|  NOV 1991

Guidelines For Price Objectives by E.M.S. Flynn and Thom Hartle

Guidelines For Price Objectives by F.M.S. Flynn and Thom Hartle Trends come and trends go. That much, at least, is a given. An important question arises about those trends, however: How far will a move go, and can we project how far it will? Price moves can be predicted (more or less accurately) using any of a slew of methods, but accuracy will be likely to increase when more than one method agree on a given price level. (This is, of course, the ""safety in numbers"" theory and is certainly not unique to technical analysis.) But then, confirmation is important, particularly for a novice trader; to quote technician Arthur Sklarew, ""Technicians know... that price chart analysis is not an exact science. ""If projecting moves are at best an imprecise undertaking, then the fledgling trader must make use of the methods and techniques available to formulate a price move prediction. And there are many techniques available. Projecting price moves is no unfamiliar task for technicians in general and chartists in particular, and the methods by which price objectives are projected are also familiar, certainly in the pages of STOCKS & COMMODITIES. Support and resistance, for one example, is a popular and well-used method with which to ascertain how far a trend will travel. Determining the length of a price objective by using the head and shoulders formation is another common technique, but for the most part segregated into the category of reversals. Triangle measurements, swing measurements, the 50% retracement technique and midway gaps are also methods by which price objectives can be determined (or at least hazarded). (Even the puzzling and curious Rule of Seven has been used to project price moves, although its lack of a statistical base make it a doubtful addition to the other techniques listed.) The use of one or more of these techniques (if not others as well) allows the novice trader or student technician to keep a wary eye out for some form of price action at the levels predicted to be key, whether or not it is a trend reversal.

by E.M.S. Flynn and Thom Hartle