Also Surfer, please confirm that you get no payment direct or indirect (co-marketing etc) for advertising the book here? If not, then why use an Amazon link that appears to identify the referrer? I note your retraction on scumbag Covel's trash in the other thread. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1044216#post1044216
Surf, You had to know I would throw in a comment here. Hell, the Amazon review sounds eerily similar to one of my rambling posts and basically says the same thing I have been saying and publishing for 10 years and you have condemned me for . . . well, for over 2 years. I'm really looking forward to that dinner in February! I hope you don't drool when you eat.
I recd no direct or indirect payment for writing about books I enjoy. Apparently, the refererer identity you see is due to the fact that my system apparently automatically logs me into amazon when i go to the site--nothing more. Thanks for pointing this out. surf
Surely, you jest. Your "system" is not testable, not quantifiable, and you scoff when I requested the parameters to review. You are indeed the antithesis of the books thesis. Anecdotal evidence of your "perfect" track record, provided on your site, not withstanding. Sorry, Professor, You can't attach yourself to an objective, evidence based trading methods regardless of semantics, creative language, personal attacks, and posturing. surf
marketsurfer, Could you read and transcribe a/any sentence from page 112 of the book in question? I can't imagine that would be a problem, considering you've had the book in you possession for all this time. Thanks in advance
My "system" is testable, objective and programmable. I don't scoff at academia reviewing what I do, I scoff at YOU reviewing it. You are as far from academia as you can get. You are a journalist, nothing more or profound. You had your opportunity at reviewing the specifics of my research and found other things more pressing at the time. Your choice. You have condemned TA mercilessly for years but all of a sudden you get a book (probably donated) and you have an epiphany. YOU haven't tested my system, you haven't read my book or had any first hand experience with it so any opinion you have of it is worthless. It's like someone asking me my opinion of the taste of goat's eyes . . . sorry, heard they were tasty but haven't tried them. I don't attach myself to anything. I know my particular trading style is unique. I can look at the review you posted and see similarities just from a standpoint of research but read nothing more into it. The foundation of what he writes is true but I can't make any further distinction outside of that because I haven't read his book. I know TA "CAN" be objective because I created an environment that is objective so I can be open-minded enough to see where others could be able to create similar environments. You can't make that distinction because your only point of reference is physical not mental. You have never devoted any expanse of time to any personally grounded research and never will, or at least none you have been willing to share. You are like the Daytona Beach, Florida resident that runs into the auditorium at Embry Riddle University and shouts, "Did you guys hear there is a school in this area that trains astronauts"? I'm glad you found a book on TA you can embrace. Should we nominate you for admittance into our long established group of "TA Huggers"?
that is a scary handle.... one sentence from page 24: <i> the first factor is a rule's long/short position bias. </i> happy? surf
I think one of the sticking points with TA practicioners is that they do not rely on a small set of variables in a vacuum. You do not buy just because of an MA cross, but in certain conditions (futures approaching yesterday's highs, lack of bearish news and weak earnings for the day, Fed paused three days ago, similar company in the sector making new highs), an MA cross or a high and tight penant can provide a good enough picture of market sentiment. TA -- or charts, really, applied in a comprehensive manner, cannot be well analyzed by running a few variables through 10 years of data. Chart patterns by themselves cannot and should not be divorced from larger market/sector conditions, which often fluctuate so much and then suddenly all snap into focus in one instant to provide a signal. The argument to me seems to be more between people who want everything to line up exactly in black and white, and demand that TA serve their needs, and those who simply use TA as a measuring tool -- primary, secondary or otherwise.
Nice quote. Despite everything, I'm very tempted to look into it. JJ edit: it's a good quote because my evidence shows that establishing position bias is the first task of having a good trade entry - notice I did not say trading system, we all know there's a lot more involved with a good sytem than entering trades.