Letters To S&C  |  JAN 2005

Letters To S&C by Technical Analysis, Inc.

Stocks & Commodities V. 23:1 (10-13): Letters To S&C by Technical Analysis, Inc. The editors of S&C invite readers to submit their opinions and information on subjects relating to technical analysis and this magazine. This column is our means of communication with our readers. Is there something you would like to know more (or less) about? Tell us about it. Without a source of new ideas and subjects coming from our readers, this magazine would not exist. Address your correspondence to: Editor, STOCKS & COMMODITIES, 4757 California Ave. SW, Seattle, WA 98116-4499, or email to Editor@Traders.com. All letters become the property of Technical Analysis, Inc. Letter-writers must include their full name and address for verification. Letters may be edited for length or clarity. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily represent those of the magazine.—Editor TRADING SECTOR FUNDS USING STATISTICS Editor, The October 2004 article by John Twardy, “Trading Sector Funds Using Statistics,” piqued my interest, and the sidebar on determining a trendline by least squares was very helpful. I do have a request for a couple of clarifications. The gain/risk index is to be computed for each sector fund for the last 30 days. The next step is to “rank the funds according to this index.” Please explain how the ranking relates to 30 days of gain/risk index computations. Is a 30-day average to be used? Also, there is reference to the value of the “sum of the gain/risk index values for all funds for any given day makes up the sector trend index. This gives you the overall trend of the market, which is helpful for this short-term analysis.” How is this value specifically used when selecting the highest-ranking fund? PETE BOCK via email

by Technical Analysis, Inc.