MAR 2000 STOCKS & COMMODITIES Magazine

Article Archive For MAR2000

Hilbert Indicators Tell You When To Trade by John Ehlers

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Hilbert Indicators Tell You When To Trade by John Ehlers On Lag, Signal Processing, And The Hilbert Transform Here's one way to control moving average lag, using a little math and a little-known algorithm called the Hilbert transform to come up with indicators telling you when to trade. Two characteristics of moving averages are that they smooth the input data and they lag the input data. Their use and application is almost always a tradeoff between these two characteristics. The smoothing function removes the higher-frequency components (that is, the rapid up and down movements)of the inpu...

AUTHOR: John F. EhlersDATE: MAR2000SUBJECT: Indicators

Interview: Hersh Shefrin On Behavioral Finance

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...The Biases Of Traders Hersh Shefrin On Behavioral Finance Technicians became interested in behavioral finance because it could explain behaviors that previously they had tried to capture in the forms of charts, indicators, and trading rules. Academic studies rigorously defined anecdotal phenomena that technicians had tried to capture using empirical tools, with varying success. In addition, it helped that the behavioralists challenged the efficient markets hypothesis anathema to technicians. Hersh Shefrin was in the field of behaviorial finance from the beginning when he and economist Richar...

AUTHOR: Technical Analysis, Inc.DATE: MAR2000SUBJECT: Interview

Let Options Pay For Your Stops by Joe Luisi

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Let Options Pay For Your Stops by Joe Luisi Want to get into positions with good risk-return ratios and firm boundaries of gain and loss? Look no further: Here's a technique for having it all -- or most of it, anyway. You know you should use stops, but they cause losses, don't they? Would you use stops if you could minimize or even erase those losses by selling options? Would stops look better to you then? Sooner or later, every trader comes to realize that he needs to use stops. It doesn't matter if you're a short-term trader or a longer-term trader; stops are essential for the preservation ...

AUTHOR: Joe LuisiDATE: MAR2000SUBJECT: Options

Letters

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...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 E-mail to editor@traders.com. Letter-writers must include their full name and address for verification. Let...

AUTHOR: Technical Analysis, Inc.DATE: MAR2000SUBJECT: Letters To S&C

The Highs And Lows Of Trading by Edward Robert Florez

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...The Highs And Lows Of Trading by Edward Robert Florez Here's a war story that illustrates some mistakes that all traders have made at one time or another -- and should keep in mind.. The best-laid plans and analysis can become catastrophically skewed when conditions change and you do not lessen your risk. Back in 1980, during President Jimmy Carter's last year in office, speculation was rampant that interest rates would have to go down in order to benefit the President's reelection campaign. By then, interest rates had already had a dramatic and unprecedented rise. A year or so before the N...

AUTHOR: Edward Robert FlorezDATE: MAR2000SUBJECT: War Story

Traders' Tips

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...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. OMEGA RESEARCH EASYLANGUAGE In this month's EasyLanguage tip, I'll focus on the article ""Pivot Points"" by Jayanthi Gopalakrishan, which was published in the February 2000 STOCKS &COMMODITIES. Here, I'll present an EasyLanguage function and two EasyLanguage indicators to calculate and plot the varia...

AUTHOR: Technical Analysis, Inc.DATE: MAR2000SUBJECT: Traders' Tips

Traders' Resource:Online Trading Services

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Traders' Resource: Online Trading Services Each month in STOCKS & COMMODITIES' Traders' Resource, we present a listing for different categories of products and services related to trading, all to aid our readers in their pursuit of trading. This time, we focus on the topic of Online Trading Services. You can find a wealth of information on the Internet for nearly any subject imaginable, including trading, the financial markets, and technical analysis. We've compiled a list of Internet sites that focus on a variety of investment and trading topics. We contacted online trading services and fi...

AUTHOR: Technical Analysis, Inc.DATE: MAR2000SUBJECT: Traders' Resource

Trendline Basics by Martin Pring

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Trendline Basics by Martin Pring The trend of prices is the feature that is most sought after in technical analysis, yet surprisingly simple constructs can get you right with the market. Here, veteran trader and analyst Martin Pring takes you through the basics of creating and interpreting trendlines. Trendlines are a simple but highly effective tool. In technical analysis, we assume prices move in trends, and that once begun, a trend continues. Therefore, you, as a technician, must be concerned with identifying a price reversal at an early stage and riding it until the evidence proves the t...

AUTHOR: Martin J. PringDATE: MAR2000SUBJECT: Basic Techniques

Use The CBOE's Options Analysis Calculator -- Gratis by Rudy Teseo

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Use The CBOE's Options Analysis Calculator -- Gratis by Rudy Teseo Here's how to use the free option calculator offered by the Chicago Board Options Exchange to set up your positions. Option strategy diagrams are the standards used in the industry to represent the curves developed in the Black-Scholes ?options model. The Black-Scholes model is actually a mathematical formula that was developed in the early 1970s for calculating a fair option price, and it is still the accepted standard used today. You can get an excellent model of these computations, free of charge, on a compact disc from the...

AUTHOR: Rudy TeseoDATE: MAR2000SUBJECT: Options

Using Expert Commentary by Mark Vakkur

ARTICLE SYNOPSIS ...Using Expert Commentary by Mark Vakkur One of the most neglected features of TradeStation is the ability to create and modify a study's Expert Commentary. And you don't have to be an expert to use it; if you can create a study, you can create expert commentary. This feature can add a new dimension to your chart analysis. Used correctly, TradeStation commentary can jog your memory for important associations, point out interesting or unusual things in narrative text (instead of being a blip buried in a busy chart), and even serve as a substitute for TradeStation's data window, allowing you to ...

AUTHOR: Mark Vakkur, M.D.DATE: MAR2000SUBJECT: Visual Instruction