October 2003 Letters To The Editor
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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. All letters become the property of Technical Analysis, Inc. Letter-writers must include their full name and address for verification. Letters may be edited for length or clarity. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily represent those of the magazine. -Editor
Readers' Choice Awards
Editor,
I sometimes see on the websites of some financial software a statement that they won a Readers' Choice Award from your magazine. I tried searching at your website, Traders.com, for the listing but couldn't find it. Can you send me more information about your Readers' Choice Awards, or provide me with a link to see it?
Massimo Tanzi, via email Italy
The Readers' Choice Awards results are available only in our printed Bonus Issue, which is only sent to paid subscribers and is a benefit of subscribing to Stocks & Commodities. The Readers' Choice Awards are not posted at our website.
Information about subscribing is available through our website, Traders.com, or by email at circ@Traders.com, or by calling our toll-free number at 1-800- Technical (800 832-4642).
The Readers' Choice Awards are based on an annual poll we conduct among our subscribers, asking them to vote for their favorite products and services across some 20 different categories (data services, software, brokerage services, etc.). They vote from a list of many products and services, with extra spaces for write-in votes. The results are compiled in January.
Thank you for writing.--Editor
FORMULAS ONLINE
Editor,
When formulas are given in your magazine (for example, for MetaStock, NeoTicker, NeuroShell, WealthBuilder, and so on), is there a place I can go at your website to copy the formulas (versus hand-typing them in)?
Tom Dygon, via email
All the code given in our monthly Traders' Tips section are posted at our website. Current-issue tips can be found at:
https://www.traders.com/Documentation/FEEDbk_docs/TradersTips/TradersTips.html
Past-issue Traders' Tips can be found at:
https://www.traders.com/Documentation/FEEDbk_docs/Archive/Y-2003.html
In addition, formulas and code given in our articles can be found at our Subscribers' Area at:
https://technical.traders.com/sub/sublogin.asp.
Login to the Subscribers' Area requires your subscriber account number and last name.--Editor
TRADESTATION STRATEGIES VS. INDICATORS
Editor,
As a recent purchaser of TradeStation, I have begun to read S&C. One thing that I have noticed is the EasyLanguage code that is given for the indicators discussed in the magazine is written as a TradeStation indicator rather than a strategy. The daytrading technique given in "Daytrading The E-Mini" by Lawrence Chan in the August 2003 S&C is the most recent example, but the same was true for the RSI indicator discussed in the June 2003 issue ("Reverse Engineering RSI" by Giorgos Siligardos).
If the TradeStation strategy were published rather than the indicator code, then readers and users could more easily use, verify, and optimize the indicators proposed in the articles. This would certainly improve the utility of the magazine for me. In fact, the difference between indicators and strategies is the difference between the magazine being incredibly useful and only minimally useful.
Richard Larson, Albuquerque, NM
Mark Mills of TradeStation replies:
There isn't a one-to-one correspondence between an indicator and a trading strategy. In fact, the number of ways an indicator can be converted into a trading strategy is limited only by one's imagination. As a matter of policy, we simply try to implement in EasyLanguage whatever the author describes -- if it's an indicator the author is describing, we try to implement it as an EL indicator; if it's an actual trading strategy the author is describing, then that's what we try to implement in EL.
It would be more appropriate to make this suggestion to the article contributors, but we will keep our eyes open for strategy suggestions that might have eluded us in the past.
Editor replies:
In the example of the article "Reverse Engineering RSI," the strategy for implementing the reverse-engineered RSI was discussed in the article and in fact was the point of the article. As a how-to magazine, we try to show how to implement an idea or strategy and give our readers the tools and know-how to do so.
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS CAREER
Editor,
If I were looking for an employment opportunity as a technical analyst, where do you suggest I start looking? Could you please send me further info in this matter.
Amit Bandekar, via email
Contact the Market Technicians Association at www.mta.org regarding the professional designation of Chartered Market Technician. Contact the major brokerage firms regarding employment opportunities for analysts.--Editor
CALCULATING CCI
Editor,
In the article "Trend Alert! With The CCI" in your July 2003 issue, author Martin Boot mentions that the denominator is today's mean deviation multiplied by the constant 0.015. This was given while explaining how to calculate an 11-period commodity channel index (CCI). I am unable to understand why the constant 0.015 is taken and how it is arrived at. Can we not use any other constant? Is there any significance to the number 0.015?
Sarath Reddy, via email India
The constant 0.015 has always been used for calculating the CCI. It is used for scaling: 70-80% of fluctuations fall between +100% and -100%.--Editor
CALCULATING RSI
Editor,
The "Charting The Market" column in the July 2003 S&C discusses the uses and practical application of the relative strength index (RSI). Why is the 14-day RSI considered better than other periods? Why not a 13-day or 15-day RSI? Is there is any empirical evidence or logical reason behind that?
Gomu Vetrivel, via email Chennai, India
The default period for calculating the RSI is 14. However, you are free to experiment with any period of your choosing.--Editor
TRADERS' RESOURCE: BROKERAGES
Due to space constraints in our August 2003 issue, we omitted the box showing the "Top 10" for the category of Brokerages in our Traders' Resource section. This list each month shows which products or companies were viewed or clicked on the most that month by website visitors, which is an indication of interest in that product or company by other users. (It is not a rating by the editorial staff.)
By request, here was the list:
Product Company
1. XPRESSTRADE XPRESSTRADE
2. TradeStation Securities TradeStation Securities
3. Man Futures Man Financial (formerly Jack Carl Futures)
4. Interactive Brokers Interactive Brokers
5. Forex Capital Markets Forex Capital Markets
6. CyberTrader CyberTrader
7. Lind-Waldock Lind-Waldock, a division of Refco, LLC
8. Zap Futures LLC ZAP Futures
9. E*Trade E*Trade Group. Inc.
10. Terra Nova Online Terra Nova Trading
ERRATA: FORMULA FOR THRUST OSCILLATOR
Editor,
An astute reader just emailed me and pointed out an error in my July 2003 article, "Find Those Market Tops." The MetaStock formula given on page 98 of the July 2003 S&C for the thrust oscillator contains an error. In the last line, (ds-dv) should be (ds*dv).
David Hawkins
ERRATA: TRADERS' TIPS
In the September 2003 Traders' Tips, we inadvertently pictured a Wealth-Lab screen capture in the eSignal tip. In actuality, the eSignal tip did not include a screen capture.
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