Interview  |  MAR 2007

Interview: Alan Knuckman of GlobalTec by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan

Stocks & Commodities V. 25:3 (54-60): Interview: Alan Knuckman of GlobalTec by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan Alan Knuckman currently serves as the president and developer of GlobalTec’s Commodity Explorer product line. In this capacity, he oversees all aspects of the decision support software, direct-access trading platform, educational training, and support. He is the expert on the daily Future Focus and Market Wrap programs on Wizetrade TV. Knuckman also is a frequent guest during CommoditiesTalk Live training broadcasts, where he answers in-the-market questions for traders. As an instructor, he also travels around the country training software users. Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES Editor Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan conducted a phone interview with Alan Knuckman on January 8, 2007. Q: Alan, how did you get interested in trading? A: I was always interested in the financial markets — I traded stocks as a teenager in high school and then college. After school I moved to Chicago and while I was trying to find a real job, I would wander down to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and hang around the viewing galleries because I was interested in finance and watching the dynamics of capitalism at its finest and all that. I was “discovered” because I was down there one day when someone came off the floor and asked me if I wanted a job. I didn’t realize until later that you started at $2.85 an hour and you had to work your way up. There was no formal education for trading, and I also realized I was immediately hired because I’m tall. That’s an advantage in the pits, which I also didn’t realize until later. But it worked out. Q: So did you start with commodities? A: Yeah, I started on the trading floor in Chicago. I worked in the grain room and moved up and started trading in the bond room and eventually traded for myself and eventually got involved in the software. I realized that trading is trading and there aren’t that many tools for the individual trader. Now with electronic trading, everyone has tools to take advantage of what the big boys have always done.

by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan