CHARTPATTERNS.COM
chartpatterns.com
The URL itself sends visions of triangles, flags, wedges, rectangles,
and head & shoulder patterns dancing through your head. But do you
really know what these patterns mean and how you can use them for trading?
If you don't, or if you are simply curious to learn more about them, Kevin
Matras's site is a place where you can find plenty of information.
Not all patterns are covered on this site. It's mainly focused on symmetrical
triangles, ascending triangles, descending triangles, head & shoulders,
wedges, flags and pennants, rectangles, and volume. Each of these patterns
is defined, along with examples of charts where the patterns appear. Examples
of both stocks and commodities are included.
You get the descriptions and examples for free, but there are various
paid services promoted on the site. For $110 per month, $285 for three
months, $480 for six months, or $780 for 12 months, you can get stock recommendations
through the pattern-recognition weekly newsletter. The newsletter contains
an average of 25 stock charts, each displaying clearly defined patterns.
With each chart comes a recommendation on when to buy or sell - for example:
"Symmetrical triangle preceded by 'pole-like' moveÉ buy on upside
breakout on increased volume."
I looked at the most recent newsletter, which included 29 charts. Each
displayed distinct patterns along with buy and sell recommendations on
pattern breakouts. But as with most pattern formations, you are going to
have to wait for prices to break out before making your buy and sell entries.
Out of the 29 charts, I found four that had broken out in the anticipated
direction, potentially resulting in profitable trades. Two had broken out
in the opposite direction from what was anticipated. The rest were staying
within a range, showing no signs of breaking out yet: the typical technical
analysis scenario. Keep in mind, though, that I looked at the newsletter
at the beginning of the week.
If you are a commodities trader, you can receive the electronic hotline
for commodities. This service includes eight to 10 charts per week of patterns
appearing in the commodities markets. Subscriptions range from $35 a month
to $294 a year. Samples of what you can expect to receive are available
on the site. In addition, various other services are available through
third-party vendors.
This site may have a Spartan look, but don't let that fool you. It contains
useful information, and if nothing else, you'll enjoy the site's "Shameless
Promotion" section and Matras's bio.
--Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan, Editor, Stocks & Commodities
FINANCIALSENSE.COM
Homepage of financialsense.com
Who is Jim Puplava?
Among other things, Puplava is the man behind Financial Sense Online,
a website that serves as a gateway to Puplava's investment advisory and
money management firm, Puplava Financial Services. The site also features
his talk show, Financial Sense Newshour, and a sizable set of essays, articles,
and interviews by and about some of the most "outside the box"
thinkers and writers on economics and finance today. Robert Prechter of
Elliott Wave International, Doug Noland of Prudent Bear, and Marc Faber
of the GloomBoomDoom Report are just a few of those who have joined
Puplava for fascinating, in-depth interviews and conversations.
Financial Sense Online is divided into a number of sections. Storm Watch
serves as the website's main hub for financial, political, and economic
news and commentary available around the web, and is itself divided into
subject headings: Economy, Financial Markets, Corporate Market, Consumer,
and World. Mostly a collection of hyperlinked headlines, Storm Watch also
includes guest editorials, archived stories, graphs, and updates, as well
as links to more than 45 different finance and financial news websites,
from the American Bankers Association and Bloomberg to Prudent Bear and
Yahoo!'s US Economy newspage.
FEATURES
As you might imagine, a financial resource website as comprehensive
as Financial Sense Online also features a Market WrapUp, written by the
aforementioned Jim Puplava, which covers some of the more relevant trends
in finance and the economy. Given the fact that the Market WrapUp is composed
daily, the breadth of the commentary is surprisingly thorough. Puplava
is among those money managers and financial analysts who have become exceptionally
guarded with regard to the almost incessant optimism pouring out of Wall
Street even in this, the third year of the bear market in stocks. His opinions
and observations on market behavior are influenced (for the better, in
my humble opinion) by this "bearish" outlook. Nevertheless, as
bearish as many of Puplava's comments may seem, he is hardly a bear of
the "grizzly" variety; Puplava is no permabear. There are areas,
such as the precious metals, in which Puplava does see undervaluation and
- without coming off like an unrepentant gold bug - explains his attitudes
toward gold and silver in a manner that is reasoned, rational, and hard
to resist.
Ever mindful of the broader social context in which the financial markets
operate, Puplava includes a Today's Top Stories section on his website
that helps visitors focus on those events that may have the greatest short-term
effect on the markets. Divided into a Financial category and a World And
National category, the Today's Top Stories section features headlines,
attributions, and a brief first paragraph from the story. Clicking on the
More tab opens up a new window on the original website where the story
was published.
Ask The Expert was the section that first caught my eye a few months
ago. I was looking for an interview with money manager Marc Faber, and
an Internet search engine pointed me to Financial Sense Online. Part of
the Financial Sense Newshour, Ask The Expert includes extensive audio interviews
with diverse and occasionally eclectic money managers, financial analysts,
and authors - often with printed transcripts available shortly after the
interviews air. Some of the experts recently interviewed include: Donald
Christensen, author of Surviving The Coming Mutual Fund Crisis;
Frank Partnoy, author of F.I.A.S.C.O.: The Inside Story Of A Wall Street
Trader; and Ian Gordon of The Long Wave Analyst newsletter,
as well as some of the other notables like Faber, Prechter, and Noland.
For those who find Puplava's personal (and professional) take on the
markets especially compelling, his Perspectives section should be of particular
interest. Perspectives features more in-depth, extensive essays and mediations
on some of the financial, economic, and sociopolitical trends and themes
that are becoming increasingly relevant in the 21st century.
An example of this is Puplava's PowerShift series, the most recent addition
to Perspectives. PowerShift discusses the treacherous nexus of oil, money,
and war, and how investors will have to rethink not only their financial
investments but also the political environment we could inherit should
global economics and the divide between "the world of order and the
world of disorder" (as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman refers
to it) grow.
Of course, some of Puplava's Perspectives can be rough stuff for those
more accustomed to the happy talk of Wall Street analysts and the perennial
"can-do," nearly omnipotent attitude of government officials.
But those who take the time to consider Puplava's observations will find
it hard to listen to the usual slipstream of official pronouncements in
the future without a heavy dose of salt.
SITEMAP
A fairly complete sitemap helps newcomers navigate Financial Sense Online.
The website also features a Resource Center that includes links to various
reading lists, favorite links, an important numbers list (which includes
everything from the White House to ABC News), a library, and a site search
engine for those who find the sitemap too complicated (the sitemap is also
accessible through the Resource Center).
With an editorial archive, a market monitor with daily closing prices
for major market averages and indexes, currencies, interest rate instruments,
and commodity futures, a Week in Graphs section, and more, Financial Sense
Online is easily one of the more complete financial commentary websites.
The fact that all this information and insight is provided gratis makes
Financial Sense Online as much a "must-bookmark" financial website
as any other on the Internet. And in a time when more and more investors
are searching about for direction in this market, Financial Sense Online
is a bargain that can't be beat.
-David Penn, Staff Writer, STOCKS & COMMODITIES
Originally published in the May 2003 issue of Technical Analysis
of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine. All rights reserved. © Copyright
2003, Technical Analysis, Inc.
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