ETC began managing accounts according to the Standard Plus Program in October 1991, and primarily engages in trading financial and commodity futures contracts on U.S. and non-U.S. exchanges. Currently, the market groups or contracts traded by ETC in Higher Leveraged Program include, but are not limited to; U.S. and international interest rates, stock indices, currencies and cross-rates, metals, energy products, grains and soft markets. The Standard Plus Program trades larger position sizes, currently averaging approximately 20% larger than those of the Standard program. Therefore, due to the increased leverage, the Standard Plus Program entails a greater degree of risk than the Standard Program. ETC’s trading approach is the product of over 28 years of intensive research on futures price action, risk management and trading system development. Diverse systems are melded in accordance with the modern mathematical theory of risk. The systems are technical in origin and trend following in thrust. They are not based on the analysis of fundamental supply and demand factors. ETC’s trading approach is predominantly applied in an algorithmic or mechanical manner. Occasionally, discretion and judgment may be used. Such discretion is nonetheless informed by investigations into historical price action and is often employed for risk management purposes. Discretion also may be utilized in connection with the timing of the entry of orders in the markets traded. ETC believes that research is a crucial component of the trading enterprise. Time and resources are devoted to it accordingly.