Well, the difference is that I use TA to time my buys and sells. I think I didn't buy any SPZI for almost a year. And the reason was the discipline of a TA system that enables me to decide on and stick with an investment approach.
In the case of SPZI, I made rules: a rule never to buy under certain circumstances, a rule to only buy under certain circimstances, and a rule on how circumstances had to change for these two rules to get themselves changed. If Spooz went up and met my targets, I would have sold. If it showed a certain volume fingerprint trail, I behaved a certain way as defined by my rules. If the volume picture that the chart painted warranted changing my decisions, I let the TA tell me the situation had changed and I comported myself with its lessons and altered my stance. Its not like deciding whether the metaphysical poets or the Methodists have it right. Its a rules based approach where the rules for managing a situation that is in a constant state of flux are derived from TA. What's so hard to understand?
IMHO, it is proper to use a strident set of TA rules to manage a situation such as SPZI. You and everyone else in the entire universe can disagree. I could care less. I can remember my wife and I sitting in a financial manager's office in 1993 and, in my hands was his set of printouts listing the thousands of trades he had made, churning our account. I'd bought Steve Nissan's book on candlesticks when it had come out and I asked, "Bob, have you ever looked at using candlesticks?" He didn't even know what they were. I took our money out and we avoided loosing the huge chunk others I knew who were with him subsequently lost. Its not like my TA approach was manufactured out of thin air.
In general, TA allows you to discipline your management of situations that are in constant flux. What other use for TA is there? We're not talking about neuritic retraction in rat PC12 neurons here. We're talking about how to come up with a system that controls how you make decisions in buying and selling stock. I have a couple of in-laws whose technique for attacking me on anything, whether it's whether I should spend the money on copper gutters or where I place a rose bush, is always to incessantly ask questions. I learned a long time ago that they weren't really asking me questions. They were using that technique to criticze. If you aren't doing this very thing, I'd be quite surprised.
I'm not married to Spooz. Spooz and I aren't getting lawyers and deciding how to split the property up if things don't work out. If things go right, I sell. If things go wrong, I sell. Not exactly rocket science. If I take a risk such as Spooz, it is what it is. But there are many minefields far less risky than this one in which to play kickball, if being safe is my basic motive. But my basic motive for allocating a certain portion of my holdings to risk of this category is that I've simply made up my mind that doing so is worth the risk. And anyway, live by the sword... die by the sword.
And don't anyone do what I say. Parse what I, and anyone says, and manufacture your own approach. I am interested in knowing what other smart people think, but what impresses me is not an unending stream of condemnations of Paul Strickland and this company. Like the Marine Corpse says (Give me a few good men), just give me a few good ideas. But always, take whatever is said by me or by anyone on a blog site such as this, with a big slug of skepticism. Do your own DD and make up your own mind.
Peace.
Imperial Whazoo
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