November 2004 Letters To The Editor
or return to November 2004 Contents The editors of S&C invite readers to submit their opinions and information on subjects relating to technical analysis and this magazine. This column is our means of communication with our readers. Is there something you would like to know more (or less) about? Tell us about it. Without a source of new ideas and subjects coming from our readers, this magazine would not exist.
Address your correspondence to: Editor, STOCKS & COMMODITIES, 4757 California Ave. SW, Seattle, WA 98116-4499, or E-mail to editor@traders.com. All letters become the property of Technical Analysis, Inc. Letter-writers must include their full name and address for verification. Letters may be edited for length or clarity. The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily represent those of the magazine. -Editor
READERS' CHOICE AWARDS
Editor,
I heard that you published the results of a study comparing different training courses for options trading. I heard that this study or comparison was in the March 2004 issue. However, when I visited your website, I could not find this comparative study in the March issue. Do you happen to know what issue this comparison was in?
Ray Montello, via email
You may be referring to our annual Readers' Choice Awards in our Bonus Issue, which is published in early March. However, it wasn't actually a comparison, but rather the results of our Readers' Choice Awards survey, in which our subscribers are asked what products and services they find the most useful across 20 categories. We do have categories for options software and training courses, but not specifically for options training courses.
Unfortunately, our Readers' Choice Awards are not available at our website. This feature is found only in our Bonus Issue, which is mailed to paid subscribers. Thus, the only way to get hold of the information is by purchasing a subscription. You can contact our Subscriptions Department for information at Circ@Traders.com.
However, you will find at our website our complete Traders' Resource database, available for free public viewing. This database lists products and services across many different categories. You can browse or search by keyword or feature, although it is just a listing, not a ranking or rating service.
Incidentally, polling is now under way for our 2005 Readers' Choice Awards. All STOCKS & COMMODITIES subscribers are eligible to vote and can do so simply by going to our website at https://technical.traders.com/Products/ballot.asp, or simply clicking on the "Vote Now" link in the upper left-hand corner of our homepage at www.Traders.com. So vote now and tell us what you think! Voting requires your subscriber number and last name.--Editor
SEEKING INFO
Editor,
Can you give me the mailing address or email address for the American Association of Professional Technical Analysts? Thank you.
Leonard W. Hitzeman
Rockford, ILYou can email the American Association of Professional Technical Analysts, which was formed earlier this year, at membership@aapta.us. The Aapta's website address is https://www.aapta.us. Their first national conference will be held October 8-10, 2004, in Phoenix, AZ. They state that they formed to provide a means for active and open communication among members, and also to represent the highest possible standards of professionalism within the investment community.--Editor
PRODUCT REVIEWS
Editor,
I enjoyed your Websites For Traders review of StockConsultant.com that you published several months ago [May 2004 S&C]. Could you review a similar product, called MarketEdge.com? I have no connection with it and have not used it. I saw it discussed in a book I was reading at Barnes & Noble and went to the site, but know nothing about it.
Product reviews are helpful for us nonprofessionals who are trying to learn about investing and the various resources and approaches. To create value for your readers, it would be especially helpful if the product reviews were six to eight pages long so that we get a substantial tour and introduction. Similar sites to review that seem to provide substantial resources include DecisionPoint.com, StockCharts.com, and StockTA.com. I have seen these sites, but otherwise do not know anything much about them. An interesting fundamental analysis site to review is StockDiagnostics.com. They have a proprietary computer program to evaluate fundamentals in much more detail than we do, and to look for promising profiles for buying or short selling. A technical trader would look at their analyses as a watchlist and wait for a technical setup such as a breakout above or below support and resistance, a trendline, or a moving average. We would also look at volume.
Thank you for your consideration of this.
Harry Thorn, via email
We looked at DecisionPoint.com in our January 2004 issue as well as back in November 1999. StockCharts.com was the subject of our March 2001 Websites For Traders column. In addition, many of our authors use StockCharts charts to illustrate their articles, especially Working Money articles.
The other three you mention -- StockTA.com, MarketEdge.com, and StockDiagnostics.com -- we have not reviewed, but could consider them. However, it doesn't sound as though StockDiagnostics.com would be something we could review, since you say it doesn't reveal its criteria, which means we can't evaluate its approach or write about how its method works. This is also true for a number of websites.
As for longer reviews, you are probably in the minority to wish for six- to eight-page reviews, and in addition, that kind of length would more strictly limit the number of reviews we could include in each issue. We feel that our typical three- to four-page reviews (our review of ProSticks in the September 2004 S&C ran five pages) allow us to dwell in depth enough to give readers a feel for the product without becoming a manual on how to use it. After all, each user will have a different experience with a product.
Thank you for writing.--Editor
THE UGLY TWINS
Editor,
I thought the article by Bruce Faber, "America's Huge, Ugly Twins" [found in this issue but originally published in our online publication, Working Money, at Working-Money.com--Editor] was excellent. Well written and easy to understand. I would be interested in any similar articles or writings.
Tom Allen, via email
For Bruce Faber's article about the "twin" deficits of the balance of trade and the US budget, turn to page 74 of this issue.--Editor
ERRATA: ATTRIBUTION
It has come to our attention that some text at the beginning of Tim Wood's November 2001 S&C article, "What Can Market Cycles Tell Us?", was not properly attributed. The text in question was actually taken from Walter Bressert's book, The Power Of Oscillator/Cycle Combinations, which was listed in the "Suggested reading" section at the end of that article.
Subsequently, when David Penn quoted the same text from Tim Wood's November 2001 article and attributed it to Tim Wood in his September 2004 article, "Copper: Recessions, Cycles, And Spin," the quote also should have been attributed to Walter Bressert. We regret this series of errors.
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