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NICOLE ELLIOTT INTERVIEW SERIES: ANNE WHITBY ABOUT NICOLE ELLIOTT

FSTA A graduate of the London School of
Economics and Political Science (BSc
Posted on February 3, 2016 — 1 Comment ↓
Social Psychology) Nicole Elliott has
Anne Whitby FSTA kicks o our series of interviews with leading technical analysts. As part of our social worked in banks in the City of London
media programme, and in an e ort to help and educate budding professional and amateur chartists, this for the last 30 years. Whether in sales,
series aims at giving a light-hearted peek into the work routines and life, likes and dislikes, of people well trading or forecasting technical analysis
known in the industry. What technical analysis means to them, how they got involved, balancing life and has always been the bedrock of her
work in 24 hour markets – the things that really matter. thinking. Key expertise lies within all
areas of treasury: foreign exchange, money markets, fixed
Aping the format in national newspapers which over the years have done ‘a day in the life of’, ‘if they could income and commodities.
This site uses cookies to improve your experience. Our Privacy Policy No problem
see me now’, and ‘my coat of arms would be’, our aims are more modest. We will focus on the analysis side She has also added to the body of knowledge of the
of their lives, but obviously educational background, business conditions, and age all have a role to play. industry writing the first western book on Ichimoku Cloud
Charts. Strong media links and a cult following are due to
We hope you enjoy the pieces and that you will put forward names of your heroes and heroines for her prescient calls on the markets and o en entertaining
inclusion. Death need not be a barrier! Literary research, friends, and family might be willing to contribute. format.
Nicole can be contacted at trending@sta-uk.org

  More about Nicole...

ANNE WHITBY FSTA LATEST POSTS

I was rather nervous approaching Anne with this project (she is someone I respect and I therefore feared Framing and tunnel vision: How do you see gold?
rejection – which had been the case with another potential interviewee who preferred to hide his light under June 5, 2019
a bushel), she kicked o by saying, ’I’d be willing, but I don’t think my answers would be particularly useful Charting the Markets with IG TV: Patricia Elbaz MSTA on the
and/or relevant for today’s younger members’. Just like her, the self-e acing techie that she is. main markets
May 31, 2019
AnneWhitby
She immediately launched into: ‘Bear in mind that I O ice Politics at City AM: Short, sweet and to the point
May 30, 2019
started in 1972 (and has been a member of the
society ever since, holding a handful of committee positions) and it was a whole di erent world.’ Yes, that is A specialist’s video from IG: Focusing on hammer and
hanging men candles
precisely one of the many reasons we invited you to talk to us! May 24, 2019
Tim Harford OBE: The undercover economist
So to our questions – and her answers which were superbly brief, witty, and to the point. I later twisted her May 22, 2019
arm to pad them out a tad.

LATEST COMMENTS
Q: Who or what introduced you to technical analysis?
Jack F Cahn, CMT
on Must read classics: Richard W Schabacker – the real
A: ‘An ad in the Telegraph.’   How interesting that good, innovative employment opportunities were bible of technical analysis
advertised in mainstream media – which is probably not the case today. She then added, ‘to be exact, the
Michael Smyrk
Telegraph advert asked for “an extremely bright girl” – irresistible, no? – which would be W-A-Y out of line on Panellists kick o with a bang: New year and new venue
today!’ Yes, Anne, and as you hint, makes today’s job market is a duller place – with which I’m sure many Tim Parker
members will agree with. on For he’s a jolly good fellow: And so say all of us!
Nicole Elliott
Q: Where and how did you study? on ‘Do equities outperform bonds?’ Ask Terry Smith
Ben Tyler
A: ‘I haven’t ever really “studied” TA. I went to work with David Fuller at Chart Analysis on Bishopsgate where on ‘Do equities outperform bonds?’ Ask Terry Smith
we had to draw our own charts before we could analyse them. The first thing was always updating paper
charts!’ Her next comment will no doubt stick in the throats of younger members: ‘While I don’t think people POSTS BY DATE
would get away with not studying today, I’d guess quite a lot of the “senior” members of the STA didn’t do
much, i.e. not just me’. Select Month

So I Googled her and here is what it says: CATEGORIES

Finance (203) General (39) Markets (208) STA charts (30)
Anne Whitby has a degree in Economics and Economic History from the University of York. She has STA education (11) STA news (207)
spent her professional life in the City (of London) as a Technical Analyst, working both in research Technical Analysis (216) Technical Analysis Courses (51)
companies and an investment bank, CSFB. She is a past Chairman of the Society of Technical Analysts and Technical Analysis Training (35) Trading (211)
has considerable experience of conducting seminars, writing, and appearing on business television as a Trending (191)
commentator on financial markets. She was Managing Director of Chart Analysis for many years and is a
well-known analyst and pundit with a thorough understanding of the currency, derivative and stock TAGS
markets.
Andrews Pitchfork Behavioural finance bonds Books
Another one in hiding! candles charity charts China commodities crash cycles debt
Elliott Wave Fibonacci Foreign exchange FX Gann gold
Q: What is/are your essential methods? Who is your hero?
Indices inflation MACD moving average moving
averages open interest options oscillators
A: ‘Very basic methods and my heroine would probably be Bronwen Wood’, she of the STA memorial award
Psychology ratio
percentages pitchfork polling Prediction
fame. Digging further she tells me, ‘what I call “basic” is support and resistance, trends and the way the
instrument is trading – is it accelerating/losing momentum, has the consistency of a trend changed, in what
Ratios relative relative strength RSI STA news Stock
way is a trading range developing and where is it in relation to other congestion areas, to assess whether it is market Stocks Technical Analysis
more likely a top/bottom or a continuation pattern. And I like to look at longer-term monthly charts to see Courses trading Trends UK volatility
where we are in the big picture. For indicators I usually stick with RSI and slow stochastic and my main volume
interest in these is divergence almost more than absolute levels.’

