Letters To The Editor

October 2010 Letters To The Editor

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

CUSTOM PROGRAMMING SERVICES

Editor,
The article “Measuring The Markets With Pivots” by Austin Passamonte in the July 2010 issue and the June 2010 article about forex trading combining chess logic and mathematics (“The Forex Gambit” by Walter T. Downs) both contain interesting ideas.

Since I am not a programmer, do you know how one could contact a programmer that would be interested in compiling programs based on these ideas? (Programs compiled in EasyLanguage for TradeStation apparently work with the system I use, which is DealBook 360.)
—P. Scott

You can look for custom programming services in the classified advertising section of our magazine or in the Traders’ Resource area of our website, https://technical.traders.com/Products/home.asp, where you can search on the term “programming” in the Consultants category.

You could also check with the technical support department for the software you are using to see if custom solutions are offered, and also try checking with online user groups for customized solutions.

Good luck.
—Editor

FOREX GAMBIT

Editor,
I have decided to experiment with the trading system described in “The Forex Gambit” by Walter Downs in the June 2010 S&C. However, I have a question about the reasoning behind only having one trade open at a time. After a trade has been moved to breakeven as per the test plan, I would think another trade could be opened when another signal is triggered. Could the author please expand on the rationale for this?
—Kevin Bergner

Walter Downs replies:
If you have a trade at breakeven, it is permissible to enter another trade. In general, this rule is applied to avoid markets that are too strongly correlated, thus increasing the overall risk. It is possible to practice a type of diversification by taking, for example, two trades simultaneously, and halving the risk on each to maintain a risk level that is still roughly the same. In this case, you may be reducing your overall risk.

GANN METHODS

Editor,
Great article from Koos van der Merwe in the August 2010 issue (“Gann And The Time Factor”).

I have been trading successfully for 10 years using much of his ideas without knowing it. I am intrigued to learn more!
—Barry

Here are two other recent articles in S&C by van der Merwe on Gann methods:

FIBONACCI SOFTWARE

Editor,
Just bought my first copy of your great magazine. Could you please tell me how to get a copy of your reviews and ratings of Fibonacci programs? There are many programs and it is a nightmare trying to decide. Any information is greatly appreciated.
—David

Unfortunately, we don’t offer ratings of products, but we do publish reviews of products each month in the magazine. You can search past reviews at our website using the search engine at https://store.traders.com/.
—Editor

SEMINARS ON COMMODITIES TRADING?

Editor,
I am new to futures and was wondering where I might be able to find a list of available commodity seminars. Any help would be appreciated.
—EP

You could try checking with the exchanges, such as the Cme at www.cmegroup.com/education/browse-all.html, or with your brokerage for any available seminars and other educational resources.

Second, you can visit the Traders’ Resource database at our website in the category of Courses & Seminars to browse for seminars on commodities at https://technical.traders.com/Products/home.asp.

Third, you can skim the Trade News & Products column of our magazine each month to see if there are any announcements of upcoming seminars on commodities topics.

Good luck with your search.
—Editor

Originally published in the October 2010 issue of
Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities magazine.
All rights reserved. © Copyright 2010, Technical Analysis, Inc.