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
Editor,
In the July 2011 issue of Stocks & Commodities, Donald Pendergast Jr. wrote about a fully mechanical intraday trading system for gold futures that he called GoldTASCMaster, but he also mentioned an article he wrote on a swing-trading system, and the July 2011 article’s Figure 1 (“The Eldorado Gold System”) seems to be from the other referenced article; is this the case?
Does he intend to do any follow-up articles in the near future on these systems? Has he traded either of these systems successfully?
Thanks for any clarification or additional information that you can provide.
Peter LaBreck
Milan, MI
Donald Pendergast’s July 2011 article, “Calling The Tune In The Gold Market,” was an enhancement of one of his earlier articles published in our online publication, Traders.com Advantage (“Gold Futures System Music To The Ears?”, February 4, 2011, www.traders.com). The chart in Figure 1 appears in both articles. Pendergast has not followed up on either system, as he has since developed better systems. These systems were presented as a work in progress to see what would work. He has not traded these systems for his personal account.—Editor
Editor,
I do not have or use MetaStock. Is there some way to get the Dow Jones Eurostoxx bank futures (FESB) data to confirm the ideas from Markos Katsanos’ January 2012 article, “Gold And The European Debt Crisis”? If not, I’d suggest a note at the beginning of the article that �MetaStock is required for this method.
James A. Olson
Gray, TN
Data for the FESB is available from several data sources. For example, Yahoo! Finance offers the data under the symbol FESB.EX.—Editor
Editor,
Although your magazine is too technical for me (Larry Williams said it was too technical for him, too, which made me feel better!), I wouldn’t want to be without S&C. The first thing I turn to is the interview. I almost always enjoy — and more important, learn something — from the interview. It semi-amazes me how often I see phrases such as “our trading room” or “somebody in the office” or “we have a nice little group of traders.” Trading is a solo activity, but apparently there are a lot of traders who like to touch bases with others. I don’t even know anybody who is interested in the markets, and whenever I try to get somebody interested in the markets, my effort fails.
The books page is something else I always check out, and have bought several books after reading about them there.
There are articles that I think are gems. Austin Passamonte had one last year (“Straightening The Curves,” June 2011) that I thought was special. In baseball terminology, he simply emphasized the importance of getting those singles and doubles. You don’t have to drive in a lot of runs; just try to “get on base.”
I had a futures account at MF Global. Thank goodness there was only $6,000 in the account, because that’s six grand I’ll never see again. From now on, how much trust do you think I’ll have in my brokerage, no matter who it is?
Wayne Roberts
Editor,
In my January 2012 article, “Buying The Optimal Moneyness,” I made some drawing mistakes in Figures 2 and 6. Here are the corrections to avoid possible misunderstandings:
Figure 2:
Figure 6:
Giorgos Siligardos