No, the title doesn’t refer to today’s market action.

Rather it refers to Matriculation Day at Tufts University.

Tufts is one of the few colleges or universities that have formal matriculation ceremonies, which was where we were today on a hill in Medford, MA overlooking Boston in pre-hurricane 95 degree heat.

Wikipedia describes Matriculation as:  “… to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings. The most common meaning, however, refers to the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by acquiring the meeting prerequisites.

I’d never been to such a ceremony before, and so I learned a great deal observing and listening – especially to the President’s address to the incoming students and their families.

Those who’ve known me over the years know how I feel about education, as I come from a long line of teachers and school administrators, and was personally groomed early and often in my corporate career long before I began running companies & divisions, or testifying before congressional bodies.

Such is no doubt why I’ve pursued trading education with such an unending passion throughout the last decade, providing multiple options from the free blog to the more formal extended training programs, while never being satisfied and continually looking to innovate and improve.

And while real world experience will of course remain one of the top “instructors”, one simply can’t put a price tag on the value of that foundation which will provide support for decades to come … although at a four-year cost of half a million for two kids, they surely try! 

Today’s events and the President’s speech further solidified how very powerful such a foundation can be, while at the same time marking several significant milestones in our family’s life.

On the family front, and as I’m typing this from a hotel outside Boston - and prepping for the “on the road” version of MATD tomorrow … at a Holiday Inn Express which will hopefully make for a good commercial tomorrow - Debra & I have officially begun our empty nest years as we left our youngest daughter Chelsea in the very good hands of the Tufts community.

As many of you can attest, it’s a major transition for parent and child when the youngest goes off to college.

In our case, and given the medical events of the last seven years, today has even more special meaning.  Just as an example, how many freshmen have on their list of move-in priorities to make sure the fridge works and gets up to cooling temp quickly so the life-sustaining insulin can be stored.

Much … although clearly not all … of our work as parents has been completed.

And like every other parent on the planet, we weren’t perfect, made lots of mistakes, and did the best we could knowing full well that no instruction manual existed.

Hmm … do I see mega-trading themes there?  Darn right.

Yet somehow, and clearly with the grace of God, our kids survived, and are now beginning a march of their own as they prepare to contribute to society.

Here are few take-aways – and funny moments – from the President’s speech:

- Don’t pre-judge.  That engineering “geek” may turn out to be the world’s best orchestra player.
- Nothing … repeat, NOTHING good ever came out of being drunk.
- Try to live your life as you stated on your incoming applications and essays.
- Don’t do anything that you wouldn’t be comfortable explaining to your parents.
- The incoming class includes both a Harry Potter and a Hannah from Montana.
- In addition to Chelsea, the class includes 69 other valedictorians.
- As in life, stretch yourself by pursing classes, interests, and friendships outside of your comfort zone.
- Tufts alumni include the founder of eBay and CEOs of J.P. Morgan Chase, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Piper Jaffray, & the Milwaukee Brewers.

And so today, it wasn’t about trading.  Or was it?

Today provided the setup of the lifetime for thousands of students, while tomorrow’s MATD provides a more immediate setup and reward for traders. 

And yes, I was aware of the market’s movement every step of today thanks to the good ol’ Sony Vaio.  Being on a college campus near Boston also provided for stellar Sprint PCS speed.

Today was Matriculation Day at Tufts, while Tuesday will be our version of “M.D.” for the incoming Jellies.

Sad to say though, the incoming Jellie class will not include a Harry Potter.