Jim Wyckoff is the proprietor of the “Jim Wyckoff on the Markets” analytical and educational markets advisory service (www.jimwyckoff.com). He is also a senior markets analyst for Kitco Metals and Pro Farmer. For Barchart, he writes about most commodity markets but generally focuses on grains, livestock, cotton, and precious metals. He has been a commodity markets writer for various international publications, including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, Futures magazine and TheStreet.com. He has given lectures on markets at the Chicago Board of Trade, as well as venues in New York, Las Vegas, San Francisco and other smaller cities around the country. He has authored books on markets analysis and trading techniques and has educational webinars that can be viewed on YouTube. Jim’s analysis is also frequently quoted by Reuters.

Jim was also the head equities analyst at CapitalistEdge.com in the late 1990s. He received his degree from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, where he studied journalism and economics.

Jim has spent over 40 years involved with the stock, financial, currency, and commodity markets. He was a financial journalist with the FWN newswire service for many years, including stints as a reporter on the rough-and-tumble commodity futures trading floors in Chicago and New York. As a journalist, he has covered every futures market traded in the U.S., at one time or another. He has also covered and analyzed overseas stock and financial markets. 

It didn’t take Jim long to realize the successful traders and analysts in every market — be it lumber, grains, Treasury bonds or stock index futures — had a common thread among them: nearly all relied on technical analysis to give them an edge. Jim also studies the traditional supply and demand fundamentals of the marketplace.

Not long after he began his career in financial and commodity market journalism, Jim began studying technical analysis. He found it fascinating. By studying chart patterns and other technical indicators, Jim realized the playing field could be leveled between the “professional insiders” in the markets, and traders and analysts like himself.  How can this be? This is how: Market (or stock) price activity and price history, including volume, is a composite reflection of every news event and-or other fundamental factor known to all traders. Price activity also factors in ideas and speculation about the prospects, and future news, for the market (or stock).

If an individual trader or analyst tried to study and learn all there is to learn about a stock or a futures market, including knowing all the fundamentals that impact, or could impact, the stock or commodity, it would be nearly a full-time job. And even if a trader did spend all his time studying a market or stock, he still would not know as much, as soon, as the professional insiders. This is why successful traders and analysts employ technical analysis. Importantly, Jim also spends time studying the fundamentals of markets.

Jim believes traders/analysts who have been involved with commodity, financial, and stock index futures markets have an advantage in today’s stock and commodity market environment. This is because the more volatile stock market environment of today is just like the volatile commodity and financial futures markets that have been around for many years. Being a successful trader/analyst in volatile markets requires specialized strategies, to maximize profits. Successful traders and analysts have been forced to deal with volatility on a routine basis.

Jim’s mission is not just to generate profits for you, but to also provide educational and insightful information. In this fascinating business, one never stops learning.

On the personal front, Jim was born and raised in Iowa, where he now resides. He has a wonderful wife and two great children. Jim works very hard on the job, but he also plays hard after work, as he loves adventures. From driving a Jeep across the highest mountain pass in the continental U.S., to summertime speed-boating, to extreme winter camping in the Boundary Waters, to hiking in the jungles of South America, Jim is always up for a new challenge.

Drop Jim an email to say hi. He enjoys hearing from his readers all over the world. Jim Wyckoff  (jim@jimwyckoff.com).