Interview  |  MAY 2002

Interview: John Bollinger Of Bollinger Bands Fame by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan

Interview: John Bollinger Of Bollinger Bands Fame by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan Unlike many technicians who start out with degrees in business, veteran analyst John Bollinger, the president and founder of Bollinger Capital Management, started out with a decidedly unmarket-like bent. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts majoring in cinematography, and only afterward started studying the market. Since then, though, he’s become one of the best-known market analysts in the field, with the now-classic Bollinger Bands technique to his credit (which has been integrated into most analytical software currently in use), as well as a slew of other techniques and methods. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Market Technician (CMT), is an active member of the financial community, and is a frequent lecturer at national and international investment seminars. Not only that, Bollinger’s Capital Growth Letter provides investment advice for the average investor employing a technically driven asset allocation approach. His Group Power provides industry group analysis using a group structure. Bollinger developed a website called EquityTrader, which provides investors with a quick and easy method of evaluating the past performance and potential appreciation of equities. EquityTrader evaluates its universe of equities using a fuzzy logic engine that considers both technical and fundamental factors, a combination he calls rational analysis. BollingerOnBollingerBands.com is Bollinger’s most recent website. The site provides access to the trading systems that are introduced in his latest book, as well as daily lists of the stocks that qualify for the three methods, mentioned therein. There is also a charting area that includes a variety of indicators and candlestick charts. After purchasing his first microcomputer in 1977, Bollinger became involved in the seminal stages of computer-driven market analysis. Today, he continues to write some of his own software. STOCKS & COMMODITIES Editor Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan spoke with Bollinger via telephone on February 22, 2002.

by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan