The Wisdom of Experiencecurrency’s reaction more. Sometimes watching the markets may
require a one-hour, two-hour analysis, or just a quick glance at the
charts. You can even set alerts. What I like to do is to use a price
quote beeper that shows how prices are moving. This is great when
I am sleeping because I don’t like to have to wake up constantly to
check the price quotes. You can also put alerts on your computer,
but you may not be able to put that next to your bed like you can
a beeper. Instead, with the beeper, I can set the price levels that I
am watching and it will alert me when the price is hit. When the
alarm rings, I know that something unique is happening and I can
go look at my charts to see if I want to do anything. It’s impossible
for me to watch prices constantly, especially if I am in a meeting or
teaching a class. It is also impossible for me to bring my computer
with me into the meetings as well. So a price beeper is a perfect
tool for me to use to keep on top of the markets.
Q: When did you start using the beeper?
A: In the ’80s. These beepers were available before the ’90s.
They have changed a lot since then, of course, and are very inex-
pensive and cheap to use. On a monthly basis, here in Hong Kong,
it can cost$300 HKD a month. Now one thing—these beep-
ers are convenient and inexpensive, but you cannot rely on them
100 percent. Sometimes with wireless connections, updates can be
slow, especially if the market is moving very fast. It definitely won’t
be as fast to update as your cable Internet or DSL connections. So
the beepers should only be used as a secondary support tool. In
typical scenarios, it works well. But if there is a major interest rate
decision or a political development, it can be a bit slower because
the connection speed can be a bit slower.
Q: Typically what timeframe charts do you use?
A: I will use daily charts and minute charts. Daily charts are
for direction to see where the trendline is pointing. If the daily
charts indicate that the currency pair will rally, I may want to avoid