The benefits of diversification are well known: most investment managers diversify by including bonds and cash in a stock portfolio already diversified across
many industry groups. Less well known is the fact that managed commodity futures
portfolios are an attractive diversification candidate that can lead to a disproportionately large increase in return while simultaneously reducing risk. Thus, stock portfolio managers, regardless of their degree of risk-aversion, should consider futures
to improve the return-risk tradeoff of their portfolios.
By Donald L. Jones and Timothy Walsh; pages 9–13.
Put/call ratios based on volume and dollar value have been widely used by technicians. But a third approach has been substantially overlooked.
By Robert R. Prechter and David A. Allman; pages 14–16.
One of the first things to understand about volatility is that it does not
exhibit long trends like some common stocks but is more cyclical in nature.
Thus, extremes in volatility are more likely opportunities to fade the market’s
volatility than chances to go with the breakout.
By Andrew Sterge; pages 17–20.
Should we monitor the actions of mutual fund managers? They are paid a salary
to do a better job of investing than the common person. While some managers
may not live up to expectations, on the average, they should be labeled “smart
money.”
By Arthur Merrill, CMT; pages 21–23.
The Elliott wave theory, while complex and subject to individual interpretation,
offers a powerful means of putting the overall market developments into reasonable
perspective and provides some guidance for what to expect of the future direction
of the market. At the end of 1989, the stock market was at a critical juncture
but subject to two contrary wave theory interpretations.
By C. R. MacDowell; pages 24–28.
While there appears to be an overwhelming number of fundamental factors that
could make the price of bonds volatile, the large economic forces affecting
bonds actually tend to produce very long trends. Examine how one trader uses
Lane’s oscillator to gauge price direction and potential reversals.
By Thom Hartle; pages 29–30.
Use the discount rate to scope out the underlying tone of the stock market.
By Jay Kaeppel; pages 31–32.
With the proper use of point-and-figure charts it is possible to derive certain
probabilities of success for different formations. The astute option trader
can change the risk-reward characteristics of options trading By selecting
an underlying instrument in this case, a currency with a chart pattern that
has a high probability of success.
By Thomas Dorsey; pages 33–36.
Locate the final wave of Elliott’s corrective pattern to make your safest
entry in any market trend.
By Dan Akin Dimock; pages 37–39.
Apply on-balance volume to the NYSE Index futures for better signals than the
NYSE Index.
By Gerald Appel; pages 40–43.
The history of stock market inactivity yields some intriguing discoveries.
By Charles A. Jaffee; page 44.
The most promising technical analysis package for the Macintosh is here.
By John Sweeney.
Investing in Growth Stocks,
1989/1990 Encyclopedia of Closed End Funds,
The Complete Guide to Closed End Funds.
The Bezier curve is a mathematical construct for tracing a smooth path between
a series of key support and resistance points. It is also a powerful new tool
for predicting commodity markets.
By Mark Angel; pages 47–55.
Wager wisely in the futures market with lessons from the roulette wheel.
By James William Ferguson; pages 56–59.
A simple interest rate ratio proves itself one of the best bull market signals
available.
By Jay Kaeppel; pages 60–62.
No news is the most profitable news when evaluating peculiarities in stock
market charts.
By Richard W. Arms Jr.; pages 63–65.
Combine statistical analysis with technical analysis and use multiple regression
number crunching to find telltale price divergences. Examples are provided
in copper and precious metals.
By Eric L. Sharp; pages 66–69.
This price pattern quantifies contraction points to the most profitable short-term trades.
By Toby Crabel; pages 70–73.
Take advantage of option mispricings using the Black-Scholes theory of options
valuation.
By Andrew J. Sterge; pages 74–77.
Measure crowd enthusiasm toward a market with these two volume indicators.
By Arthur A. Merrill; pages 78–79.
Use Williams’ on-balance volume indicator together with high-low-close
graphs for trade signals.
By Joseph Barics; page 80.
Customize options evaluations with an upgraded version of a popular software package.
By Steve Barr.
