Hi
I've studied Wyckoff for years.
I can only improve on "motorways" excellent posts in a few areas. Motorways description of the Wyckoff method cannot be improved upon.
Wyckoff and Livermore had very similar characters. Both lived for the ladies and drinking. Both made and lost fortunes. Livermores losses are well documented. Wyckoff lost his by signing away his "Magazine of Wall Street" business to his nubile young secretary (I used to have the web link to the story in Time Life archives circa 1930's sorry lost them). The "Magazine of Wall Street" was on sold to Dow Jones and was morphed into Barrons. At this point Wyckoff started "Wyckoff and Associates" which marketed the wyckoff course. This course now forms the core of the 2nd Unit of the SMI course, in particular, chapter 7 formed the core of the original method. Both Livermore and Wyckoff used a judgemental approach to the market bound within a core philosophy as opposed to the mechanical methods promulgated at the time by Richard Schabacker (who is incedentally John Magee's grandfather). Both Wyckoff and Livermore understood and described how securities were marketed to the public in the secondary market (absolutely nothing has changed today...nothing). Both Wyckoff and Livermore marketed how to speculate courses, with differing success.
It is necessary to read both Sarnoff's book and Smittens book on Livermore to get a flavour for the man, both come from different points of view.
Thanks to a prodigous memory Livermore used to work off raw numbers only (in the same way Gary Smith does), whereas Wyckoff worked off charts hand drawn by his office staff. Livermore placed greater emphasis on macro economic factors, Wycoff worked purely off his interpretation of market action. Livermore thought in terms of price levels and price reactions at certain price levels, Wyckoff thought in terms of the character of price action. Livermore bought breakouts and sold breakdowns, Wyckoff bought dips and sold into price rises (in effect Livermore demanded service, Wycoff provided service, a very important point of difference). Livermore was attracted by action/momentum in a security, Wyckoff was attracted to movement in a sleepy security. Livermore was a bottom up analyst as long as macro conditions held, Wyckoff was purely a top down analyst.
Some thoughts...
Its interesting to note the sudden interest in the Wyckoff method in this market wave, it was not evident during the tech boom. Its even more interesting to note that most people who talk about Wyckoff on forums only talk about price/volume as if that is the Wyckoff method. PV considerations form only about 15-20% of the analysis/work. The Wyckoff course has been substantially improved by subsequent owners of "Wyckoff and Associates/SMI" through constant refinement. Only 2-5% of people who start the Wyckoff course will ever be successful. Why? Because it takes a lot of work and analysis on a daily basis even with automation. It does work, but its hard work and expensive in both time and money. Thousand dollar software systems claiming to work on Wyckoff principles are novel but ultimately a waste of time. Wyckoff devotees on the web are no different from Gann, Mechanical systems gurus or Elliott fans, in so much that some are blinded by thier fanatical beliefs. Seek out those who know, but can see the big picture.
For those interested in investigating further:
www.ltg-trading.com/
There are other resources out there, but part of the reason people are attracted to Wyckoff is because of its do it yourself application, so if you find them, good luck on your journey...
Cheers
Bagwan
I've studied Wyckoff for years.
I can only improve on "motorways" excellent posts in a few areas. Motorways description of the Wyckoff method cannot be improved upon.
Wyckoff and Livermore had very similar characters. Both lived for the ladies and drinking. Both made and lost fortunes. Livermores losses are well documented. Wyckoff lost his by signing away his "Magazine of Wall Street" business to his nubile young secretary (I used to have the web link to the story in Time Life archives circa 1930's sorry lost them). The "Magazine of Wall Street" was on sold to Dow Jones and was morphed into Barrons. At this point Wyckoff started "Wyckoff and Associates" which marketed the wyckoff course. This course now forms the core of the 2nd Unit of the SMI course, in particular, chapter 7 formed the core of the original method. Both Livermore and Wyckoff used a judgemental approach to the market bound within a core philosophy as opposed to the mechanical methods promulgated at the time by Richard Schabacker (who is incedentally John Magee's grandfather). Both Wyckoff and Livermore understood and described how securities were marketed to the public in the secondary market (absolutely nothing has changed today...nothing). Both Wyckoff and Livermore marketed how to speculate courses, with differing success.
It is necessary to read both Sarnoff's book and Smittens book on Livermore to get a flavour for the man, both come from different points of view.
Thanks to a prodigous memory Livermore used to work off raw numbers only (in the same way Gary Smith does), whereas Wyckoff worked off charts hand drawn by his office staff. Livermore placed greater emphasis on macro economic factors, Wycoff worked purely off his interpretation of market action. Livermore thought in terms of price levels and price reactions at certain price levels, Wyckoff thought in terms of the character of price action. Livermore bought breakouts and sold breakdowns, Wyckoff bought dips and sold into price rises (in effect Livermore demanded service, Wycoff provided service, a very important point of difference). Livermore was attracted by action/momentum in a security, Wyckoff was attracted to movement in a sleepy security. Livermore was a bottom up analyst as long as macro conditions held, Wyckoff was purely a top down analyst.
Some thoughts...
Its interesting to note the sudden interest in the Wyckoff method in this market wave, it was not evident during the tech boom. Its even more interesting to note that most people who talk about Wyckoff on forums only talk about price/volume as if that is the Wyckoff method. PV considerations form only about 15-20% of the analysis/work. The Wyckoff course has been substantially improved by subsequent owners of "Wyckoff and Associates/SMI" through constant refinement. Only 2-5% of people who start the Wyckoff course will ever be successful. Why? Because it takes a lot of work and analysis on a daily basis even with automation. It does work, but its hard work and expensive in both time and money. Thousand dollar software systems claiming to work on Wyckoff principles are novel but ultimately a waste of time. Wyckoff devotees on the web are no different from Gann, Mechanical systems gurus or Elliott fans, in so much that some are blinded by thier fanatical beliefs. Seek out those who know, but can see the big picture.
For those interested in investigating further:
www.ltg-trading.com/
There are other resources out there, but part of the reason people are attracted to Wyckoff is because of its do it yourself application, so if you find them, good luck on your journey...
Cheers
Bagwan