Do you disclose tool
formulas ?
Our formulas represent years of
privately funded research, amounting to a considerable expense. Competing
vendors would love to know how our indicators work. Parts of our algorithms are
registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and parts are trade secret. This
combination gives us the most leverage in confronting piracy. We have litigated
against every violator brought to our attention.
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Do I really need this
stuff ?
The prevalence of computers among
traders has changed everything. In comparing today's price motion to that of 20
years ago, we see increased volatility with respect to trend duration, a
phenomena we refer to as NOISE. This slows down technical analysis, creating
LAG in the decision making process. Noise and the consequent lag have made the
timely detection of trends, reversals and simple price congestion more
difficult. It is in this sense that markets appear efficient.
Years ago, trading systems were easy to
create. Books were written on how a mere moving average or stochastic could be
used to signal trades. Not any more. Ever changing market behavior, made
increasingly faster by computers, has made profit taking ever more challenging.
Reliable trading systems now require more advanced methods of analysis to
locate profit opportunities.
As with everything else in life, there are
risks in trading the markets. There are also risks in buying anything to help
you trade. You may have already discovered a plethora of products promising
easy wealth from the push of a computer button or from pages of a book.
Although anyone can randomly make a profit by shear luck, in reality, making
consistent profits from the market is not a trivial task. It requires
levelheaded professional behavior executing a reliable trading system with
profitable expectation.
"Profitable expectation" involves
knowing not only when to enter/exit, but also how much to place at risk. Timing
and risk management require being able to see through market NOISE with more
clarity and less LAG than ever before. And that requires analytical tools
displaying low noise and low lag. Yes, it is possible to get an edge. Just look
at all the TESTIMONIALS we
received.
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What are Jurik's
credentials ?
Mark Jurik is a computer
scientist with a technical diploma in Chemistry, and degrees in Electrical
Engineering and Psychology. Mark has been developing algorithms for data
analysis since 1978, mostly for the military, and went commercial as Jurik
Research in 1989. Mr. Jurik gave lectures and presentations to professional
organizations for nearly 2 decades and taught classes on Artificial
Intelligence for several years in California. His video course was approved by
the U.C. Berkeley Independent Studies Program and his software tools for
financial data analysis received top scores in a review in Futures Magazine.
Mark Jurik's clients cover the globe and include large institutions, such as
Merrill Lynch, Shearson Lehman, and Deutsche Bank.
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Do you sell trading
systems ?
No. There would be an apparent
conflict of interest in offering advice and consulting services to individuals
developing proprietary systems, all the while selling our own systems.
As for pre-built trading systems available
from other vendors, some are good but many are worthless, despite their price
tag. Although many vendors offer demonstration systems to prove their worth on
historical data, this "test" can be misapplied and misleading. For
example, we have proof that some demonstration systems distributed by other
vendors were fraudulently altered to prevent trades on historical data that
would have shown tremendous losses. In addition, we know of complaints of
vendors over-optimizing their demonstration system every month to produce
outstanding performance on historical data, with little chance of continuing
this performance on future trades.
If you really want to buy a pre-built trading
system, then follow this one rule: if the seller is not willing to show you an
independent broker's complete report of that system's most recent 100 trades,
walk away.
Our advice is this: create and thoroughly
test your own trading system. In doing so, your trades will fit your
psychological comfort zone. That is, the frequency of trades, level of risk and
typical drawdowns will not stress you out. Your health is more important than
your trades.
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Will learning take long
?
It is often said that a guitar is
the easiest instrument to learn, yet you can spend years mastering all its
potential. Likewise, our tools require only a few minutes to figure out, yet
our customers comment that after experimenting with Jurik tools for a while
they have discovered amazing applications not possible with classic technical
indicators.
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Will I need to know
advanced math ?
No math skill are needed to
simply run Jurik tools. However, since they are delivered as both indicators
and callable functions, you can embed our functions within your own custom
indicators and trading strategies. That may require on your part a deeper
understanding of how Jurik Tools work and proficiency with the programming
language within your charting software, in order to create appropriate formulas
of your own.
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Will I need neural
networks ?
Both neural nets and genetic
algorithms are for advanced traders looking to push their profitable trading
system to higher performance levels.