Our reviewer finds the secrets of day trading are still safe with the publication of this book.
By Dr. Alexander Elder.
The Technical Analysis Course: A Winning Program for Stocks & Futures
Traders and Investors,
The Encyclopedia of Technical Market Indicators,
Dow Theory Redux,
York Institute of Finance’s Investor’s Desk Reference,
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator.
Wall Street Micro Investor.
Because profits produced by technical trading systems vary, traders are better
off trading a variety of contracts at a time.
By Milton S. Boyd and B. Wade Brorsen; pages 83–89.
Though the U.S. dollar isn’t an important trading vehicle in itself,
its price changes have effects on other markets. Analyze and correlate these
quantitative relationships with multiple regression and number crunching to
find out w hat moves the dollar and how that affects other markets.
By Eric Sharp; pages 91–95.
Correlations can be found between Eurodollars and changes in money market maturities, says this author. Use average maturity to forecast short-term rates.
By Glenn Mancher; pages 96–100.
Use this infrequent signal to buy or sell a stock or index.
By Chuck Carpino; pages 101–103.
In this sequel to a February 1990 S&C article, another form of the Martingale is applied to trading with promising results.
By James William Ferguson; pages 105–108.
Time-based moving averages make the assumption all days are equal. But they’re not.
By Richard W. Arms Jr.; page 109.
This index measures resistance to price movement and it’s worth watching.
By Arthur A. Merrill, CMT; pages 112–113.
Find free investment programs in electronic bulletin boards! Here’s all
you need to get started: a step-by-step on how to tap into one and a list of
9 places to start.
By Marshall Rens and Federico L. Brown; pages 114–116.
How to use the Market Forecaster program to allocate assets.
By Mark Hallinan; pages 117–120.
It was a promising and revolutionary venture. Did it deliver?
By Thomas K. Bonen; pages 121–123.
When used for pure speculation, a trader’s chance of making any money
consistently in options is in the ballpark of zero.
By Ana Maria Wilson; pages 124–125.
The Dow Jones-Irwin Guide to Trading Systems,
Stock Market Technique: Number Two,
Leading Indicators for the 1990s.
Seize the chance to detect and use major trends perhaps the best way to succeed
in futures trading. This author presents two techniques for computer-aided
trading that helped him interpret and stay with the 1987 copper bull market.
By Eric L. Sharp; pages 127–131.
The negative volume index, a mix of old indicators, promises to be a sensitive
barometer for determining intermediate-term trends in the S&P 500.
By Daniel E. Downing; pages 132–133.
Some stock indicators appear to be correlated with each other and with the
Dow Jones Industrial Average. This author checked the cross- and auto-correlations
on more than 25 years of weekly data for DJIA and NYSE indicators and presents
the best correlations.
By Frank Tarkany; pages 134–136. .
A 50-year-old advance/decline index still speaks with authority.
By Arthur A. Merrill, CMT; page 137–138.
What shape is your failure in?
By Jerry Kopf; pages 139–141.
Determine support and resistance areas with Gann lines.
By David Lamarr; pages 142–144.
These authors statistically tested 34 indicators for trading the IMM yen contract and here they present the results.
By Thomas P. Drinka, Timothy L. Krehbiel, Stephen Ptasienski; pages 145–151.
Wilder predicts T-bond turning points for the next 10 years.
By J. Welles Wilder; pages 152–154. .
Recognize and use the signals of impending price changes.
By Peter Eliason; pages 155–157.
Speed up moving average programming with more efficient routines.
By Charles J. McGuinness; pages 158–162. .
Calculate profit by making a three-dimensional map of the result.
By John F. Ehlers; pages 163–166. .
DoubleDisk compression program, Statistical Analysis of Stocks and Indices.
Winning the Investment Game,
The Psychology of Speculation.
This author presents his formulas for using earnings, yield and interest rates
to help value stocks, and examines historical data to learn how to predict
market sentiment.
By Paul Holliday; pages 169–173.
In radar, the signal-to-noise ratio is used to detect targets better. In trading, we can use this simple concept to hit profit targets better.
