April 2006 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

ARTICLE TOPIC SUGGESTION

Editor,

How about information on keeping a trading journal? Everything I have read on the topic talks about the importance of a journal but provided no information about what to put into one.

Ken Sanford

Thanks for your article suggestion. This is always a good topic, since traders should always have a trading plan.

Ideally, the trader's daily discipline should include his or her daily evaluation of the market; a trading idea based on the current market; the risk/reward considerations of the idea; and adherence to a money management strategy. The best plans are documented, so some traders keep daily notes and trading journals. According to trader Tushar Chande, a trading plan is like a game plan and should clearly specify actions to take under different conditions.

Some websites and blogs give you an idea of the daily notes and observations that other traders keep. In addition, some technical analysis programs, such as Prophet.Net; the Applied Reality Trading home study course; Trendsetter Software's Personal Hotline and Pro Analyst; and many others offer a trading journal feature.

Here are some articles from the STOCKS & COMMODITIES archives that may be what you need:

Hartle, Thom [1991]. "Keeping A Trading Journal," Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, Volume 9: February.
Chande, Tushar S., PhD [1995]. "Computer-Assisted Trading," Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, Volume 13: December.
Gopalakrishnan, Jayanthi [2002]. "Trading Communities On The Web: Doug Fairclough," interview, Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, Volume 20: June.

Here are a few other articles from our archives that may be of interest:

Bryce, James Covington [1989]. "Discipline In Trading," Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, Volume 7: April.
Chande, Tushar S. [1992]. "Forecasting Tomorrow's Trading Day," Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, Volume 10: May.
Guppy, Daryl [1999]. "Some Rules To Live By," Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, Volume 17: April.
Hartle, Thom [1995]. "New Market Wizard Robert Krausz," interview, Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, Volume 13: September.
_____ [1998]. "Be Rich Or Be Right? CTCR's Courtney Smith," interview, Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, Volume 16: November.
Kaeppel, Jay [1995]. "Should You Trade Futures?", Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, Volume 13: August.
Sweeney, John [1985]. "Novice Speculator Trading Plan," Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, Volume 3, February.

NEW VERSION OF S&C ON CD

Editor,

When will the next version of S&C on CD, including 2005 articles, be released?

Christian

We are anticipating the next version of S&C on CD, version 8.23 (which includes 2005 articles), to ship by mid-April.-Editor

HEIKIN-ASHI

Editor,

How can I use the Heikin-Ashi technique in MetaTrader 4?

Mehran

You'll need to contact the developer of MetaTrader 4 to convert formulas to that particular format. Since we are a magazine, we don't support individual software products developed and sold by other companies. Good luck.-Editor

COMPOSITE GRAIN LISTING

Editor,

As a farming professional, I like to keep a basis comparison chart of a few cash bids for grains. I print the composite grain futures closing prices, then I go to my local cooperative website and print out their closing cash bid, as well as maybe another market within 30 miles of my farm. Can you tell me how I can print out a composite grain listing? There must be a way, but I have not figured it out yet. Can you help?

Nathan Anders
Granada, MN

Try the Economic Research Service of the USDA (https://www.ers.usda.gov).-Editor

LOOKING FOR A PARTICULAR ARTICLE

Editor,

I recall reading an article in STOCKS & COMMODITIES sometime in the past 12 to 18 months but can't locate it. The focus of the article was about how well currency markets (specifically, currency futures contracts) hold a long-term trend, and therefore why long-term trendlines work so well when trading currencies. If you know what issue the article appeared in, I would appreciate it if you could let me know.

Larry Schneider

Two articles come to mind: "Trading In The Forex Trenches" by Matt Blackman (December 2003 S&C) and "Make The Trend Your Friend In Forex" by Kenneth Agostino and Brian Dolan (September 2004).-Editor

MONEY MANAGEMENT ADD-IN PROGRAM

Editor,

I am a long-time subscriber to S&C magazine and am looking for some help. I am having trouble locating one of David Penn's reviews from about two years ago.

I am looking for a portfolio optimization/strategy analysis program to use with TradeStation, and I remember you having favorable opinions on a couple of vendors. I need to be able to produce strategy report/graphs on multiple strategies and instruments. I have searched through my back issues but cannot seem to find the review I have in mind.

I would also like to not spend more than $200. Any help is most appreciated.
Pat Taylor
St. Louis, MO

David Penn replies:

I believe the review you are thinking of is the one I wrote on Adaptrade Software's Market System Analyzer, which was published in the August 2005 issue of S&C. That company's website is www.adaptrade.com.

Market System Analyzer is a Windows-based money management tool designed to reduce drawdowns, increase the number of winning trades, and spot winning patterns in trading/trading system behavior. The product's price point also seems to be consistent with what you are looking for.

Thank you for writing and for reading Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine.

LOOKING FOR SOFTWARE TO PLOT AVERAGE TRUE RANGE

Editor,

I often read David Penn's reviews in S&C and find them enormously helpful.

I am looking for a software program that allows the user to plot the ATR value on a chart, similar to plotting moving averages. For the last couple of years, I have been using the StockCharts.com website. However, I recently read about Chuck LeBeau's stop-loss system that is placed at two or three times the value of ATR below the current price. But I cannot find a software program that is reasonable in price and would let me plot these values on the chart. Can you offer any guidance?

Mandeep

David Penn replies:
I am currently using Prophet.net, and I know that the ATR (average true range) indicator in Prophet.net displays bar-for-bar (or candlestick-for-candlestick) ATR values in its Java charts. See if the way this program displays the ATR values is what you were hoping for. Best of luck.

TRADECISION REVIEW

Editor,

I'd like to get your review of Tradecision trading software. I am looking to purchase the "technically appropriate" application to use in my trading. I am keeping my options open and would like to consider other applications as well.

Paul Carag

We reviewed Tradecision in our June 2005 issue, which is available for download from our Online Store at https://store.traders.com. You can locate past reviews of other products there as well by using the search engine. You'll find new reviews of technical analysis software published in each issue.-Editor

QUESTION ABOUT INTRADAY DATA

Editor,

Can you please tell me where I can get historical intraday price and volume data for stocks at a reasonable price or free of charge? The websites I have seen do not provide historical intraday volume data.

Boyan Botev
Huntersville, NC

I would check with your brokerage. These days, brokerages bundle data with their services, so you may be able to find one for a relatively low price. If this doesn't work, you may want to browse the Traders' Resource database on our website (www.Traders.com) for data services.-Editor

ERRATA: NOVEMBER 2005

Editor,

In the November 2005 issue of STOCKS & COMMODITIES, there is an error in the Forex Focus column titled "Forex Oil Play" on page 32. In it, author Kathy Lien mentions Canada as being the world's ninth-largest crude oil importer, whereas in fact it is the world's ninth- largest crude oil exporter.

Jay Shah

ERRATA: TRADERS' RESOURCE

In the Trading Systems category of our Traders' Resource feature published in the January 2006 S&C, an incorrect product was listed for Advanced Trading Systems, Inc. The ATS-3200 system is not offered by Advanced Trading Systems, Inc. Instead, the systems offered by this company include Real Time Atlas-35; Chronos-1; Blind Terry; and RT Trading Signals.

More information about these systems can be found at the company's website, www.trading-systems.info.-Editor

Back to April 2006 Contents

Originally published in the April 2006 issue of Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine.
All rights reserved. © Copyright 2006, Technical Analysis, Inc.