Please tell us what you do professionally.
I currently serve as Program Director of the CMT program here at the CMT Association. The curriculum and the exams fall under my purview. Of course, I don’t do all that in a vacuum. In addition to my colleagues on staff, three groups of members are essential to this process. The Curriculum and Test Committee has oversight responsibility for the curriculum and the exams. The subject matter experts write and review exam materials. And the exam graders pore over each Level III exam paper as part of the scoring process. Their contributions are at the heart of the credentialing program, but it also means that a significant part of what I do is coordinate their efforts.
How did you get there?
My career in markets and on Wall Street (literally, the street that runs from Broadway to the East River) seems like a blur but looking back a lot of it adds up. The common thread was always looking for opportunities where I could stretch myself, learn, and have the appropriate level of risk for the potential payoff. Sound familiar? I was very fortunate to start off in an exceptionally dynamic environment – the commodity department at EF Hutton. Those markets were particularly exciting at that time and undergoing tremendous growth. I had a chance to soak up quite a bit of knowledge from technicians and fundamentalists alike.
By the 1990s, a major challenge for those of my generation was adjusting to the ubiquity of computers. My years with TradeStation provided me with the opportunity and the necessity, as well as the resources, to adapt. I could combine my “hand-drawn” experience and knowledge of technical analysis with the tools for custom indicators and system testing. And as a founding employee of TradeStation’s Client Education department, I could share my knowledge and research with the company’s clients.
With TradeStation, the New York Institute of Finance, and the Futures Industry Association, much of my work has involved educating professionals and newcomers about markets, technical analysis, and quantitative tools. So, it was another fortunate turn for me to be an active member of the CMT Association and a member of the Curriculum and Test Committee when the staff position opened.
Who was an early mentor in your career?
It seems as though there was a time that you couldn’t cross Broadway without crossing paths with a cutting-edge technician. At Hutton, I worked with Arthur Sklarew, Steve Nison and other fine technical analysts. Paul Jones was making his way through the cotton market on his way to fame. And I first met Ralph Acampora and John Murphy at the New York Institute of Finance when I was teaching a course on futures markets. And, although it was for only a short period, I learned quite a bit about systems and discipline working for Barbara Dixon (herself a protégé of Dick Donchian) at Shearson.
I also owe a shout out to the staff of the chart room in Hutton’s commodity department. They let me hang around and showed me how to construct point-and-figure charts, create continuous contracts, and plot volume and open interest – all by hand.
What book/author was most influential in helping you understand TA?
Certainly, the opportunity to work with and for the people I just mentioned, as well as with other thought leaders, in live market environments was eye-opening and formative. And reading Edwards and Magee was everyone’s introduction to charting. As the computerized era dawned and I began working at TradeStation, the work of Perry Kaufman, Murray Ruggiero, Welles Wilder and others helped me make the transition to rules-based analysis and trading.
If you’ll allow me another word here, I’d like to mention Arthur Sklarew once more. He was a friend and colleague and mentor. I still run into technicians who mention his work to me, not knowing that we were friends. I had the privilege of being at the next desk as he worked on his book – all by hand. A fine man and a fine technical analyst.
What do you like to do when you are not looking at markets?
Family is paramount, of course, and I’m fortunate to have all my children and grandson living close by. I love travel, live music and obsessing over the most beautiful game there is – baseball. The common thread between music and baseball and my enjoyment of other arts and sports is my admiration for those who perform at the highest levels.
What brought you to the CMT Association?
Working downtown here in NY and knowing so many technicians, I long felt in the Association’s orbit though I did not become a member until about 15 years ago. At that point, I was working for TradeStation and it was an opportunity to network and learn what others in the technical analysis community were doing. Finally, even after so many years of doing technical work, writing systems, and lecturing, I took the challenge of sitting for the CMT exams. Part of my motivation was that I had several CMT charter holders reporting to me so it seemed appropriate that I run the same gauntlet they had successfully completed.
What it the most useful benefit of membership for you?
During the time that I was an affiliate member, the answer would have been primarily networking and the opportunity to exchange ideas. When I earned my charter, I was proud of the accomplishment and proud of being a member of an association dedicated to the ethical practice of the discipline in which I’d worked for so long. And now, I think my work as Program Director benefits from having the perspectives of a candidate, a member, and a proud charterholder.
