OPENING POSITION June1998 

 
"The New Gann Swing Chartist" by Robert Krausz, which ran in the February 1998 STOCKS & COMMODITIES, received compliments as well as inquiries for further information. I'm not at all surprised by this interest because the trading method detailed by Krausz is a well-documented one, just the kind of article we all want to read and learn from. I consider that particular article to be one of our best because not only does it examine a good trading approach, it outlines key elements in the steps you should take when developing a sound trading plan. It offers clear technical definitions for determining both the short-term direction of the market as well as the trend of the market, and it analyzes precise entry and exit rules. All told, this leads to a documented trading plan, and then it's up to you to implement it.

Some of our readers queried us on how successful this approach is in other time periods and other markets. To address this, for this issue I wrote a review of Krausz's book A W.D. Gann Treasure Discovered, from which the article was adapted. As Editor of S&C, one of my duties is to find sources about trading and technical analysis for you, and I know that what you really want are real words of wisdom from real traders. I'm not implying that nonprofessional traders, analysts and academics are offering vapor wisdom, but experience is still the best guide, and experienced traders give our magazine the credibility that I strive for. My teaming up with Robert Krausz has produced some very good work for this magazine, and I have seen an improvement in my own trading by heeding his words of advice. If you study his work, I think that you too will see an improvement in your trading.

In another topic, I am pleased to announce that we have completed our upgrade of S&C on CD, version 2.15. This conversion process was a time-consuming one because we made the operating system cross-platform compatible (Windows, NT, Macintosh, UNIX and OS/2). The CD has a terrific new search engine that enables the user to locate topics covered over the last 15 years of S&C, more than 7,700 pages of information. You can search by word, phrase, title, author and use either the "and/or" operators. Using a combination of these features can produce a robust and diverse list of articles for you to review. Along with the 15 years of articles is programming code for use in spreadsheets, and the latest MS-DOS software versions of Graphics Plus and all five APEX software modules covering futures/commodities, financial market indices, mutual funds, point & figure, and stocks/options.

The price is the same as the previous version, $395, even with the three additional years we're including. For those who already have S&C on CD, version 1.12, the upgrade is just $79.95 if you return that CD. I think this product will make my life a lot simpler when I'm looking for an article we've run in the past. Okay, I've taken off my marketing hat, now go and trade. Trade well!

Trade well!
Thom Hartle, Editor

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