What an event! Held on April 14, 2025, high above the streets of Manhattan on the 74th floor of ServiceNow’s Hudson Yards office, CMT Association’s 2025 Spring Summit NYC delivered a premier experience for financial professionals dedicated to advancing the discipline of technical analysis. This must-attend event combined high-impact presentations, insightful market commentary, and exceptional networking opportunities, all set against the stunning New York City Skyline. Watch the . 
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After getting acclimated to being in the clouds, attendees took in the views, connected with peers, and enjoyed refreshments. Tyler Wood, CMT the Association’s CEO and Executive Director, officially opened the event with forward-looking remarks that set the tone for the day. Tyler encouraged attendees to seize the opportunity to connect with such an experienced and incisive audience and group of speakers. He noted that the most bullish in the room should surround themselves with the most bearish to challenge each other’s assumptions and consider alternative scenarios for where markets could be headed, concluding, “the mind is like a parachute, it functions best when fully open!”

Photo by Tom Bruni @BruniCharting
Mathew Verdouw, CMT, CEO of Optuma, started the presentations with a session for both allocators and portfolio managers, proposing a new methodology for evaluating performance. He cajoled the audience to stick with him through “just a bit of math.” His presentation, Beyond Sharpe: Unveiling Variability Weighted Return for Next-Gen Portfolio Evaluation, exposed the limitations of the once-revolutionary Sharpe Ratio and shared the Variability Weighted Return (VWR) as a more nuanced alternative.
The VWR removes arithmetic averages, unsuitable for compounding and handling outliers, and does away with the often-ambiguous risk-free rate. The metric does not penalize upside volatility and remains constant across different time frames, offering a more reliable, risk-adjusted lens through which to assess portfolio performance.
Next was an outstanding discussion led by John Kolovos, CMT, CFA, Head of Technical Strategy at Macro Risk Advisors. He reminded the audience that “each day is a new backtest,” and guided a compelling conversation between two of the most widely cited names in finance today: Thomas J.Lee, CFA, Co-Founder and Head of Research of Fundstrat Global Advisors, and Mark Newton, CMT, Managing Director and Head of Technical Strategy.

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The contrasting approaches of these two gentlemen were revealed to be a powerful combination, Mark being tactical and Tom being thematic. Mark is recognized for his deeply analytical technical process, incorporating trend, momentum, breadth, sentiment, seasonality, cycles, intermarket relationships, volatility spreads, volume, and more. Tom, by contrast, is known for his acumen in analyzing the fundamental drivers of individual companies, particularly in the technology, media, and telecommunications space, where traditional valuation methods have fallen short of capturing disruptive technologies.
What makes Mark stand out as a technician is his focus on forward-looking probabilities. He truly looks to the right of the final printed price. He emphasized the importance of self-awareness and cutting losses quickly. If current conditions persist, with U.S. equities down 20 percent, historically bearish extremes in sentiment, and many investors fleeing domestic equities for international ones, he expects technology and financials to lead a market recovery in the coming months.
After a brief intermission for refreshments and conversation, attendees returned for the event’s closing panel, moderated by Jessica Menton, Senior Reporter at Bloomberg News. This engaging session was a dynamic, fast-paced, and insightful panel discussion featuring Jay Woods, CMT, Chief Market Strategist at Freedom Capital Markets; Katie Stockton, CMT, Founder of Fairlead Strategies and manager of the $TACK ETF; and Frank Cappelleri, CMT, CFA, Founder and Chief Technician at CappThesis. They discussed the current state of markets, highlighted charts that they are watching, and shared lessons from their distinguished careers. 
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“Volatility is here to stay,” Jay noted, with Katie concurring. All three panelists agreed that there is still a “lot of work to be done” to repair the current technical damage. Jay emphasized that managing risk is jobs one, two, and three. Frank highlighted the significance of understanding price’s path, not just the destination. It’s one thing to forecast higher prices twelve months out; it’s another to consider the journey and investor experience getting there.
Katie and her team are monitoring a double-bottom breakout to the upside in monthly credit spreads. Frank is watching for bearish technical patterns to start failing and bullish patterns to begin working, while also looking for a decline in large daily price moves of 1 percent or more. Jay, while reluctant to assign too much meaning to any one stock, remains focused on the chart of NVIDIA Corp (NVDA), as it preceded the broad market recovery in 2023 and the market’s current move lower.

Photo by Tom Bruni @BruniCharting
The Summit concluded with a standing ovation for Stanley Dash, CMT the Association’s longtime Program Director, and his well-earned retirement. An integral part of the Association for many years, Stan has served on numerous committees and has held the role of CMT Program Director since 2017. His tireless efforts have elevated the Association’s body of knowledge, coordinated the examination process twice every year, and upheld the CMT Association’s reputation as the global leader in technical analysis education.
More than his many responsibilities, Stan has been a mentor, colleague, and trusted friend to countless members of the community. His guidance, dedication, and character have left an indelible mark on both the organization and the individuals who make it great. With over 49.5 years on Wall Street, 18 years as a member of CMT Association, and 11 years as a charterholder, has overseen the proctoring of 11,013 CMT exams. He has many plans for the next chapter, and we all look forward to continuing to work with Stan as a passionate volunteer and vivid ambassador for the discipline of Technical Analysis.
In his parting remarks, Stan reminded attendees that the CMT Association belongs to all of us, and that its future depends on members keeping it vibrant, relevant, and meaningful.

Photo by Nick Chong
The 2025 Spring Summit was another standout event on the CMT Association’s global calendar, an inspiring day of learning, connection, and celebration held in a truly spectacular setting.
This event would not have been possible or as successful as it was without the invaluable contributions of several special people. The Association would like to thank Jay Woods, CMT for championing the event and for introducing us to Angelo Biscardi of ServiceNow, the industry-leading, enterprise-grade platform that automates and streamlines business processes, empowering organizations to grow the top line while protecting the bottom line. On behalf of ServiceNow, Angelo, Ryan Kase, Lorraine Flores, Kristen Hansen, and the rest of the Workplace Services team, graciously hosted the Association in their five-star event space. Exemplary in every way, the team demonstrated the level of professionalism ServiceNow provides to their clients.

Photo by Louis Spector @LouisSpectorCMT
Looking ahead, we invite you to join us for the investment event of the year: the 2025 CMT Global Investment Summit in Dubai. From September 30 through October 2, this three-day gathering will feature more than 30 expert speakers and 300 investment professionals from around the world, offering unmatched opportunities to connect, learn, and shape the future of investing.
Sign up now to receive exclusive access, conference details, and discounted early-bird registration pricing. We look forward to seeing you there!