|
PureBytes Links
Trading Reference Links
|
Michael,
A really excellent review. Thankyou for taking the time to post it.
Karl
:> Has anyone invested in Oceanview Financial's course by Mark Boucher
:> called "The Science of Trading". If so, would like to hear any feedback
:>
:> Dan
:
:
:I'm currently "taking" this class and well, I have something of a mixed
:reaction. Oceanview Financial represents this program as being "The
:Science of Short Term Trading" which it most definately IS NOT. I would
:say that 75% of the concepts discussed in this course are for
:longer-term trading (like 6 months and on). A good portion of the text
:is devoted to market timing, and identifying "runaway" (highly trending)
:markets and then applying a variety of strategies to enter and exit
:these conditions.
:
:As you know, Oceanview Financial is run in part by Larry Connors,
:co-author of "Investment Secrets of a Hedge Fund Manager" and co-author
:of "Street Smarts". In reading both of those books, I enjoyed not only
:the content (i.e, the strategies) but also the manner in which the
:information was presented - clear, concise, little-to-no b.s. - just
:trading ideas and how to implement them.
:
:I wish I could say the same for "The Science of (Short-Term) Trading".
:While Oceanview hypes the fact that there are a lot of trading pattern
:setups in this course, the applicability of these patterns is suspect:
:as a matter of fact, Boucher admits that HE DOESN'T EVEN USE these
:patterns anymore, since he is more concerned with vehicle selection than
:pattern recognition. Makes you wonder how useful this information
:really is, then.
:
:Also, when Boucher tested these patterns, he tested them over 80
:different vehicles (50 stocks and 30 commodities) for a twenty year
:period, making for 1600 vehicle years under consideration (80 * 20).
:Some of these patterns came up a little over 125 times over 1600 vehicle
:years, or once every 12.8 vehicle year -- pretty useful, huh? I don't
:think so. I would apply some of these patterns to 5 year data on INTC,
:MSFT and AMGN and they wouldn't occur ONCE in ANY of these stocks.
:
:In contrast to Connors works, the course itself was cobbled together
:from a variety of other courses that Boucher has presented over the
:years - thus, you are left with a tapestry of different pages all
:stuffed into one big binding. Boucher actually includes a couple of
:audio recordings from classes he gave in 1989 in which the audio quality
:is terrible (you get the chance to listen for three hours of this
:stuff), and all of the programming information (for various mechanical
:strategies) is given in CompuTrac language and Metastock language -
:nothing for Tradestation, WoW, etc.
:
:Finally, a good chunk of the material presented by Boucher is really
:from other traders (and he readily admits it): Williams, Appel, Zweig,
:Gann and others have some of their stuff lifted verbatim into this
:course.
:
:Maybe its just because I have read better material than this (in terms
:of professional presentation) that it angers me to spend $350 for
:somebody's old photocopies and cassette tapes - maybe Boucher should
:have taken the effort to put together something a bit more professional
:and worthy of his sharp mind rather than something that looks like my
:old high school physics notes.
:
:Now, for the benefits of this course, consider the following:
:
:* Boucher provides a very interesting, albeit limited, approach to
:macro-economic analysis on an international basis. He cuts through a
:lot bull and identifies those macro-economic and liquidity variables
:that one must follow to invest succesfully on a global basis.
:
:* Boucher focuses a lot on those underlying principles which really
:facilitate incredible growth and profit opportunities in the markets -
:i.e., what do companies and countries need to be doing to really create
:great wealth for citizens and investors.
:
:* The course discusses some interesting methods of measuring the
:trendiness and upside potential of markets in a relatively simple yet
:logical way.
:
:Again, I don't think many (if any) of these principles are applicable to
:strictly a short-term view of trading. While Boucher is obviously a
:master trader, I'm not sure whether he is a master teacher - if he is a
:master teacher, it certainly doesn't come through in this course.
:Overall while the ideas are good, they do not focus on short-term
:trading (as marketed) nor are they presented in the most coherent or
:logical manner. I plan to "re-take" this course as soon as I have the
:time, in order to try to extract some more useful info from it, but
:right now, I don't think my trading will improve that much having taken
:this course once.
:
:As for whether you should "invest" in this course, I would try to borrow
:a copy first and determine if you like what you see. I think what you'll
:find will vary from the way the course is marketed currently by
:Oceanview Financial.
:
:Sincerely,
:
:Michael Strupp
:Chicago, Illinois
:
|