Frequently Asked Wyckoff Course Questions

The informational pages about the Richard D. Wyckoff Course in Stock Market Science and Technique have rapidly become the most popular pages on the web site. If you have questions about the course or have purchased the course and need help getting organized, check out this page. If you have a question just send us an e-mail at support@wyckoffsmi.com . As we receive your questions about the course, we will try to answer them on this page.

I have heard that the course materials are relatively old and charts are not very clear. I have also read other technical analysis books and articles written many years ago and had a hard time trying to understand them.

Over the years, the Wyckoff course has been changed and updated. In the 1970’s when the course was offered under the GI bill, the materials published then were from the 1960 s and even earlier. Forty years later, many of us, who took the course then, still keep the course materials handy and refer to them on a regular basis.

The course’s purpose is not to review the action of current stocks, but simply understanding and learning to apply the Wyckoff trading principles and methods at any time in any market.. These methods worked in the 1920 s when Richard D. Wyckoff was an active trader and still work today, even in a market that is very different from Wyckoff s days.

It doesn’t matter whether these principles are applied to this year’s Merrill Lynch melt down or an analysis of accumulation using the now defunct US Steel. If one understands and correctly uses the Wyckoff trading principles they will be successful in up markets, down markets, today s markets and tomorrow’s markets. That is the most significant strength of the Wyckoff methods and strategies.

The chart exhibits are now displayed one to an 8.5 by 11 page and are easy to see and understand. No squinting required.

The course content is also easy to read and very straightforward. Important concepts are repeated throughout the course materials so they can be re-enforced in the student’s mind. The hard part is not the course, but developing the discipline necessary to turn the Wyckoff methods into profitable trading opportunities.

What do I do if I have a question that is not covered in the course or simply can’t grasp a concept and need help?

We have established a support forum for Wyckoff students. The forums will be moderated by Wyckoff method instructors. As you work your way through the Wyckoff course, you can submit questions or get some help with any Wyckoff concepts you may find difficult.

I just received my course and need some help organizing the materials

The Richard D. Wyckoff Course in Stock Market Science and Technique consists of five units. The course is contained in three binders and three large envelopes.

Unit 1 contains written material and is found in one binder that contains an introductory letter beginning with “In the next few weeks………..”.

Unit 2 is found in two binders. One has the course text. The other has the associated exhibits.

Unit 3 contains one binder a CD with the audio basic lectures in an MP3 format. The CD is located in the binder’s inside front cover. The binder also includes the exhibits that go with the audio basic lectures and the exams.

Unit 4 is the practice trading phase and all the necessary materials are contained in the practice trading envelope. You should read the Judging The Market and How To Select A Stock before listening to the lectures.

Unit 5 is the final exam. The exam is in its own envelope
The final envelope contains all the model answers for every one of the course exams.
It is important to complete the course in Unit order.

Units four and five are packaged in one brown envelope that contains the practice trading information and the final exam.

The course contains a total of three CD’s, in an MP3 format, four binders and one brown envelope.

The Basic Lectures found on the CD’s are different to the Basic Lectures in the written text. I’m do not sure how I should go about studying these materials.

The Basic Lecture CD, found in the front cover of the binder, contains the basic lectures in an MP3 format. This format is compatible with the CD on your computer. The basic lectures on these CD’s are associated with the chart exhibits that are also found in the same binder. These basic lectures are different from the Basic Lectures found in the text portion of the course. As it is important to complete the course in Unit order, the written basic lectures and exams should be completed before beginning the audio portion of the course

The Wyckoff course offers time frame guidelines for completing each section of the course. What if I don’t complete the sections in the required time?

The Wyckoff Course only provides suggested completion times. They are only guidelines and their primary purpose is to keep you constantly progressing through the course. The average investor should complete the course in about seven months. It takes that long to learn, comprehend and make the Wyckoff principles ingrained in your trading strategies. It is extremely important to commit to spending a certain amount of time each day studying the Wyckoff course.

Exams are included in the course. How will I be graded?

Years ago, when our main offices were in Chicago, students completed the exams and sent them in for correction. We found the grading and instructor comments didn’t add to the quality of the course. In fact, the time delay in submitting an exam and receiving a grade and comments actually slowed down the learning process.

Several years ago, the grading system was changed. Now, suggested answers, for every exam, are included with the course. While this does allow for a little peeking, checking answers, before taking the exam, simply inhibits the students progress and will surely cost the student money when putting the Wyckoff Method to use.

It is strongly suggested that once each exam is completed, Wyckoff students takes sufficient time to compare their answers to the ones provided in the course. If they vary, immediately return to the appropriate section and find out why. This is a very important part of the your studies.

How important is the practice trading portion of the course?

We rank practice trading ahead of profits on a list of priorities. The reason is simple: Unless you have working knowledge of what you have learned, you will have accomplished nothing. The printed and spoken words in the Wyckoff Course are only a beginning. They require the development of good judgment to yield their full potential. You may choose to develop this judgment either through actual market operations or through practice. We think that you will find the practice trading approach more constructive and much less costly.

Does the Wyckoff method help identify tops and bottoms for both the market and individual stocks.

Yes. The best time to go long is at a market or individual stock low and best time to place a short position is when a market or individual stock reaches a high. Several Wyckoff strategies, including figure charts which show the investor when a stock has reached an important objective are extremely helpful in determining the best time to take a stock market position.

I’m interested in day trading. Is the trading method you teach in the course suitable for day trading stocks, indexes and futures on very short time frames?

Wyckoff principles and methods apply for every trading situation. Richard D. Wyckoff was a tape reader and watched the ticker tape throughout the day and made many intra day trading decisions.

The Wyckoff method is about the analysis of the relationship between price and volume and the cause and effect of that action on indexes and individual stocks. The conclusions from this analysis provide indications of when and how far a stock or index may move. These methods are extremely helpful to long and intermediate term investors, as well as shorter term and day traders. While the principles are the same, they are applied differently, based on the specific investment goals of the individual trader. The same indications and key points like climatic action, trading ranges, springs, up thrusts, signs of strength and weakness etc. are found on monthly, daily, weekly and intra day figure charts. Figure charts can range from 1,000 points to ½ point depending on the trader’s investment philosophy.

Once the Wyckoff methods and principles are mastered, they can be applied in any trading situation.

In shorter term situations, the Wyckoff trader must be nimble as, by the time the situation is analyzed, the trading opportunity may have passed.

Click here to purchase.

ProTraders Announcement​

We moved our two subscriptions to a Discord channel

Now you can Join us on Discord Channel