Who is the better technician, Alan Farley or Gary B. Smith?

Dufferdon,

I agree. I still use things I learned from his original trading manual, which became the book. He was a big crusader against crooked systems vendors as well, back in the days of Club 3000, so named because most trading systems seemed to cost $3000 then.
 
Yup, I share AAA's sentiments... snake oil is seeping across most financial websites at the speed of the plague... newbies are gonna be parting with their hard-earned $$ and they won't even realise the folly of their ways...
 
I'm really not a newbie in the stock market. I have a four year degree in accounting and finance. I been investing for almost 25 years on my own and at age 46, I decided I would like to retire and become a short term trader. I been taking my father to the hospital for the past couple of months, and I felt that my family should come first.


The past 25 years I made a lot of money in the stock market, but I would like to know more about technical analysis. I am new to technical analysis and a neighbor said that I should try this newsgroup. He only 20 years old and dropped out of college to become a day trader. I think that is sad, because he lost his money and his parent's money. People think that all you have to do is pick a stock and that's it. I was fortunate that I made money in the bear and bull markets. People that are now college age, like I guess some of your are, think it's so easy to make money. I been investing in a bear market and bull markets and I know how to invest in both markets. I want to thank some of you for your answers. Some of you should try to be considerate when answering and try to help people when they ask for help. I had 50 people that worked for me and I always tried to help them and never insulted them. Don't we have enough hatred in this world. Isn't that the idea behind this newsgroup to help people.
 
Alanrof,

My advice is simple... read the free stuff on places like Hardrightedge.com, Siliconinvestor.com and of course on Elitetrader.com... PREFERABLY, try to find a mentor... if you can't find a mentor, sign up for a free trial with a reputable chatroom... I rate Realitytrader.com... Vadym (Threei) is on this board and on Siliconinvestor too, and is top-notch in my opinion ... don't spend more than a few months with realitytrader.com... simply use them for your learning curve, just as you would a mentor... throughout your learning curve, read and educate yourself, immerse yourself in trading books / magazines, and immerse yourself in your trading personality (for the latter, read the books by Mark Douglas)... when you start out trading for real, start small... 100 shares tops... you WILL lose money... don't think you won't... losing money is part of the learning curve, so lose small by trading small...

With best wishes for the speedy recovery of your father and for your progress as a short-term trader,

Candletrader
 
I've tried and tried to read that book but could not make myself do it. The best I could do was skim through it. It really looks and feels impressive but I could not get anything out of it. Its one of the few books on trading that I could not finish. I dont know why. I think the guy knows too much. Sort of an overdose of t/a.
 
Alanrof,

If you have a 25 year history of making money in good markets and bad, why would you want to change anything? Why not just stay with what has made you succesful? I can tell you that none of these gurus has that kind of record. Most are products of the bubble market and reading a couple of books on technical analysis and suddenly they are experts.

If you are determined to daytrade, go to Borders and collect several books and read them. Most are bs but you will learn a bit about order routing and Lev II. Then go to all the gurus sites and read all the free stuff. There is a lot. I recommend Ken Wolfe's site, www.mtrader.com I believe, for educational material. Iknow some people here do not like him or find his room calls a bit tough to follow, but I think his methods are a good foundation for daytrading. Go to www.daytradingstocks.com and absorb the material linked there.

Next set aside a small amount of money, say $30 or 40k and open an account at a RealTick broker. You will need a broadband internet connection and a multimonitor setup. Many of us have two or more computers running 5 or 6 monitors or more, watching all major markets in addition to the stocks exchanges, such as the stock index futures, the bonds, the energy futures and the currencies, plus news services. Others are successful with much more basic setups. Start out trading 100 shares, using one basic strategy or pattern until you have mastered it and are consistently profitable.

Finally, a word of advice. Times of personal stress are good times to avoid the markets. Many of us carry scars from trading when we were under personal stress of one form or another. From what you have said, you are definitely under stress with your father, understandably so. My advice would be to avoid trading until that situation is back to normal. Good luck to both of you.
 
If you have a 25 year history of making money in good markets and bad, why would you want to change anything? Why not just stay with what has made you succesful? I can tell you that none of these gurus has that kind of record. Most are products of the bubble market and reading a couple of books on technical analysis and suddenly they are experts.

Alanrof are you a vendor???
 
"The best I could do was skim through it. It really looks and feels impressive but ...."

This was my experience too. I found the book poorly organized, repetitive and full of unnecessary jargon. I had the distinct feeling that he set out to write something that was really impressive and which would establish his place in trading history as a great master. I know he was presured by his publisher to edit it down. He should have listened.
 
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