Every month since becoming President, I have been able to report to you the successes we have had as an organization. I wanted to change tunes and do something different, something that I do not think has been done before and something that should be done. I wanted to briefly highlight where, as President, I have not done well, things I have failed to do. I do this not only to be totally transparent but more importantly, to highlight what is on my MTA plate as my Presidential term winds down in its final six months. We have further work and negotiations to do with the Canadian Securities Institute. They are currently offering a very successful technical analysis course and we need to continue to work closer with them. The Long Term Planning committed has been inactive since well before I became President. This needs to be reinvigorated. The call from

In the quest for trading success, many traders are seduced into a fruitless search for a perfect entry or exit technique. While they hunt in vain, they miss some very simple strategies that enhance trading returns yet do not involve entry or exit. One strategy most traders overlook altogether is risk equalization. Risk equalization allows a speculator to make proportional adjustments to their account while staying within their tolerance for risk. Risk equalization means you adjust the number of contracts or shares to stay within pre-determined risk guidelines. For instance, a trader wouldn’t trade a Corn futures contract the same as he would trade an S&P 500 futures contract. The two contracts are dissimilar in size and move differently. Frequently however, traders get a ‘lot size’ mentality. They are comfortable trading one contract of many markets, but get skittish at the possibility of having 10 contracts on one instrument and 2 on

VantagePoint 6.3 by Market Technologies, LLC Like newborn babes, traders enter the market with high hopes and great expectations. Among their first tasks is to find the ‘best’ method to trade, and this is something they will spend anywhere from six months to as much as five years doing. Armed with little more than hope and a dream, they scan the literature, enroll in seminars, buy a truckload of books on the topic and then either choose a charting program or for the more technically advanced, create a system that they believe suits their desired trading style. During your first year (if you are lucky), you come to the grim realization that backtesting produces great results, especially if you fall into the curve-fitting trap but try such a system in real-time with real money and you usually get slaughtered. Indicators like the zigzag, available in most charting programs, are a great example.

A rather small but dedicated group of CMTs met in Newark, New Jersey this past November to grade 154 CMT 3 exams. This provided an opportunity for this group of experienced technicians to give back to our profession though the grading process, and build on the friendships that have developed both during and after the daily grading. Their involvement and commitment to technical analysis is critical to the mission of both the CMT program and the Market Technicians Association. Thank you for your hard work. If you are interested in serving as a grader or becoming involved with the Accreditation Committee, please contact Marie at the MTA office to inform her of your interest. I believe you will find your participation both rewarding and enjoyable. PASS RATES FOR FALL CMT EXAMS Level 1: 69.8% passed Level 2: 75.3% passed Level 3: 59% passed On balance, over time, these results are similar to those of the CFA.