The TAN Association reached out to Gautam Shah, CMT, CFTe, MSTA, Founder & Chief Strategist at Goldilocks Premium Research and winner of the Technical Analyst of the Year title in the aforementioned Technical Analyst Awards. Here’s an excerpt of our conversation, which touched briefly on his process and the awards.

CMT: What encouraged you to apply for the Technical Analysis Awards?

GS: For almost a decade now I have been following these awards closely, and I was impressed by the quality of the jury and nominations overall. In my previous role with one of India’s largest brokerages I did not have the opportunity to present my work in detail. Now, with my own venture, I can showcase cutting-edge comprehensive research in various forms for subscribers. We thought our work could compete with the best in the business and so we were encouraged to apply for the awards.

CMT: Can you describe your process?

GS:

Longtime member Kenneth Safian, president of Safian Investment Research, passed away on April 9, 2020, at age 83.

Ken was a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He started his career at Dreyfus & Co. where the legendary Jack Dreyfus served as his early mentor. Ken served as a director of the NY Society of Security Analysts, as a member of the National Association of Business Economists, and on the Executive Committee of Edward Jones and Co. He was a major shareholder and investment policy director for Regent Investor Services, which managed $3 billion and was sold in the early 1990s to Alliance Capital. 

Below is an excerpt from his obituary at legacy.com.

Ken was a financial analyst and asset manager who, with his partner Ken Smilen, pioneered the Dual Market Principle – the concept of breaking the equity market into growth and cyclical stocks. His analysis, prescient

The Twin Cities Chapter of the CMT held a virtual meeting on April 21 in accordance with Minnesota guidelines for social distancing during the pandemic.

The guest speaker was Mark Newton, CMT, President and Founder of Newton Advisors LLC.  Newton Advisors has provided technical analysis subscription services to clients since 2016. Mark has more than 25 years on the buy and sell side, including stints at a hedge fund, Morgan Stanley, and as an options market maker at the CBOE.

The last few weeks have seen a sharp drop and rebound in equities.  Mark highlighted some important warning signals prior to the drop, including:

1. very low put/call ratios,
2. weakening momentum as the market reached new highs,
3. divergence in the McClellan Summation Index,
4. divergences in February between the S&P 500 at new highs but not small-caps/mid-caps/equal weight indexes
5. a breakdown in Treasury yields. 

The divergence in Treasury Yields can be seen in the chart below: Treasuries yields and equities

Please tell us what you do professionally.

I am a prop trader specializing in equity index futures. I trade on a short-term, intraday basis using technicals and order flow. In addition, I am currently the co-Chair of the TAN Association Chicago chapter.

How did you get there?

I got started as a prop trader by finding a posting on LinkedIn. I then switched firms twice and ended up where I am now. The first firm I really traded at was called Tower Hill Trading. I traded equities there and led the morning meeting group in which we went over technicals and news that might be affecting the market that day. After they shut down, I went on to Topstep Trader, where I traded futures. From there, I joined Helios Trading Partners, where I currently am. I trade remotely from home, mostly in Nasdaq futures, although once in a while I will look at

Ashish Kyal, CMT, held a training event in April on the topic of combining Hurst’s time cycles with Elliott Wave theory for better strategies.

Ashish noted Hurst’s principal suggestion that there are certain standard cycles which are universal and can be applied to any asset class. Although many cycle analysts often complain that cycles vanish without giving prior indication, this can be attributed to the interaction of different cycles of varying magnitude. Ashish discussed how to sum up composite time cycles by identifying smaller and larger cycles that may be acting on prices at the same time.

In combination with Elliott Wave theory, time cycles can help traders forecast trends and predict plausible inflection points. During complex corrective patterns, identifying the maturity of the trend at hand becomes much more difficult. Hurst’s time cycles can shed some light here: being aware that a probable bottom will form, or being able to spot