Technical Analysis for the Trading Professional

Book Review by Edward D. Dobson, President, Traders Press, Inc.

Constance Brown's latest book, while dealing with a broad range of subject matter, might have been subtitled, "A Revisionist's Guide to the Interaction of Analytical Indicators". In this considerable work the author presents a number of novel ways in which well-known indicators can be used alone and in combinations, invariably exceeding the objectives proposed for the original tools.

In this second literary effort in the trading arena Brown has produced a work of impressive scope. The books is geared toward the experienced trader, with the attendant assumption that he is familiar with some of the commonly used techniques and is comfortable with the popular indicators. The necessity for this knowledge is immediately apparent, as the author departs from the usual uses and interpretations of common trading tools in order to more effectively specify entries and objectives to the markets. The ultimate development is a compilation of ingenious methological variations and combinations, the likes of which are not often encountered.

This book of 341 tightly packed pages is divided into three major segments: "Dispelling some Common Beliefs About Indicators", "Calculating Market Price Objectives:" and "New Methods for Improving Indicator Timing and Filtering Premature Signals". Just the reading of those titles should whet the appetite of any red-blooded technical trader. And, happily, he will not be disappointed. There is enough specific information, replete with examples, to keep him busy improving his trading armamentarium for some time.

While the tenor of Brown's work is not iconoclastic, it has a revolutionary timbre. A common thread throughout the text is that indicators should be approached with openness and courage, always in an attempt to determine how they are constructed and how they might be used inventively to describe market activity. This is not to say that rigor is to be abandon. To the contrary, the author is, if anything, a stickler for rigorous procedures once the possibilities inherent in the tools have been explored to their limits.

The author is particularly adept at combining techniques that produce additional, useful information. The reader will find more than a dozen technical ideas that are well tested and practical for use in real world trading. There are numerous other concepts that should pique the experimental nature of the trader whose talents extend to development through his own research.

It should be mentioned that the reader can feel secure in the use of any tool that Brown uses in her own trading, although the author would insist on a trader doing his own checkout first. Brown engages in years of testing on historical and real time data, a procedure that can be attributed to only a few first echelon traders. While a specific techniques may not fit the reader's trading style, it will have passed rigorous examination and been relegated to specific purposes in the arsenal.

In addition to dealing extensively with an interplay of indicators such as RSI, Stochastics and moving averages, the text covers the broader techniques of Elliott Waves and Gann Squares. No attempt is made to cover the waterfront here, but to give the reader sufficient basic information to allow further study.

Several notable highlights should be mentioned. Brown debunks the idea that default values of oscillators an indicators are sacrosanct. She shows that oscillator ranges fluctuate, and that the extent of the fluctuations can be specified, providing different interpretations of oscillator levels, depending on whether the market is in a bull or bear phase. A second area of interest involves the author's carrying Andrew Cardwell's work on the RSI to new, fascinating avenues of analysis. Cardwell's well-known concept of Positive and Negative Reversals, which seems to be the obverse of Divergence, is used cleverly to forecast market prices, often with remarkable accuracy. Several other novel variations of RSI use are revealed, any of which would likely enhance a trader's technical armory.

A section that may be especially interesting to a wide group of workers is a treatment of "advanced" Fibonacci analyses. Some of these deal with clusters of Fib levels, some with "tricks" in the placement of origins and terminations of reference ranges. Fib aficionados will find considerable value in Brown's use of the technique for price projection.

The derivation of price objectives is covered in still another way, involving reverse engineering of indicators. The procedure requires the transfer of data from a toolbox program such as TradeStation to spreadsheet like Excel. The reader is provided with a by-the-numbers operational description so that all might implement this valuable technique, allowing a determination of facts such as where the price level must be in order to bring an indicator to a given value (e.g., overbought or oversold). Whereas most toolbox programs, alone, are incapable of such niceties, they become child's play when used in conjunction with a spreadsheet.

In a unique chapter, titled "Evaluating the Comparative Strengths and Weaknesses of Common Indicators," Brown brings to bear her expertise as Kodak's former technical rep. Her explanation for visual/brain constructs an their effect on human perception is both fascinating and important. As the reader learns about the interactive influence of indicator displays he is likely to find himself saying, "So, that's why the same data looked so different the second time!" Inasmuch as we often make decisions on the basis of what we see on the monitor screen, this discussion is of more than passing academic interest. At one point, Brown snares the reader in a "depth perception trap," then goes on to explain how to avoid such foibles when evaluating charted data. In effect she attempts to train the reader to "see correctly," constraining the brain's predilection to extrapolate information into three-dimensional space. The result, hopefully, is improved market analysis.

While the author generously provides formulas for most of the described techniques, she withholds the one on her proprietary Composite Index, an indicator that has the broadest application. By going to the author's website, the reader finds that he can obtain this key item by merely signing up for a $5,500 seminar. At that time he will also learn how Brown uses Gann's work as a key element in her trading. This is mentioned as a pet peeve of the present writer. The author gives us a full rack and then withholds the cue ball. That is dirty pool.

But, table games aside, a summary statement about this book would have to be that it is a treatise on the interaction of trading tools. Brown's most outstanding contribution is her use of a combination of techniques for specific analytical purposes. Such mastery of one's implements is unusual and time-consuming. It almost always leads to an outstanding result.

This book is a must read for any trader who uses technical analysis.

Review by Edward D. Dobson, President Traders Press, Inc.