Trader’s Narrative

I’ve been meaning to write a review of Jason Goepfert’s website, SentimenTrader, for a while now. I’ve used them myself and referred to their analysis before. If you’re unfamiliar with it, SentimenTrader is basically a one stop shop for actionable technical analysis. The name of the site is a bit misleading since it goes above and beyond simple sentiment measures and keeps track of a dizzying array of indicators and data. If you’re really into technical analysis, SentimenTrader is your wet dream.

Goepfert has been a trader for around 10 years and before worked in the operations department of a large hedge fund. But his credibility as a technical analyst was cemented when he was awarded the 2004 Charles H. Dow award for his analysis of mutual funds cash reserves(pdf) as an indicator of market performance.

What attracted me to SentimenTrader was their focus on actionable analysis rather than just research for research’s sake. You can find a lot of insightful commentary nowadays from various good sources. But almost none of it is really going to help you make money as a trader. That’s what sets SentimenTrader apart. No matter what your style of trading, it is helpful to have a guide that can give you a better understanding of the trend and point to areas where it has a high probability of changing.

The other reason why I like Jason’s site is that he is an inexhaustible fountain of ideas. Sometimes it seems he has one a day! Anyway, he methodically researches every single one and if it survives scrutiny, shares it on the site. I suppose that’s how he has come up with his numerous proprietary indicators. Unlike many though, he doesn’t just blindly follow an indicator but instead picks it apart to get to the underlying concept. And he is ruthless in discarding indicators when he notices that they stop working.

To see some specific examples of what I mean, check out Goepfert’s contributions to Minyanville. Or register for a a risk-free 2 week trial.

The only criticism that I can offer him would be to improve the design and user friendliness of his site. The look of the site simply doesn’t match the caliber of information it contains and it may turn away some who ‘judge a book by its cover’.

Very soon (hopefully tomorrow) I’ll have a special announcement related to SentimenTrader which you won’t want to miss