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Eiger - that is a great post with the Point and Figure charts thank-you. I admire you for keeping them by hand - do you update them throughout the trading day?
For such an apparently simple chart the Point & Figure is rich in meaning. I have been given much instruction in their use by a very valuable friend and mentor but feel I am still just scratching the surface in their application. For showing the build up of 'cause' and risk ... outstanding.
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Thanks, MrEd. The figure charts are really something, aren't they? Wyckoff used them extensively, and they can be a big help in intermediate trading. Funny these haven't been discussed. Bob Evans is the early Wyckoff trader at Wyckoff/SMI I referred to. He did extensive work on the figure charts and came up with a succinct way to use and understand them - really great work, including ways to use the FC to time the market. His Count Guide is linked below, for anyone interested. Consult the Wyckoff/SMI Course - unit 2 and especially unit 3 to learn about figure chart application.
These are the only things I do by hand anymore, but definately find it useful to do. These are based off the 15-minute chart and updated at the end of the day. I don't try too keep figure charts intraday, though sometimes if there is a long sideways line on the intraday chart, I will do a quick FC to see the potential move. For anyone who hasn't kept charts by hand, its quite good to do. You definately get a feel for the market, which you don't get from the computer screen. As i mentioned earlier, its one of the key things that had kept me bullish despite the weak rally.
You can also go to stockcharts.com and get free figure charts, which i often do for a "quickie read" on a stock. There is an inexpensive program called Bullseye Broker (archeranalysis.com) that has good software for figure charting. The other things out there that i have seen use different methods than Wyckoff did, so i don't know how useful they are.
Thinking of hand charts, I used to keep hourly hand bar charts of the major indexes and key stocks, if you can believe it. For intraday, I also used to keep 5-minute swing charts by hand. These are also very valuable to do. (I now have this computerized along with the Wyckoff/SMI O-P index that updates intraday, so I don't even do that anymore!) Doing the hand work is really valuable, though. Another very useful thing I still always do is annotate the bars during the day and mark the
VSA indications. It's useful just to go bar-by-bar and note up bar/down bar, spread, volume, significance. Do this a while and it will quickly improve your chart reading abilities.
Eiger