World-renowned trader and author Dr Mircea Dologa spoke with traders at the recent Technical Analysis Paris Salon.

What was the driving force behind writing your books?

During my study of financial markets, I realised the scarcity of the true 'know how' practical tools in the available financial literature and seminars. After reading hundreds of books and attending numerous seminars the same question kept popping up: where is the meat? Most of the time, besides the standardised wisdom... there was no useful information!

After years of hard work and dedicated study I have decided to share my knowledge with my trading community colleagues, to compare our technique – which I regard as a very profitable one – to the other trading techniques available on the market.

I truly believe that the Integrated Pitchfork Analysis trilogy reveals one of the most reliable and most profitable trading techniques, which complies harmoniously with the following four principles:

• Getting the inexhaustible edge of learning and cruising with the so-called ‘smart money’ people who move the markets.
• A market approach that obeys the internal rules of the time-price ethereal space.
• A ubiquitous usefulness in trending and sideways markets.
• And finally, an ergonomic and profitable intricacy with risk control.

Can you describe the main theme of your books? What should the reader expect?

The three volumes of Integrated Pitchfork Analysis might well be considered a Swiss Army Knife for the beginner and the advanced trader alike. Although the books are centered on my tools of choice – the mighty pitchforks – the reader will be pleased to find a variety of trading techniques such as:

• Bollinger and Keltner bands.
• Chart patterns, Gap trading.
• Wolfe and Elliot waves.
• Jenkins techniques and Gann tools.

Also, I should not forget to mention a number of subjects rarely discussed in a technical paper such as: trade management, the scale-in/scale-out technique and the multiple time frames analysis.

Although some basic knowledge of classic technical analysis is required in order to digest the advanced subjects discussed in Volume 2 and Volume 3, the first volume does a great job in teaching the layman how to approach a ‘naked chart’ and how to make sense of the market movements. The trader should think of themselves as businesspersons and therefore treat the trading activity as a genuine business; in fact their approach of the market should be based on a famous business principle: think globally and act locally.

The structure of these three books allows the reader to pick his or her favourite trading tool(s), out of all the trading techniques explained in details with the help of more than 1,500 charts scattered across more that 1,200 pages, and become a consistent trader in a matter of months.

What is, in your opinion, the most important paragraph to read and what makes it so important?

The manner in which the books treat the dynamics of market energy consumption, its continuous oscillation between exhaustion and exacerbation, reveals a new dimension of the market inner workings. Its full comprehension, an essential step in understanding the trading process, will surely transform the way readers will approach the market in the future and turn them into proficient traders. In the same vein, the multiple time frame analysis introduces the readers to the full complexity of the trading arena and then gradually simplifies it so that they can clearly see the connections between the macro scenes (monthly, weekly, daily time frames) and the micro scenes (60-, 30-, 15-min time frames).

I would like to emphasise the versatility of the ‘Integrated Pitchfork Analysis’ concept, a serious piece of work that combines the breadth of evolving theory with the depth of practical insight acquired over 20 years of trading experience. But, as I clearly state from the very beginning, we cannot say often enough that the wisdom of understanding the market behavior and trading in a consistent manner cannot be learned overnight.

What does the future hold?

Nowadays I am working on a new website which will offer a vast array of professional services! I'm also quite involved in the process of translating my books into several languages such as German, Spanish and Chinese! The Chinese version will be launched in Beijing at the end of the current quarter.

The success of this trilogy has prompted me to write a fourth book on a subject rarely treated nowadays! I planned this book specifically for the experienced traders who often have a hard time trying to lend a helping hand to the new generation! It will be published by the end of 2011 and will guide the readers on the long and winding paths of professional trading.

Dr Dologa began his investment and trading career in the pharmaceutical and real estate industries in 1987. As a registered Commodity Trading Advisor certified by the US National Futures Association, he founded a new learning concept, based on practical aspects of the profitable trading, for both newcomers and experienced traders. He has published more than 50 articles in various international trading magazines and has written three books in his quest to teach as efficiently as possible the art of trading from the beginner's level to the highest standard – the professional trading.