton markets helping systems, but the trend reversals in the grain and foreign currencies resulting in losses.

Systems that are holding short in the Bond markets include Trend Simplicity which is holding short in the US bonds for open trade gains of +$3196.88 per contract, short in the 10 year notes for open trade losses of -$18.75 per contract, and short in the 5 year notes for open trade losses of -$50.00 per contract.

SEMA4 Symmetry is short in the 5 years as well for open trade profits of +$1156.26 per contract while also have an impressive open long Gold position for open trade profits of +$7400 per contract. Brix is short in the Bonds for open trade gains of +$825.00 per contract and in the 10 years for open trade gains of +$637.50 per contract. Axiom LT is short in the 10 years for gains of +1798.44 per contract and Andromeda rounds out the bond activity with short positions in the Bonds for open trade gains of +$3825.00 per contract and in the 10 years for profits of $1887.50 per contract.

Losing trades from March include Aberration getting stopped out in the Bean Oil for a loss of -$1214.00 per contract, Andromeda losing -$2887.50 per contract in the Japanese Yen, Axiom LT down -$4725.00 in London Gas Oil, and Trend Simplicity losing -$1512.50 per contract in the British Pound.

Please Login to: http://www.attainaccess.com for the latest updated statistics.

IMPORTANT RISK DISCLOSURE
Futures based investments are often complex and can carry the risk of substantial losses. They are intended for sophisticated investors and are not suitable for everyone. The ability to withstand losses and to adhere to a particular trading program in spite of trading losses are material points which can adversely affect investor returns.

Feature   |   Week In Review   |   Chart of the Week   |