The MTA Award was given to Richard Wyckoff. Accepting on behalf of R. Wyckoff was Professor Hank Pruden. The MTA Best of The Best Award was given to H. Pruden in 1997 for Education. Visit Market Technicians Association site.

Student's Awards

From Golden Gate University Bulletin
Golden Gate University Professor Hank Pruden has brought national and international recognition to our doors through his pioneering work in stock market technical analysis. His students continue to affirm his reputation. One is Audrey Lewak, a sales associate at the Oakland office of Merrill Lynch, who won Merrill Lynch's esteemed 1997 Special Achievement award - also called the Spotlight award - for her outstanding performance in the realm of stock selection.

Lewak's studies under Pruden included the Wyckoff Series I and II Trading Strategies, and independent study in the Wyckoff-Elliot Ways. "The independent study cemented anything that had fallen through the cracks earlier and deepened my understandingof the Wyckoff Method," says Lewak. "I gained a much deeper insight into the possible patterns and forms of a price correction."

Lewak gives her time at GGU top marks. "GGU was excellent," she says. "I've told everybody that it's the best place to go if you want an education in technical analysis. Hank Pruden is the best professor I've ever had."

Testimonials of Students

By Victor P.
For several years I have studied various text, attended many seminars, and have subscribed to dozens of newsletters and correspondence courses with the dream of learning to trade for a living. Although I have gained a nit of good knowledgefrom all these sources none of them presented a clear path to becoming a successful trader.

Only when I intended your course on Behavioral Finance & The Wyckoff Method did all the information I have gathered over the years begin to shape itself into a useful guide to successful trading. Today I have a clear understanding as to what occurs in the market and how to benefit from it. I realize the value of your teachings and plan to pursue further studies with you. thanks for everything and I'll see you in class.

By David W.
There are two schools that teach you how to trade. The first school we both attended - the school of hard knocks. Most traders attend this school first and learn that the tuition is too expensive for what you get. The second school, of course, is GGU. By necessity, the training at GGU begins with a careful look at technical market analysis. I say that learning technical market analysis first is a necessity, not because it is where a student should begin, but because this is where most students in their ignorance think that they should begin. We all have a tendency to look outside of ourselves to explain why we lost money in the markets.

Technical analysis, especially the Wyckoff series, does this admirably well. However, the GGU curriculum gradually leads us to the realization that we have ultimate responsibility for our trading. The Trading Psychology class helps provide us with a framework to take responsibility for and manage ourselves and our trading. This examination of ourselves is, of course, where we should have begun before entering the school of hard knocks.

After graduating from GGU's trader's boot camp, a trader is better prepared to enter the school of hard knocks. He may not pass this school with an "A+" but at least he won't flunk out. And to borrow a line from Shakespeare, the student will know that the fault is not in the market but in ourselves. This knowledge is perhaps the most important benefit of this series because it allows the student the ability to escape his own prison.

By Roman B.
In 1996 I decided to get rich trading currency markets. I had no knowledge of any kind about trading. All I saw were the ticks up and down on the British pound. I lost about $1,200 on my first trading night to realize that I had to study the subject first.

There are not a lot of places where you can get a "complete" trader's education. When I say complete, I mean that you'd learn three major topics of successful trading: psychology, money management and methodology. Usually, such places are individual courses taken with some of the traders' trainers. I was lucky to acquire the needed knowledge and to meet my teachers / trainers at Golden Gate University.

The foundation of the traders' training at GGU is the certification program in Technical Market Analysis. The program contains classes that can be divided on three major categories: methodology - Technical Market Analysis class, Wyckoff I & II; money management - Wyckoff I & II, Trading psychology class; psychology - Trading psychology class and Behavioral Finance. In short, Technical Market Analysis class covers all major technical ideas, methods, and strategies for trading markets. It is a very good class to recognize different methodologies in the field. Wyckoff I & II classes refer to deriving a solid trading plan out of the methodology. Trading Psychology class glues all the classes together and approaches trading from your personal prospective.

I believe every trader has been on the road of seeking THE methodology, or I should say "The Holy Grail". I've been studying technical analysis very extensively, which led me to passing the first 2 exams for CMT (Charted Market Technician) professional designation. By far Wyckoff methodology appealed most to me as a solid foundation for technical analysis. The principles that had been used in 1920s are still valid and what's most important can be used in conjunction with a lot of other technical methods.

It is quite obvious conclusion, that most of us come across at some point, that it is not the methodology that fails a trader, but either a trader him/herself or his/her money management techniques. Unfortunately, it is not enough to study the technical analysis to become a successful trader. The construction of congruent business trading plan which would reflect your specific psychological traits is essential. In Trading Psychology class you will learn to approach trading as a business with its inventory expenses and unexpected drawbacks. Creating business trading plan will be your primary task. I'm very much sure you'll learn a lot about yourself. Keeping a daily trading diary and conducting discussions within a group of peers will increase your awareness of your behavior in trading and your everyday life.

The separate words should be addressed about the teachers and the students. Being the coordinator of the program, Pr. Henry (Hank) Pruden not only a teacher of Wyckoff I & II, Trading Psychology and Behavioral Finance classes, but he is also a very energetic listener and advisor to many of the students in the class. He is a well-known lecturer and practitioner of Wyckoff method and is recognized both in the industry and academic community for his contributions to Behavioral Finance.

Bruce Fraser is a co-teacher in Trading Psychology class. He is a mutual fund manager, practitioner of Wyckoff method and a trader with a big experience. His knowledge on the subject of trading is vast and very mature. I'm personally thankful to Bruce for his participation in my trading career.

We've had so many traders with different trading knowledge and experience taking classes at GGU. For all of them it has been a mutually beneficial experience. As a well-known trader Ed Seykota says: "Everybody gets what they want out of the market." I have no doubt that everyone has got what s/he wanted from the classes and incorporated it into their trading.

< top