By John Ehlers; pages 174–177.
Investors want the most gain with the least pain. To help you determine your
risk-aversion curve in futures trading, this author presents a new way to quantify
pain thresholds.
By Richard A. Harrison; pages 178–181.
How do I love thee... or not? Let me count the waves.
By F. David Minbashian; pages 182–184.
There are countless ways to use moving averages. While most systems depend
on a crossover or penetration of some type, this one simply looks at direction.
By Peter Aan; pages 185–186.
The Ease of Movement indicator developed by Richard Arms is an oscillator designed to reveal the direction that a stock or commodity is moving with the least
amount of resistance.
By Richard W. Arms Jr.; pages 187–190.
Analysts should not only identify the best trading strategy for a historical
time period but also test that optimal strategy in a subsequent time period
to evaluate its reliability in actual trading.
By Thomas P. Drinka; page 191.
Optimal entry can occur at the end of any wave C that has subdivided into five
lesser waves of sufficient price range. Learn to distinguish this wave.
By Dan A. Dimock; pages 192–194.
Combine on-balance volume with %B percentage of buying for the day to observe
supply and demand.
By Joseph Barics; pages 195–196.
Use exponential moving averages of the daily new highs and lows of the New
York Stock Exchange to help define market cycles.
By Mike Burk; pages 197–198.
Introducing a sentiment indicator using the C.O.T. report.
By Stephen E. Briese; pages 199–204.
How useful are these figures?
By Arthur A. Merrill, CMT; pages 204–205.
Professional Breakout System, PC-Hookup 2.0, Trader’s Profit Motive.
The Facts About Speculation, Inside the Commodity Options Market.
Here’s a new graphic analysis technique that promises to handle noise
without lag.
By Donald Jones and Christopher Young; pages 207–211.
Examine 1989 cycles with 12 perpetual contracts.
By John F. Ehlers; pages 212–215.
Is call-writing hazardous?
By Jerry Kopf; pages 216–217.
By having a portfolio that is significantly sensitive to a macroeconomic factor,
we are taking risks that may or may not be justifiable. This author measures
the sensitivity of 4,000 stocks to 7 macroeconomic factors, thereby quantifying
and comparing their risk factors.
By Dan DiBartolomeo; pages 218–221.
Do price patterns signal the next day’s market direction?
By Toby Crabel; pages 222–224.
What didn’t happen is as important sometimes as what did.
By Richard W. Arms Jr.; pages 225–227.
Each day the number of stocks making new highs and new lows is reported in
the financial press. Authur Merrill reports that these statistics may be useful.
By Arthur A. Merrill, CMT; pages 228–229.
Unlike the futures trader, whose spread choices are limited to 15 contracts,
the options trader must deal with a bewildering assortment of contracts, each
with its own price dynamics. Options spreads, though, can be more responsive
to traders’ and hedgers’ needs than futures spreads. This author
examines the vertical spread for its flexibility.
By Bradley J. Horn; pages 230–233.
Technical analysis’ popularity has become self-defeating, says this heretic.
By Grant Noble; pages 234–235.
Ratios of call and put volumes are commonly used as a sentiment indicator.
Here we go a step further and examine the simultaneous changes in options volume
and open interest
By James P. Martin; pages 236–239.
Learn the rudiments of programming as it applies to technical analysis.
By Steve Notis; pages 240–243.
Get informed and gear up for battle with this options camp.
By Patrick D. Bosold.
Mutual Fund Selector, version. 1.2.
The Analysis and Forecasting of Long-Term Trends in the Cash and Futures
Markets;
Trading Rules: Strategies for Success.
Technical Traders Bulletin.
Buying the first retreat in prices following a strong move up in the DJIA is
often profitable. Use a version of the 20-day stochastic oscillator to signal
this buying time.
By John Toombs; pages 245–247.
Conventional volume analysis compares today’s volume with yesterday’s. This author suggests that using absolute volume instead of comparative may
be promising.
By Charles F. Wright; pages 248–250.
