It is very offensive to hear someone ask why research that works makes any difference. I've seen a lot of strategies, and unless you're going long only dip buying is your only option. However, if you have models that work when the market's moving up or down then you have to see value in following those trading patterns. There is nothing wrong with using software like MultiCharts or tradestation into formulating investment strategies for long or short term capital investing. Price Physics is the most well articulated theory of market movement, second to none. Anyone who reads it should see how natural oscillations in the market can be predicted based on support and resistance. I've tried to incorporate the same ideas into my pairs models. Reading and writing don't have any bearing on financial success. Doing, discovering ways to predict the market's move are at the heart of the financial industry, and I don't trust anybody else to have the necessary steps in place to accurately with reasonable win percentages trade the market. As far as Price Physics goes there isn't a more well written theory of market movement. Far from the Scholes-Merton mode of divining implied volatility from the current price that nearly always leaves you with the same price, these models are for short term market making only, and having theories to anticipate moves is necessary. I think Pairs Trading especially is very important to trading leveraged ETF's but not so much for unleveraged products. Price Physics is the theory that I've built my CTA around, and with models that have $25 million going to more than $1 billion in less than 4 years, there is no doubt in my mind how valuable those strategies are. If you don't understand what trading is, which is what you are saying whenever you debate with someone who has these kinds of models, then you shouldn't ask why you think it would work you should ask how does it work? The why part usually leads nowhere because there isn't any difference when you go to discuss trading strategies if you're just going to ask why. Asking how gets the conversation so much further than why, when why is self-explanatory if you know the how. How to build trading models is nice, but not as fun unless the strategy is very robust.
Mr. Covel, it is yourself who knows nothing about trading. If you had strategies that worked, you would discuss them. Since you don't, I can see you're only interest is to sell books talking about what other traders have done. It is ignorant to dismiss my strategies based on the theory, because it works so well, and, no, there isn't any other method that will make you successful. Not that pp is the only method, I do believe Pairs Trading is accepted in the financial community, but having strategies is one thing, having scalable strategies is another, and having scalable strategies that pyramid is vital to managing capital in the markets. There is no cult. It is an idea, and not meant to insult anyone's intelligence. It's a book. You can read it. Then you can take a huge database of ticks, and analyze the method yourself. I've put a lot on the line but it has been a long time in coming, but if I'm successful in trading, there's no doubt I'll win longer term by attracting clients.
Why is it when ideas are shared and found to have value we immediately take that to the level of guru? There's lots of information that can help you trade, and we don't call every person who teaches you something a guru. It's very offensive, and unless you've read the book, done the research, spent hours backtesting and optimizing, there's no place to simply ascribe someone's proclamation that they liked somebody's theories about trading to being inducted like a cult or anything like that. If you have strategies, you'll use them, and this one in particular is one I've found to be extremely robust. I don't think a 4 year database of tick charts on over 60 symbols is something everyone can do. First you have to buy the data, then you can start competing with people like myself, who have way more information. I think it is wrong to assume that bigger institutions are better at trading. If anything it is only due to liquidity and transaction costs, and any information you use is already publicly available. I have Jack Hershey's Method, My pairs strategies, and Price Physics. I've not seen anything other than long only dip buying that seems to work outside of this.
The books are not going to teach me to trade. For that you need code, a theses, a baseline, and a whole lot of data. This is the extent to which I engage others on this site and the only reason I've ever bothered to read any of the threads. Whatever the price drivers are for surf's model they are technical, no matter how much he wants to deny it.
Feature Comparison $2997 $2497 $2397 $1897 $1797 $1297 Online 'New' Trader Resource Center Yes Yes Yes Client Support (Months) 18 18 12 12 12 12 Main Course Manual; 226 pages Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes LEAPs® Manual; 83 pages Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Single Stock Futures; 56 pages Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (6) Audio CD Set Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 'Broke' Documentary Film DVD Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Covel Instructional DVD Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Kevin Bruce DVD Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes David Harding DVD Yes Yes Yes Yes Poker-Trading DVD Yes Yes Yes Yes Larry Hite DVD Yes Yes Charles Faulkner DVD Yes Yes Salem Abraham DVD Yes Yes Resource CD Yes Yes As far as these go, how are the strategies doing?
I googled search it BEFORE hand. I asked the question to those who seem to be passionate about it from both sides.
Not so much the passion as nobody has the necessary pre-requisite knowledge to debate. If they did they wouldn't be so skeptical.