Q: What are the best/worst aspects of this work? Please give us a brief outline of a typical working day. SIGN UP TO THE STA NEWSLETTER
Our newsletter is designed to bring you the latest
A: ‘Requires a lot of thought – best is when you get markets spot on correct, worst when you get them information on technical analysis, educational courses,
WRONG!’ conferences and events . Sign up now!
Previous Newsletter Archive
Her working day has changed over the years and she was ‘involved in di erent sorts of research provision. * required
As to my day-to-day, while some of my 4Cast work was full time, some part-time, some intraday, some 2-3
months plus view (which I much prefer doing), the actual structure of a day would be the same. When I was SIGN UP TO THE STA NEWSLETTER
doing intraday I had to do a lot of markets in a specific order every day, (plus some rather longer term, about
a month, background comments). When it was medium-term views I had a specific set of markets each
month (I did them over two days, once a month), but the order of writing was my choice.’ Email Address *

‘Basically in all cases it was: look at a number of charts of whatever, decide my view, write a comment,
prepare electronic charts to go with the comment, put them all together in a logical sequence, transmit. The
length of time to produce each comment obviously partly depended on the time frame (medium terms were First Name
much longer comments and had more charts, intradays ‘pithy’) and significantly how long it took to decide
my view! Some charts as you know just ‘speak’ and you know straight away, but others are a little more
ambiguous.’
Last Name

Q: Do you regret your career choice? Did you have a Plan B and what was it?

A: ‘No regrets, didn’t really choose anyway but fell into it. Plan B if it didn’t work was probably the next
Email Format
accident. We ARE talking 1970’s and careers for women were generally a lot less considered’. Also let’s not
forget that in 1970 only 8.4 per cent of the population went into further education – and women were an   html
even bigger minority.   text

Q: What’s the best advice you were given and what would you say to someone starting out today? SUBSCRIBE

A: ‘I can’t remember who gave me this advice, or maybe it was distilled from various comments, but it was
that I should always look at a chart objectively, and never try to fit the chart to any pet theory I’d derived
from wherever. I think that will always hold true. The other piece of advice is that when you get it wrong,
(and you will sometimes), try and work out why you reached the wrong conclusion. There should be lessons
to be learnt there. Markets being markets, however, and sometimes perverse, you may not be able to work
out why. In that case, move on, as they say…’

Q: Which areas of further research might you be interested in or suggest others should look into?

A: ‘This is very much not my expertise…’

Q: Which two books would you recommend?

A: ‘I’ve only read right through a couple of books. David Fuller didn’t encourage it – “do it, not read about it”
was his maxim. Of course there were a lot less books about TA in the 70’s anyway. Only one on point & figure
that one of my father’s colleagues had to get from the US for me!’ Called ‘Study Helps in Point & Figure
Technique’ by Alexander Wheelan first published 1947 she now would not now recommend it except as an
historical text. She then adds, ‘at first I was using exclusively P&F; now I look at all sorts of charts.’

Q: Please comment about things we have missed; your feelings and worries about the subject.

A: Clever to the end she says, ‘it was all a lot of fun – serious, but fun. I have a few worries. I feel that TA still
seems to be regarded with some suspicion by many on the fundamental side. However, the “Behavioural
Finance” label seems to be much more acceptable. And where better to observe behaviour than in charts? In
fact David Fuller has always described his work as Behavioural Technical Analysis (and I analyse in a similar
way), and Michael Smyrk has given lectures on Market Psychology for many years, possibly proving that
there is nothing new under the sun…… So I think we need to push that element – well the name anyway –
to increase acceptance.’

Here I must say I concur with her wholeheartedly about other disciplines cannibalising technical analysis –
being a Social Psychology graduate with thirty-plus years working as a technical analyst with economists –
the gloves may come o .

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Posted in General, STA charts, Technical Analysis

Tags: bar chart, Indices, options, STA news, UK

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One comment on “NICOLE ELLIOTT INTERVIEW SERIES: ANNE WHITBY FSTA”

Anonymous says:
February 5, 2016 at 9:45 am

Well done Anne.

When I joined the STA in 2010 I found some of her articles in the STA Journal and have kept a couple of
them in my files giving a very good long term view of cycles and charts. Excellent value.

Paul B

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