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Market Interpretation/Data Analysis System, or MIDAS, was developed by physicist and technical analyst Paul Levine, in the mid 1990s. It was originally conceived of as a method of analyzing market trends inspired by aspects of the popular Volume Weighted Average Price (VWAP) pricing method. Essentially, what Levine discovered was that he could accurately predict reversals in trader sentiment?and, therefore, market trends?using algorithms derived, in part, from VWAP pricing methods. Extending Levine's insights from the daily charts on which the method was conceived, Coles and Hawkins have since expanded the fractal capabilities of the approach to apply to all time frames?from one-minute charts and swing-trading charts to charts of interest to the very long-term investor.
Because Levine's focus was on MIDAS purely as a forecasting tool, he failed to develop a framework for trading and investing management. Coles and Hawkins address this issue throughout the book by emphasizing how the MIDAS approach can be combined with Japanese candlesticks and other volume-based chart styles for effective trade and investment management.
Writing for traders and investors, as well as technical analysts, Coles and Hawkins explain, in plain English, the basic principles of MIDAS as originally laid down by Paul Levine. However, for the majority of the book they move into new MIDAS territory, illustrating how new manipulations of the MIDAS algorithms result in new types of indicators and curves applied to entirely new market environments and time series, and how the untold story of volume powerfully affects the plotting of MIDAS curves. The authors also demonstrate how MIDAS curves can work alongside sophisticated techniques such as float analysis and market profile, how MIDAS curves can be improved by atypical calibrated launch points, and how additional techniques such as new MIDAS-based oscillators and trading bands can improve market timing.
In the nine chapters comprising the final part of MIDAS Technical Analysis, Coles and Hawkins detail how advances in trading hardware and software have made it possible to extend MIDAS to areas Levine never dreamed of. They show how MIDAS?especially when used in conjunction with robust charting methods, such as Japanese candlesticks?can function as a complete trading system, or be used as a supplementary tool for greatly enhancing trading effectiveness. They also explain how to develop a MIDAS trading system using existing off-the-shelf technologies.
Requiring no prior experience with the MIDAS approach, MIDAS Technical Analysis gets readers quickly up and running with the knowledge and skills needed to take full advantage of the incredible power of this sophisticated approach to timing and trading the markets.