Neural networks (NN) are useful for
developing leading indicators, such as forecasting the highest high and lowest
low of the next 8 bars. A good neural net product will automatically try
various combinations of inputs to attain optimal performance.
BrainCel develops neural nets in
Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and the forecasting models produced can be used
in several platforms.
Genetic Algorithms (GA) are useful for
developing and fine-tuning trading rules. These rules could, for example,
select which stocks or markets may be traded that day as well which indicators
to use, and what patterns to look for within the indicators. You then let GA
adjust these parameters in order to optimize trading performance.
For more details on NN and GA, click
HERE.
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Why are Jurik Tools
better ?
Two reasons: better algorithms
and better product development.
One ingredient to winning the markets is to
remove as much lag in your timing as possible. You simply cannot compete
against traders pre-empting your trades by several bars. They will get the
lion's share of profits and you get the scraps. Standard technical indicators
have lots of lag, the primary cause for late trades and lost profit potential.
Creating indicators that are timely,
responsive and smooth is a very difficult task. Consequently, indicators
available from vendors also suffer from excessive lag. Jurik Research
algorithms are specifically designed to provide meaningful technical indicators
with AS LITTLE LAG AS POSSIBLE. This helps you make earlier trades, giving you
and your account a bigger piece of the action.
As for product development, all tools are
first designed and tested using MATLAB, the engineer's choice for heavy duty
signal processing. We then submit each formula for alpha testing that may last
many months. After developing what we think is the final version, we then
submit it for beta testing, which also lasts several months.
In addition to thorough testing, our policy
is to reward any customer who finds any error in our software documentation. We
immediately correct the error, thereby assuring you get the most accurate
documentation available. (Now isn't that a breath of fresh air!) We strive to
assure product quality, and our satisfied customers say we have
achieved that goal.
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Any free trials or demo
versions?
They are counter-productive with
Jurik Tools. That may come as a surprise, but there is sound logic behind it.
Standard technical indicators have
significant lag. For years users have grown accustomed to it and tried to
devise ways to mitigate its disadvantages. Because our tools have little lag,
proper application requires spending time rethinking how to write technical
indicators THE WAY THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALL ALONG. For example, a common
first-approach toward creating a MACD with JMA is to use it for both the fast and
slow crossover lines as follows:
MyMACD=fast JMA - slow JMA
However, the result is mediocre. This is
because MACD actually *requires* lag, but only *between* the two crossing
lines. Therefore, for best results, it's better that the slower line have both
lag and momentum so that it does not weaken when price reverses. Otherwise, the
crossover is delayed as the faster line tries to meet the slower one (which is
turning away). A simple moving average (SMA) has more lag and momentum than
JMA. So a better MACD would be as follows:
MyMACD=fast JMA - slow SMA
This revised formula simultaneously maximizes
lag between the two filters as well as minimizes the delay in attaining
crossover signals. Its surprising how many customers discover this on their
own.
Learning when and where to add or remove lag
in technical indicators takes time, and we found that during a brief trial
period, the user is either not committed or not able to do so. Consequently, he
may decide JMA is not much better than what he already has.
A few demonstration charts beyond those
displayed on our web site would not offer added value because they lack the
interaction needed to realize our tools' true power. In contrast, customers who
buy our tools will dedicate time to go through our manuals and inevitably
discover ways to make new indicators. The varieties of ways users have applied
CFB, for example, amaze me.
We realize that having no
free trials will discourage
some from acquiring our software, and that's OK.
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To help in the decision making process, our
web site displays numerous charts that point out the advantages of using Jurik
Tools, and posts a large collection of letters from users. We also try to
provide quality tech support (within reason).
We are happy to have a
user satisfaction
rate better than 99.5%
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Do Jurik tools replace
mine ?
In some cases, yes, but in
others, no. For instance, you might well simply replace "momentum"
with our VEL and the classic RSI with
our RSX. However, our
JMA has so little lag, it makes you
rethink how lag plays a useful role in some technical indicators. As a
consequence, simply replacing your current moving average with JMA may or may
not be appropriate. An example is provided here.
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Any return policy on
your books ?
