A week ago I spoke at the American Association of Professional Technical Analysts (AAPTA) seminar in San Francisco. While my wife and children enjoyed the sights and sounds of the city, I was able to visit with some of the top technicians in the country.

The AAPTA organization was founded in 2004 and has around 130 members. This organization allows professional technicians to engage in networking and thought provoking dialog.
My session covered the strategies found in my ETF Trading Strategies Revealed book. Since Paul Desmond of Lowry’s Research was the next speaker, I was honored to be the warm up act! It is a bit intimidating speaking to this group but I quickly settled in when I humorously described what you hear on financial TV and what it really means. It goes like this:

“We have great values in our portfolio.” translation – Our stocks have been massacred.
“The market sold off on technical factors.” translation – We have no idea why the market went down.
“We are short term cautious but long term optimistic.” translation – We want to be right no matter what happens.

Although the S&P 500 is near an important 1400 resistance area, I can unfortunately report that Linda Raschke and Paul Desmond remain bearish (both turned bearish at much higher levels). Stan Erlich was more constructive, however, pointing to a developing head-and-shoulders bottom pattern.

I had the pleasure of meeting Tom and Sherman McClellan. Surprisingly Tom knew me from my past appearances on a Los Angeles financial TV show. Tom is extremely knowledgeable on the financial markets. Another highlight was talking to Nelson Freeburg, author of Formula Research. I’ve always admired his detailed quantitative testing.

This was a good time and I look forward to next year’s event.
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