What do you get when you combine four existing equity indices? According to
this author, you get a market barometer worth watching.
By Dan Downing; page 251.
Is the January barometer a useful forecasting tool or just a nice theory?
By Jay Kaeppel; pages 252–254.
Has stock-index futures affected seasonal tendencies?
By Bob Kargenian; pages 255–256.
Here’s a look at the TACHART program for technical analysis.
By Steve Notis; pages 257–259. .
Experience on tap for when you need it. Sound far-fetched? It’s not.
By Jason S. Glazier; pages 260–263.
Continuing the analysis of how to handle noise without lag.
By Donald Jones, Christopher Young; pages 264–269.
Accidents can be helpful sometimes.
By Hans Hannula, PhD; pages 270–273.
Take a good look at this popular indicator and review 9 popular or historical
advance/decline formulations.
By Fay Dworkin; pages 274–278.
Stock exchange members should know more than the public. Right?
By Arthur A. Merrill, CMT; pages 279–280.
Distinguish cycles in the DJIA with the advance/decline line.
By Mike Burk; pages 281–284.
Study Helps in Point and Figure Technique; Economics in Plain English.
Introducing a new and intriguing way to remove trend from data by using a new
technique.
By A. Bruce Johnson; pages 287–293.
Here’s an indicator that measures informed bearishness.
By Arthur A. Merrill; pages 294–295.
Use statistical analysis to reduce more than 100 years of market data to a
simple mathematical model.
By James G. Arnold; pages 296–298.
Continuing the exploration of programming for technical analysis.
By Steve Notis; pages 299–300.
Crash or not? If crash, then when? This Elliottician’s conclusions may
surprise you.
By Mark Thompson; pages 301–303.
Understanding the basics of trending periods and price formations is the first
step toward successful trading. Examine an ideal price formation to diagnose
the forces of supply and demand at work.
By Thom Hartle; pages 304–306.
Would prices appear random individually but not aggregately? Here is an expert
re-examination of the old random walk debate on a new level
By Clifford J. Sherry; pages 307–309.
Should we be reading the Japanese stock market the same way we do the American
one?
By Eric L. Sharp; pages 310–312.
Are Bezier curves practical for trading? Use this BASIC routine to find out.
By Donald R. Lambert; pages 313–315.
What do you do when your indicators don’t seem to work at all?
By Mike Burk; pages 316–318.
Good news, bad news: An order exists in the market but it’s not as perfect
as some have made it out to be. But even a chaotic order can be profitable.
By Hans Hannula; pages 319–322.
Don’t let the futures market be regulated because of misunderstandings
about its mechanisms and functions, this writer says.
By Howard Portnow; pages 323–324.
100 Million Dollars in Profits;
Make Money with S&P 500 Options.
Look for these patterns of market contraction and expansion to help determine
optimal entry points.
By Toby Crabel; pages 327–331.
We wrote about a daily McClellan Oscillator last year. How does a weekly version
perform in contrast?
By Arthur A. Merrill; pages 332–333.
The channel breakout is a tried-and true trading method that’s been in
use for years. The delay is what makes this variation unique ... and profitable
in long-term, well-defined trends. But watch out for these risky deficiencies.
By Peter Aan; pages 334–335.
Those restrictive trading limits can be very frustrating to traders who find
themselves locked into a position with the market limit against them. The solution?
Synthetic futures positions created from commodity options allow positions
to be traded even when a market is locked limit.
By Douglas Arend; page 336.
Overcome cash flow problems associated with option positions through the use
of vertical spreads.
By Bradley J. Horn; pages 337–338.
Keeping a daily trading/analysis log is a useful habit. Here is a sample journal
that lets you take a peek into another trader’s actual trades and accompanying
analysis.
By Robert Miner; pages 339–344.
A perfect trade isn’t so perfect if you don’t know when to get
off the boat. Using volume-to-volume projections on Equivolume charts can be
helpful in defining market moves.
By Richard W. Arms Jr.; pages 345–347.