No. Research is a very expensive
process. Purchasing the book gives the customer access to our past research. We
make no representation that our past research will satisfy the customer's
particular needs. The book does not include our most recent research. Access to
recent works requires hiring Mark Jurik as a
consultant.
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Can I get additional
passwords ?
Passwords are only required for
using Jurik tools on either TradeStation or Multicharts.
TradeStation:
Your password is keyed to your TradeStation
Customer Number (TCN), and will run on all your computers having TradeStation
installed with the same TCN. Consequently, additional passwords are not
needed.
MultiCharts:
Your password is keyed to your MultiCharts
User Name (MUN), and will run on all your computers having TradeStation
installed with the same MUN. Consequently, additional passwords are not
needed.
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How do I get a new
password for a new computer?
You may need to either replace an
existing password or update your Jurik Research software.
- If you have a new
TradeStation or MultiCharts account, see "Condition #1 below.
- If you have a charting
platform (not TradeStation or MultiCharts) running on a new computer, see
Condition #2 below.
Condition #1 -- You have a
new TradeStation or MultiCharts account.
Each TradeStation or MultiCharts user account
requires a different activation password from Jurik Research. If your
TradeStation customer number or MultiCharts User Name has changed, we will
update our records and provide you with a new activation password for a service
fee of $30. (This fee is waived if, at the same time, you are upgrading your
Jurik Tools collection).
HOW TO ORDER
- STEP 1
After reading the following NOTES, please
email your request for a new password to
[email protected]. Please
include your telephone number, old and new TradeStation customer numbers or
MultiCharts User Names, and the Jurik Tools you are currently using.
NOTES
In your email to us, include AS ATTACHMENTS
all correspondence you received from TradeStation or Multicharts in response to
your receiving a new account. DO NOT simply forward each piece of
correspondence to us. They must be collected together in one email as
ATTACHMENTS.
If you are not able to attach email (e.g. as
with Yahoo Mail), you can still provide us with alternative proof by letting a
member of our sales team briefly access your computer, via the Internet, so we
can open the TradeStation or MultiCharts "About" window, which
displays your name and either TradeStation customer number or MultiCharts User
Name. There is an extra $10 fee for this service.
To request this online verification
procedure, please email to [email protected]. Please
include your telephone number and mention the Jurik Tools you are currently
using.
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- STEP 2
Go to our
online
shopping cart, change menu item from "All Departments" to
"j) Special Services". Add product item "Pass Replace - 30"
to your shopping cart.
Condition #2 -- Your charting
platform (not TradeStation or MultiCharts) is now running on a new
computer.
If you can provide documentation that you
recently purchased a new computer, designed to replace an existing computer
currently running Jurik Tools software, we will update our records and provide
you with a new software download for a service fee of $20. (This fee is waived
if, at the same time, you are upgrading your Jurik Tools
collection).
HOW TO ORDER
- STEP 1
We require a copy of your new computer
sales invoice. Select any of these three options ...
- Email to
[email protected] your
request for a replacement password, and ATTACH your new computer sales invoice
that was emailed to you. DO NOT forward the invoice. It must be ATTACHED to
your own email to us. Please include your telephone number, charting platform
and Jurik Tools you are currently using.
------------
- Fax a copy to 323-258-0598. Then email to
[email protected] your
request for a replacement password. Please include your telephone number,
charting platform and Jurik Tools you are currently using.
------------
- Mail a photocopy of your new computer sales
invoice to the steeet address shown below. Please include your telephone
number, email address, charting platform and Jurik Tools you are currently
using.
Jurik Research Software Inc., Suite 237
686 South Arroyo Parkway
Pasadena, CA 91105
- STEP 2
You must permanently remove our software from one prior machine, and you must specify which one. We will let you know which machines we have on file, if you are not sure.
STEP 3Go to our
online
shopping cart, change menu item from "All Departments" to
"Special Services". Add product item "Pass Replace - 20" to
your shopping cart.
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1000 simultaneous plots
?
You can have 1000 plots of Jurik
Tools running simultaneously. Our tools are designed for multiple separate
function calls per chart, and across multiple charts.
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Do your tools work in
real-time ?
Yes. All Jurik tools are designed
to operate as fast as possible in real-time, within limitations of the hosting
platform. To see what version of Jurik Tools runs on your platform, go
HERE.
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JMA