Inner Sanctum: Charlie Goodman’s Final Idea (3-C Principle)
In his last months Charlie Goodman sketched a final idea: collapsing the Goodman principles into the 3-C Principle. The story of Inner Sanctum.
19 Jul 2025 · 7 min read
Trader Stories
Discretionary Trading vs Bots and AI: Can Humans Still Win?
After 51 years of charts, Michael Archer reflects on bots, AI and old trading boardrooms. Are discretionary traders a dying breed?
11 Jul 2025 · 6 min read
Why You Should Stick to Your Trading Plan: A Soybean Story
A true Hawaii brokerage story: a trader with a sound plan for a soybean downtrend talked himself out of it. Stick to your plan.
8 Jul 2025 · 5 min read
Make a Little, Give a Little: Charlie Goodman on Money
Lunch at Denver's Petroleum Club, a briefcase full of $100 bills and Charlie Goodman's advice on money: make a little, give a little, and keep perspective.
8 Jul 2025 · 3 min read
Akiko, Wittgenstein and Charlie: Serendipity in the Markets
A Hawaii gift-stand owner, a broken-down tour bus and a line from Wittgenstein: why you should pay attention when something unusual shows up in the markets.
6 Jul 2025 · 4 min read
Common Sense 2: The Due Diligence Affair
A 1970s Colorado penny stock boom, a wireless-power pitch and Charlie Goodman's common-sense verdict. A due diligence story with a lesson for every investor.
29 Jun 2025 · 4 min read
The CFTC Audit: A Managed Account Business in 1989
In 1989 three CFTC auditors camped in Michael Archer's office for a month. A true story of managed accounts, a No Action letter and the cost of compliance.
20 Jun 2025 · 5 min read
Old AI vs New AI: Jonathan’s Wave Expert System
Before today's AI craze, Michael Archer built Jonathan's Wave, a 1980s expert system for commodities based on Goodman's Market Environment. Here is the story.
19 Jun 2025 · 4 min read
The Holy Grail: A Never-Ending Quest for the Perfect System
Ninety percent a month? Twenty-six trades without a loss? Michael Archer on the trading Holy Grail, and the box of Gann charts a widow mailed him from Missouri.
19 Jun 2025 · 4 min read
Father’s Day: Charlie Goodman, My Second Father
Christmas Day 1975, a forgotten promise and one phone call from Charlie Goodman: a Father's Day story about the man behind Goodman Wave Theory.
15 Jun 2025 · 3 min read
The list
One letter, when there is something to say
Charlie wrote to his students. We do the same: a new plate, a chart worth looking at, a note when a book is finished. No schedule, no sequence, no selling to you every Tuesday. Leave when you like.
We keep the list ourselves. It is never sold, rented or shared.