Three-time U.S. Investing Championship winner David Ryan tells the secrets
of his success.
By Dr. Van K. Tharp; pages 348–352.
Plotting volatility like other traders plot prices allows us to use Fibonacci
and Elliott analysis in analyzing volatility and allows us to see things that
no one else sees.
By Paul Williams; pages 353-356.
Are you getting too dependent on your off-the-shelf trading system? Here is
a quick self-check to see if you are a real trader.
By James Gould; pages 357–358.
Wall Street Journal founder Charles Dow left a legacy the theory at
the very root of technical analysis.
By Melanie Bowman; pages 359–363.
All market trends continue to excess, whether above or below stock value. Strangely, the extent of these excess movements has demonstrated great consistency in
past markets.
By James G. Arnold; pages 364–368.
Here’s an overview of identifying changes in trends using classic chart
analysis.
By Melanie F. Bowman and Thom Hartle; pages 371–376.
The author explains how he identifies a trend in the heat of the battle.
By John F. Ehlers; pages 377–381.
Can you use fundamentals to identify characteristics of crash-proof stocks?
By Lewis Carl Mokrasch, PhD; pages 382–384.
Should we be relying on the DJIA as much as we do?
By Max Bader, M.D.; pages 385–387.
Trading the bond futures market offers opportunity to the skilled chartist,
our Technical Editor says.
By Thom Hartle; pages 388–391.
Are financial markets becoming more and more volatile?
By Jean-Olivier Fraisse; pages 392–395.
The respected technician explains why you shouldn’t rely on this indicator.
By Arthur A. Merrill, CMT; pages 396–397.
ARIMA has been adapted for use in modeling futures prices series by using a
microcomputer. Now let’s use the model by applying it to the CBOT wheat
contract.
By Albert E. Parish Jr.; pages 398–403.
Reviewing CompuTrac’s technical analysis program for the Apple Macintosh.
By Thom Hartle.
Presenting Dow Jones’s advanced-level technical analysis program.
By John Sweeney.
Crashes and Panics, Black Monday.
What happens when a price trend takes a breather? Identifying such congestion
areas and interpreting the evolving price action to determine the next direction
provides tradeable opportunities.
By Melanie F. Bowman and Thom Hartle; pages 405–409.
Fast action makes the difference.
By Patrick D. Bosold; pages 410–412.
Here’s an update on the performance of the MFI, an indicator of an efficient and tradeable market.
By Charles F. Wright; pages 413–416.
We all know that the last hour of the trading day can be ominous in futures
trading, right? Technician Arthur Merrill, to whom a truism is never true ’til
tested for himself, says that maybe we’ve been giving our attention to
the wrong hour.
By Arthur A. Merrill, CMT; pages 417–418.
Volatility is unreliable for market timing, but it provides valuable data.
By Jean-Olivier Fraisse; pages 419–422.
Here’s a way to interpret the current balance between demand and supply.
By Thom Hartle; pages 423–425.
Here’s what the author of The Prudent Investor had to say.
By Mike Takano; pages 426–428.
These two theories can help project market objectives and turning points.
By Roger Farley; pages 429–431.
Use this oscillator to determine intermediate-term turning points.
By Darryl W. Maddox; pages 432–433.
Efficiency in calculating moving averages is quite important.
By Jason S. Glazier; pages 434–437.
Can teamwork in trading help boost profits and guard against failure?
By Franz-J. Buskamp; pages 438–440.
Our Technical Editor explains his trading approach.
By Thom Hartle; pages 441–443.
Combine candlestick charting and Equivolume and get a hot new technique.
By Greg Morris; pages 445–448.
Considering how different they are, are the two techniques complementary?
By Ron Jaenisch; page 449.
Need a clue to market direction? Try the premium between the S&P 500 futures
and the cash index.
By Jean-Olivier Fraisse; pages 450–452.
What kinds of stories do gaps tell? Learn how to read between the lines.
By Thom Hartle and Melanie F. Bowman; pages 453–455.
By Palmer Wright, PhD; pages 456–459.