APR 1999 STOCKS & COMMODITIES Magazine

Article Archive For APR1999

Compound Pivots And Market Symmetry by William T. Erman

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Compound Pivots And Market Symmetry by William T. Erman Many traders see only simple symmetry such as a 20-week bottom-to-bottom move followed by another. Unfortunately, if indeed there is another 20-week cycle, it could very well turn out to be 18 weeks or 22 weeks instead of the anticipated 20. Ermanometry, which was introduced to STOCKS & COM-MODITIES readers in February 1999, considers a 20-day window, the four-week spread, to be of little help in today's complex markets. Compound pivots are measured in days instead of weeks and take into account that markets are both very precise and sph...

AUTHOR: William T. ErmanDATE: APR1999SUBJECT: New Technique

Interview: The Holy Grail Of Trading Is Within Us All: Van K. Tharp by Thom Hartle

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...The Holy Grail Of Trading Is Within Us All: Van K. Tharp, Ph.D. Psychologist and trading coach Van K. Tharp is the president of the International Institute of Trading Mastery, Inc. He has spent the last 15 years working with more than 4,000 traders, and through this work, he has managed to identify themes and characteristics that are key among successful traders. He's developed a home study course on the trading process, but his recent work has to do with the psychology of system development. He has written a book titled Trade Your Way To Financial Freedom, in which he analyzes how great trad...

AUTHOR: Thom HartleDATE: APR1999SUBJECT: Interview

Some Rules To Trade By by Daryl Guppy

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Some Rules To Trade By by Daryl Guppy A good trader will have a trading plan. Here are some guidelines for setting up your own trading rules. In a raging bull market, it is easy to forget that markets make us pay for our mistakes. In a bull market, the rules are loose, the fools are many, and money seems inexhaustible. In a bull market, traders from Main Street apparently make money as easily as traders from Wall Street. Eventually, however, the novice trader must reach deep into his pocket to pay for his or her losses. This should be cause for reflection, but more often than not, it turns...

AUTHOR: Daryl GuppyDATE: APR1999SUBJECT: Novice Traders' Notebook

AUTHOR: Technical Analysis, Inc.DATE: APR1999SUBJECT: Letters To S&C

The Channel Breakout System by Mark Vakkur, M.D.

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...The Channel Breakout System by Mark Vakkur, M.D. This is one of the simplest and oldest trading techniques, where trades are initiated based on price exceeding a given historical level. Here's how the channel breakout system works using the Value Line index, IBM, and the Fidelity Southeast Asia Fund. With the proliferation of affordable and powerful system-testing software, it is tempting to create and optimize increasingly complex systems with multiple rules, exceptions, and corollaries. Often, however, less is more. One of the simplest technical analysis systems is also one of the most rob...

AUTHOR: Mark Vakkur, M.D.DATE: APR1999SUBJECT: Trading Techniques

The Discrete Fourier Transform Illusion by Dennis Meyers, Ph.D.

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...TheDiscreteFourier Transform Illusion by Dennis Meyers, Ph.D. The Fourier transform is a mathematical technique for analyzing data to determine cyclical component. Take a close look. The Fourier transform is a mathematical technique named after mathematician Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier(1768-1830).Thatthis technique, devised long before any of the modern amenities that we take for granted today, is widely used today in science and engineering for digital signal processing is a remarkable accomplishment. The application of Fourier mathematical techniques is prevalent in our everyday lives in ...

AUTHOR: Dennis Meyers, Ph.D.DATE: APR1999SUBJECT: Classic Techniques

The Ulcer Index by Gary H. Elsner, Ph.D.

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...The Ulcer Index by Gary H. Elsner, Ph.D. A good risk index can be useful in the selection of stocks, funds, and trading systems. Here, then, is the ulcer index, why it is superior to the standard deviation statistic, and how it can be used in a variety of personal investing or professional money management applications. What is risk, and how is it measured? Risk is commonly defined in terms of the volatility of an investment's total return or the volatility of the price. The standard deviation is a good measure of volatility, since it measures the amount of variation around the average and i...

AUTHOR: Gary H. Elsner, Ph.D.DATE: APR1999SUBJECT: Mutual Funds