Reviewed by Ed Dobson, President, Traders Press, Inc.

The Technical Analysis CourseThe Technical Analysis Course is a structured series of 19 lessons, each of which covers a major topic in detail. It will prove to be of value to those new to technical analysis, especially those who possess technical analysis software to aid in their timing and selection decisions. Each lesson concludes with a true-false quiz to test the reader’s knowledge of the topic covered.

Several of the lessons are concerned primarily with chart construction and interpretation and deal with relevant concepts, such as gaps, consolidations and reversal patterns and also deal with alternate charting methods, such as point and figure and candlesticks.

Posted on September 11th, 2008 at 06:53 AM

I'd like to revisit my post from June 10.  Fast forward 3 months to today.  Lehman has gone the way of Bear Stearns.

By M. William Scheier, a futures trader and analyst in the E-mini Index contracts
Posted: Sep 12, 2008

No matter how clever your trade entries are, successful trading is mostly a mental game. This treatise on trade psychology is appearing in a series of installments (and modified for use on this site) and has been excerpted from chapters of the book Pivots, Patterns and Self Recognition. The excerpts appear here by permission of the publisher, valhallafutures.com.

This is the fourth installment in this series, whose purpose is to examine the internal decision environment the trader faces within his mind. On the assumption that a better understanding of the mental conflicts we face will improve our trading results, the three modes of conflict are personified in separate "voices" inside of us. These are the Trader, the Accountant and the Analyst.

By John Netto of One Shot – One Kill Trading*
Posted: September 12, 2008     

When attempting to gauge what direction the market is moving throughout the day or week, I use a few key indicators to measure short-term and longer-term market strength. Along with the Dow Jones Tic ($TICK), the Arms Index ($TRIN) and current price action, I love to chart the ratio between advancing versus declining issues on the NYSE. Using eSignal software, the symbol for that is $ADD.

A few key psychological reasons help us understand why the ratios between advancing and declining issues can be so effective. The first is that intraday action takes place around a point of control. A key mental point traders are aware of is this: If an issue is up, down or unchanged on the day.