Skill level:
          Intermediate to Advanced

What is it?
          The Pattern Trapper is a daily subscription service that uses technical analysis to filter futures contracts for potential trade set-ups. All subscribers get a 25-page book titled "The Guide to Using The Pattern Trapper" and indicators programmed for TradeStation that are used as a compliment to the Pattern Trapper concepts. (If you use TradeStation) Keep in mind that this is not a purely mechanical system. This is a discretionary rule based approach.

Review:
          Pattern recognition has been an important topic of debate since the first bar chart was penciled. Some refer to it as an art and others use the term science when discussing the various patterns found on different time frames and the myriad instruments that may be traded. Is pattern recognition an innate talent or learned technique? This question comes up often. The answer is a debatable issue and regardless of your stance on the topic, there are nice tools out there to simplify the process. And as you are probably formulating, The Pattern Trapper is one of those tools.

Features:
          The Pattern Trapper is a synthesis of years of experience by the vendor, Bob Hunt, and some popular concepts brought forth by Linda Raschke and Larry Connors in the book "Street Smarts" (recommended). The daily newsletter provides detailed commentary for the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and T-Bond futures markets, as well as Pattern Signals, Pivot Levels, and Range Projections for thirty different commodities. Filter analysis for the Highest Potential Set-ups in the fore mentioned markets are also included.

          This gives you an idea of what you get, but how do you use it? Aha! Mr. Hunt also includes a manual that covers the basics of using the signals and characterizes the use with adjectives like aggressive and conservative to give you an idea of the level of confidence associated with the signals.

          There is also a section on Bonds (on the website and in the manual) that covers the fundamentals of trading this vehicle and the behavior specific to this market. The presentation is in an easy to understand table and the charts are clear and concise.

User-friendliness:
          The whole process of interpreting the signals given by The Pattern Trapper is about as straight forward as it gets. To get the information, open your email client and then click the link to today's issue. Next, read what it says. That's it.

Performance:
          Due to the fact that this is a discretionary rule based approach there is no way to create hypothetical numbers on the performance of this service and there are no promises of instant wealth. Discretion, position sizing and exits will be different for each individual. And as you might imagine this is the strength of the service. Instead of becoming a system follower, you can use these concepts to develop a risk-controlled approach that fits your style. If you become comfortable with the signals and create a "system" of your own, there may be some enlightening growth in your trading approach.

Support:
          The website is filled with answers to the popular questions. Also, Mr. Hunt is very responsive in regard to supporting his product.

Summary:
          The Pattern Trapper is a nice tool. This simple approach could easily open your mind to the use of some basic concepts that are often over looked when education begins for traders. There is a degree of confidence in relation to the concepts set forth by Mr. Hunt and the evidence is easily seen by simply paper trading or just marking the signals on a chart as they occur. This is good stuff and the funny thing is, it actually makes sense.