August 1996
Letters to the Editor

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MORE SYSTEM REVIEWS

Editor,
You have a great 'zine and I have been a subscriber for a long time.

One suggestion: Review more systems that are advertised in S&C. The good ones need to have their horns blown, while some of the garbage out there needs to be shown for what it is. I am a system junkie and if there are any good, new systems out there that I'm missing, I would like to hear about them. Most traders are system players of some sort, so please add more system reviews to your already fine magazine. Thanks.

ED HEXTER
Lauderhill, FL

Thank you for your comments. To properly review a trading system, a considerable amount of time must be invested, because a system's performance needs to be measured over complete market cycles to get a fair picture of how well it performs. At STOCKS & COMMODITIES, we concentrate our resources on providing you with the tools and know-how you need to develop trading methods. We don't review systems for which the methodologies aren't disclosed, because that wouldn't be in accord with our editorial mission. Our goal is to give you the skills to trade effectively, and if you can't know the trading rules, you can't improve your knowledge.

On the other hand, I encourage authors and prospective authors to send in articles that detail trading systems and that include performance tables. We are interested in publishing this type of research.--Editor

FLAGGING DOWN A GOOD TRADE

Editor,
Thank you for your many excellent articles. The article "The high, tight flag" in your June issue by Greg Kuhn was particularly rewarding.

I had been buying Cott Beverage [Cottf] during its five-month basing period at a price of $6 or lower. The stock had formed a beautiful triple top and I was waiting for a breakout. The stock finally surged to $9.12 in early May and then retreated to the $7 range (Figure 1). I was kicking myself for not getting out with a 50% profit at $9. Vowing not to miss the next surge, I decided to place a sell order at $8.

On the morning of May 23, I finally had a chance to look at the June S&C. The article on the high, tight flag formation caught my attention. The examples alarmed me because they looked so much like my charts for Cott.

At 9:18 a.m. I canceled my sell order. At 9:45 the stock had traded 750,000 shares and was on its way back up to over $9 again. Who knows where it goes from here, but I've established stop orders this time around (higher up the flagpole, I might add!).

COTT BEVERAGE [COTTF]. This chart sent in by a reader displays a flag formation. Can you find it?

Needless to say, I will be renewing my subscription.

DAVID R. SCHALLER
Merrimack, NH

BONJOUR

Editor,
I am a French subscriber and I am very happy to receive S&C every month. Congratulations on the quality of the articles. I'm interested to know how many French subscribers you have.

Is it possible to have authorization to translate and reproduce some articles in the magazine?

ERIC DEKEYSER
via Internet

Thanks for the compliment. We have a number of French subscribers.

Regarding reprinting articles from Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine, all articles and editorial copy are copyrighted. Before you may reprint or reproduce an article from any publication, you must obtain written permission for the specific article from the publisher of that publication. Permission is granted only at the discretion of the publisher.-- Editor

LOOKING FOR FREE INFORMATION

Editor,
Other magazines that I subscribe to in addition to yours regularly present sections or articles that include Web site addresses where free information about securities and markets can be found. It would be a nice service for your subscribers if you could do the same. It seems as though the few Web addresses you print want me to subscribe to their services. I can appreciate your loyalty to your advertisers, but how about more information for your subscribers?
SAM URFER
Naples, FL
We have published two informative articles for traders on using the Internet. The articles listed resources for traders.

"Jump Into the Net" (July 1996)
Abstract: Want to do some research on the Internet but don't know where to start? Well, you're in luck. Here are some techniques currently available for finding investment information online. By Ron Berlin

"The Trader and the Internet" (March 1995)
Abstract: By now, much has been written about the Internet, the international computer users' network. But details have not been as forthcoming. How can the Internet help traders and investors? By Suzanne Withers, Ph.D.

In addition, we have published several reviews of online products/services and we present information every month about new Web sites related to investing and trading in our Trade News & Products column. Of course, many Web sites offer products for sale.
Thank you for writing.-- Editor

CONTINUOUS CONTRACTS

Editor,
Having enjoyed reading your excellent magazine for many years, I now wish to place a request concerning a subject that I believe has not yet been dealt with. I would like to see an article or a source of information on the methodologies of creating continuous contracts.

Thank you for providing a wealth of information in S&C.

LOUIS KOVACS
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES: Volume 10 (October 1992) contains an article by Jack Schwager titled "Selecting the best futures price series for computer testing," which will provide the information you need. Contact our circulation department by phone at 800 832-4642 or by E-mail at circ@traders.com for ordering information.-- Editor

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS IN ITALIAN

Editor,
I've subscribed for many years and through STOCKS & COMMODITIES I wish to let other Italian traders and S&C readers know about the existence of the news group it.economia.analisi-tecn on the Internet. This news group is dedicated to the use of financial technical analysis in Italy.
MASSIMO PECA
via Internet

Thanks for writing.-- Editor

CHART SERVICES

Editor,
As a longtime subscriber to your magazine, I'd like to ask for your help. I don't like computerized analysis, nor do I like computer-generated charts. So I subscribe to a charting service, but since I haven't been pleased with the one I'm using, I'm looking for a new service. I've browsed your magazine for ads but found no offers there from chart vendors. Everyone seems to have gone computerized. Are there still publishers of printed daily charts or have they all gone the way of the dinosaurs?
MICHAEL OTT
Bad Honnef, Germany

Listed below are several charting services.-- Editor

Chartcraft, 30 Church St., New Rochelle, NY 10801, 914 632-0422.

Daily Graphs, Investor's Business Daily, 12655 Beatrice Street, Los Angeles, CA 90066, 310-448-6000.

Mansfield Charting Service, 2973 Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City, NJ 07306, 201 795-0629.

Trendline's Daily Action, Standard & Poor's, 25 Broadway, New York, NY 10004, 800 289-8000, ext. 46.

PRODUCTS AND PRODUCT REVIEWS

Editor,
Glad to see you've moved into E-mail and the Internet. It's a lot easier and faster than snailmail.

I really enjoyed your review of Street Smarts (S&C, June 1996). I'd been looking at the ad for that product for some time but wasn't familiar with the concept of swing trading. Your review helped clarify this for me. In general, reviews of products by S&C help readers to sort the wheat from the chaff. Sometimes it's difficult to know which programs will provide an edge and which may be rehashes of old material available from other, possibly cheaper, sources.

I've just received a mailing on a new coursebook. I was tempted to throw it in the circular file, but the well-known trader's name on it made me pause. However, I am suspicious of offers that advertise winning methods at a steep price. I prefer to see the method published first in places such as your magazine. Then I may be willing to buy the preprogrammed formulas at a fair price to save time and effort.

DON KRASKA
Akron, OH

S&C WEB SITE FEEDBACK

Editor,
In your June 1996 Opening Position column, you mentioned S&C's new Web site. Great idea! I hope you do the following:

I think the S&C Web site is a fantastic opportunity for your readers. I love the magazine and read it cover to cover each issue - both ads and articles.

JOHN CARL MESE
Miami, FL
Thank you for your comments. We hope you'll visit our Web site often, because it will grow and change from month to month. Our Traders' Tips, which include custom formulas for popular technical analysis software, are posted at our Web site for easy downloading. We also plan to offer demos of the software advertised in our magazine.

Regarding articles and product reviews at our Web site, it's not realistic to spend our resources to produce new articles solely to display online and offer them free to all browsers, because the costs of doing so would be prohibitive. However, in the future we will offer unique information at our Web site to paid subscribers only. Regarding contests and games, we'll bear your idea in mind with an emphasis, of course, on education.-- Editor

Return to August 1996 Contents or Back Issue Archive.