Quote from Boomer:
you said something about wyckoff, i have been looking at some of his books. do you recommend any on this topic. thanks.
Probably the best available is Charting the Stock Market by Hutson et al. The most valuable resource is Wyckoff's course. Unfortunately, it's locked up in copyright by someone who will only offer it along with an expensive course of study which is of debatable value. And even much of Wyckoff's original course is no longer really applicable.
The basic principles, however, are fairly simple and straightforward and are pretty well explained in the Hutson book. But with modern charting programs, an enormous variety of bar intervals, and the number of specialty indices and ETFs, you really don't have to get into the P&F and the wave chart stuff. Wyckoff devotees may disagree, but I just don't find them all that useful, much less necessary.
Therefore, to over-answer your question even further, focus on supply and demand and how they are manifest in price and volume as well as how the price/volume relationship is manifest in the price bar. Begin by understand that support and resistance are created by supply and demand, not by indicators or lines of any sort and you'll be ahead of the game.
[Edit: looking over this, I may be confusing you more than helping you. Charting the Stock Market is written by three men, one of whom is (was?) the editor of TASC. Each of them explains Wyckoff in his own way, so there's a great deal of repetition in the three sections.
However, in order to give yourself a framework which will more likely enable you to better understand the concepts, if not the details, I suggest you read the whole thing and leave the cap on the high-lighter. Then, read it again, using the high-lighter if you like, and focus on what you believe are the primary concepts. A lot of lights are going to go on when you read this book, and it will be difficult for you to avoid overload. But certain sections will ring, and those are the sections you'll want to study carefully.
I should also point out that the book is only $15, which sets the standard for bargain trading book.]
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