FEB 1999 STOCKS & COMMODITIES Magazine

Article Archive For FEB1999

Designer Funds by Gary H. Elsner, Ph.D.

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Designer Funds by Gary H. Elsner, Ph.D. Mutual funds show a less than stellar performance relative to the Standard & Poor's 500 index. It should come as no surprise, then, that Wall Street has responded by offering products that mimic the S&P 500. Going a step further, some funds are set to do the exact opposite of the S&P 500 and thereby offer a hedge. Here are some guidelines. The right financial instruments are the keys to great investing. Over the last four years, 90% of mutual fund managers have been outperformed by S&P 500 index funds, so it is no surprise that new funds created to ou...

AUTHOR: Gary H. Elsner, Ph.D.DATE: FEB1999SUBJECT: Trading Techniques

Directional Movement by Stuart Evens

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Directional Movement by Stuart Evens There's no way around it: Traders trade the trend, be it short term or long term. It follows, then, that there is a need to identify when a market is trending. Here's J. Welles Wilder's directional movement, a set of technical indicators designed to recognize trending markets. Most technical trading methods can be categorized into one of two types: Trend-following, which involves taking trades with the trend, or range trading, which involves looking for reversal points in a trading range. Traders need to determine if the stock they are trading is trendin...

AUTHOR: Stuart EvensDATE: FEB1999SUBJECT: Indicators

Interview: Trading Success As A Point Of Reference: Ari Kiev, M.D. by Thom Hartle

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Trading Success As A Point Of Reference: Ari Kiev, M.D. Ari Kiev started out working with suicidal patients before going on to work with athletes and now as a trader's coach. He is a management consult-ant to several trading firms and is the author of numerous books, including the recent Trading To Win: The Psychology Of Mastering The Markets. STOCKS & COMMODITIES Editor Thom Hartle interviewed Kiev via telephone on November 24, 1998, asking him about working with traders, his new book and more. I argue that profitability isn't dependent on the market. Profitability is dependent on what the ...

AUTHOR: Thom HartleDATE: FEB1999SUBJECT: Interview

Log Spirals In The Stock Market by William T. Erman

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Log Spirals In The Stock Market by William T. Erman The basic mathematical characteristic of the log spiral is that even while increasing or decreasing in size, the log spiral remains constant. This is also true for rectangular spirals, the parameters of which are determined by their related log spirals. Many major market moves share the properties and predetermined progression of these spirals, indicating the close correlation between multiple manifestations of the ordered form of nature and the architecture of markets themselves. Three important turning points between 1974 and 1978 have i...

AUTHOR: William T. ErmanDATE: FEB1999SUBJECT: Market Timing

Moving Averages, First Principles by Brian J. Millard

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Moving Averages, First Principles By Brian J. Millard Don't quite understand moving averages, but think that you could benefit from using them? Here's how to understand and apply moving averages to identifying trends in stocks. Of all the technical indicators, moving averages are perhaps the most widely used and misunderstood. Incorrectly applied, as is usually the case, they may be responsible for more losses than any other indicator. Correctly applied, however, they can be the most versatile and powerful tools available. The reasons for failure? First, a poor understanding of how stock pr...

AUTHOR: Brian J. MillardDATE: FEB1999SUBJECT: Basic Techniques

Traders' Tips

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...TRADERS' TIPS Here is this month's selection of Traders' Tips, contributed by various developers of technical analysis software to help readers more easily implement some of the strategies presented. Internet users will also find these and some previous Traders' Tips on our home page at http://www.Traders.com. ✦ METASTOCK In "Trading Stocks With A Cyclical System," Jeffrey Owen Katz and Donna McCormick introduce a system based on stock cycles. In MetaStock 6.5 or higher, you can easily recreate this system. With MetaStock running, choose System Tester from the Tools menu, click on the...

AUTHOR: Technical Analysis, Inc.DATE: FEB1999SUBJECT: Traders' Tips

Trading Stocks With A Cyclical System by Jeffrey O. Katz, Ph.D., with D.L. McCormick

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Trading Stocks With A Cyclical System by Jeffrey Owen Katz, Ph.D., with Donna L. McCormick There may be a tradable pattern in individual stocks and indices. Read about one way to systematically look for and track this cycle. More than a decade ago, we noticed that a recurrent pattern could be seen on the charts of individual stocks as well as on the indices. Roughly 90 calendar days after the occurrence of a large, sudden, strong move (mostly upward but sometimes down), there would be a fairly good probability that another such move would occur. The quarterly timing suggested that the patt...

AUTHOR: Jeffrey Owen Katz, Ph.D., and Donna L. McCormickDATE: FEB1999SUBJECT: Trading Techniques

Treasury Bonds And Gold by Alex Saitta

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Treasury Bonds And Gold by Alex Saitta Intermarket analysis, the comparison of price relationships between two different markets, is a valuable tool for traders and investors. Regular news reports often account for one market's trend for the day as reacting to the change in another. Interest rates and gold have had such a relationship to keep an eye on over the years, but the gold market has been prices fall because bond participants fear signs of inflation. Using that logic, when gold falls significantly, it is a sign that inflation is lessening, so bonds rise at that time (Figures 1 and 2)...

AUTHOR: Alex SaittaDATE: FEB1999SUBJECT: Intermarket Analysis

V.17:2: Letters

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...LETTERS TO S&C 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? Have you run across trading techniques, services or products that have proved useful? 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 E-mai...

AUTHOR: Technical Analysis, Inc.DATE: FEB1999SUBJECT: Letters To S&C