WITH EACH PASSING YEAR

, the investment game becomes bigger, faster and more detailed. And has become our

here at Tradecraft, I've sifted through my files (and holiday shopping list) to cull together a few of the people, products and developments that made 2006 exceptional.

Good as Goldstein

At the top of the list is

, the investment manager who almost single handedly forced the SEC to drop its plans to require

to register with the agency. His efforts saved the industry literally hundreds of millions of dollars in worthless paperwork, and scored a definitive win for

forces, which have been on the ropes since

was passed a few years back.

And although the Commission is already taking back-door steps to further curtail the industry's growth, such as increasing the minimum net-worth requirement for hedge fund investors to $2.5 million, Goldstein's brash and philosophically moral efforts won't soon be forgotten. "It's a power grab" he told The Wall Street Journal. "The SEC is not elected and not accountable to the people, and yet they are making laws." Amen to that and bravo to Goldstein for his courageous efforts.

Going With the Grains

After spending many years as little more than footnotes in the financial pages, this was the year when agricultural markets finally got hot, attracting the same fast-money crowd that had piled into energy in 2004 and sugar into 2005. The main beneficiary was the

Chicago Board of Trade

" trading was affirmed by record volumes across the entire grain floor.

A legitimate bull market didn't hurt either, with corn and wheat prices jumping upwards of 75% in 2006, icing on the cake for its members who also received a generous buyout deal from cross-town rival Chicago Mercantile Exchange. And although the merger will undoubtedly hasten the demise of the "open outcry" floor trading for which Chicago is historically known, the deal solidifies the Windy City as the world's preeminent capital of risk taking...and risk transference.

Required Reading

With free markets under attack from members of both political parties, capitalists in need of some intellectual firepower might ask Santa to stuff a copy of Ludwig von Mises's "The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality" under their tree. To fight the

and Michael Oxleys of the world, you've got to know what motivates them, and this short book offers a frank window into the collectivist mentality that bashes capitalists for everything from raising unemployment to lowering living standards.

Penned in 1972, it's probably the hugely influential Austrian economist's most accessible read. Best of all, the Mises Institute graciously offers the book free in PDF format, along with a number of other resources on this philosophical giant, still underappreciated in the U.S.

Charting Nirvana

From scalpers to spreaders, big institutions to lone gunslingers, investors of every ilk have one raw material: data. Quotes are the blood that makes the market run. Good quotes can't make you a better trader, but without them, even the most skilled money manager is flying blind.

It's rare to find a product that doesn't just meet your expectations, but exceeds them on almost every front. CQG, which offers what I believe to be the world's best financial markets data platform, is one such product. Most professional traders are familiar with CQG, which has long been the preferred data and charting system used on the floors of the world's leading exchanges.

What they might not know is that this year, the company again raised the bar with the introduction of CQG Tradeflow, a unique charting tool that gives one an entirely new way to see the "inside" market of widely traded electronic derivatives. Unlike standard price charts, which simply plot price over time, Tradeflow indicates whether traders are hitting bids or taking offers, giving one an early indicator of who happens to be moving the market buyers or sellers. Combined with CQG's already extensive software suite, the system presents a value for technical analysts that simply can't be beat.

Even better, on the rare occasion when customer support is required, the company staffs phones with knowledgeable, English-speaking techs across multiple time zones, meaning there's never a time when the market is moving and you're waiting on hold. For the serious trader who values the highest quality charts, CQG simply can't be beat.

Big Tech 2.0

Like an old uncle who finally got out of the clink, 2006 was a year that saw the return of many of the old washed-up growth stocks of the late 1990s. Names that, only a year or so ago would be considered a scarlet letter in a portfolio have again taken leadership roles, proving once again that if you wait long enough, everything old on Wall Street is eventually new again.

And if you still cringe at the bad memories associated with stocks like Cisco Systems, Sun Microsystems or Time Warner, you might be served by taking another look. Cisco has logged an impressive 60% year-to-date return, with many others, including longtime laggard Microsoft, all notching comfortable double-digit gains. As difficult as it is to put one of these former highfliers in a portfolio, the diligent value investors will undoubtedly find other oft-despised stocks ready for their second coming.

Gekkostyle

Hotel on Rivington, New York

Source: Hotel on Rivington

Finally, Wall Streeters looking to get away but not too far away from the corner of Wall and Broad should go long a weekend at New York's

, a new boutique hotspot nestled in the heart of the city's Lower East Side. Indeed, the area where, 100 years prior, thousands of European immigrants lived in tenements while starting a life in America is now the epicenter of club cool, with chic models spilling out of bars until the wee hours of the morning.

After mingling with the beautiful people, guests of the hotel can retire to spacious suites featuring floor-to-ceiling windows, panoramic views and the deepest hotel bathtub you'll ever see perfect for soaking away thoughts of the year's troublesome trades. Prices aren't cheap, but one need not be a Goldman Sachs employee to afford a stay. Spending $450 a night (plus New York City's jaw-dropppingly high occupancy tax) gets you a drop-dead gorgeous room.

Aspiring masters of the universe should request a high floor corner room facing southwest for a crystal clear balcony view of New York's financial district, the glittering city providing optimum inspiration for the promise of a New Year and all big trades yet to be made.

Jonathan Hoenig is managing member at

Hedge Fund LLC.