Wednesday, July 18, 2007

The Definitive Guide to Point and Figure

After becoming very proficient in candle charting, I was a bit hesitant to learn a whole new form of charting. However, I felt that I might as well try to add another tool in the tool box, which is why I bought this book.

After reading it, I realized that I did not get another tool in the tool box, but I got a whole new box! This book, weighing in it at 1.5kg, and covering 515 pages, lives up to its title of being definitive. For the price, you get a plethora of material, as well as many full colour charts.

Jeremey
Du Plessis, the author, starts off by introducing the history of point and figure charting. He goes through this form of charting's evolution, and how its name came about. I thought this section was fascinating, and helped build a solid foundation before he moved on.



From there, the author goes on to describe how the charts are constructed, and he goes through numerous examples, so that it's impossible not to understand once he is finally done. Mr. Du Plessis differentiates between the various forms on point and figure charts, and explains the benefits and draw backs of each.

The section I found most interesting was the one on the interpretation of buy and and sell signals. This is the part of the book that can be used to make money in the stock market. After reading this section, I came to the realization that this form of charting can show you things that will not be evident in candle charting. It is this fact that made the purchase of this book worth it for me.

There were some downsides to this book, however. Some of the sections were just too long, and I did not believe in some of the concepts such as using counts to determine price targets. I just don't see the rationale behind this concept. Besides that, this book is very well written, and I would recommend it.

Overall Rating: 8/10

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