User Guide                   ( download and print examples on HOW TO USE Jurik tools)
  Platform Compatibility    (see which Jurik tools work on your charting platform)

 Do you disclose tool formulas ?

Our formulas represent years of privately funded research, amounting to a considerable expense. Competing vendors would love to know how our indicators work. Parts of our algorithms are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and parts are trade secret. This combination gives us the most leverage in confronting piracy. We have litigated against every violator brought to our attention.

 Do I really need this stuff ?

The prevalence of computers among traders has changed everything. In comparing today's price motion to that of 20 years ago, we see increased volatility with respect to trend duration, a phenomena we refer to as NOISE. This slows down technical analysis, creating LAG in the decision making process. Noise and the consequent lag have made the timely detection of trends, reversals and simple price congestion more difficult. It is in this sense that markets appear efficient.

Years ago, trading systems were easy to create. Books were written on how a mere moving average or stochastic could be used to signal trades. Not any more. Ever changing market behavior, made increasingly faster by computers, has made profit taking ever more challenging. Reliable trading systems now require more advanced methods of analysis to locate profit opportunities.

As with everything else in life, there are risks in trading the markets. There are also risks in buying anything to help you trade. You may have already discovered a plethora of products promising easy wealth from the push of a computer button or from pages of a book. Although anyone can randomly make a profit by shear luck, in reality, making consistent profits from the market is not a trivial task. It requires levelheaded professional behavior executing a reliable trading system with profitable expectation.

"Profitable expectation" involves knowing not only when to enter/exit, but also how much to place at risk. Timing and risk management require being able to see through market NOISE with more clarity and less LAG than ever before. And that requires analytical tools displaying low noise and low lag. Yes, it is possible to get an edge. Just look at all the TESTIMONIALS we received.

 What are Jurik's credentials ?

Mark Jurik is a computer scientist with a technical diploma in Chemistry, and degrees in Electrical Engineering and Psychology. Mark has been developing algorithms for data analysis since 1978, mostly for the military, and went commercial as Jurik Research in 1989. Mr. Jurik gave lectures and presentations to professional organizations for nearly 2 decades and taught classes on Artificial Intelligence for several years in California. His video course was approved by the U.C. Berkeley Independent Studies Program and his software tools for financial data analysis received top scores in a review in Futures Magazine. Mark Jurik's clients cover the globe and include large institutions, such as Merrill Lynch, Shearson Lehman, and Deutsche Bank.

 Do you sell trading systems ?

No. There would be an apparent conflict of interest in offering advice and consulting services to individuals developing proprietary systems, all the while selling our own systems.

As for pre-built trading systems available from other vendors, some are good but many are worthless, despite their price tag. Although many vendors offer demonstration systems to prove their worth on historical data, this "test" can be misapplied and misleading. For example, we have proof that some demonstration systems distributed by other vendors were fraudulently altered to prevent trades on historical data that would have shown tremendous losses. In addition, we know of complaints of vendors over-optimizing their demonstration system every month to produce outstanding performance on historical data, with little chance of continuing this performance on future trades.

If you really want to buy a pre-built trading system, then follow this one rule: if the seller is not willing to show you an independent broker's complete report of that system's most recent 100 trades, walk away.

Our advice is this: create and thoroughly test your own trading system. In doing so, your trades will fit your psychological comfort zone. That is, the frequency of trades, level of risk and typical drawdowns will not stress you out. Your health is more important than your trades.

 Will learning take long ?

It is often said that a guitar is the easiest instrument to learn, yet you can spend years mastering all its potential. Likewise, our tools require only a few minutes to figure out how thew work, yet our customers comment that after experimenting with the tools for a while they have discovered amazing applications not possible with classical technical indicators.

 Will I need to know advanced math ?

No math skill are needed to simply run the tools. However, since Jurik Tools are delivered as both indicators and callable functions, you can embed our functions within your own custom indicators. That may require on your part, a deeper understanding of how the tools work, in order to create appropriate formulas of your own.

 Will I need neural networks ?

Both Neural nets and genetic algorithms are for advanced traders looking to push their profitable trading system to higher performance levels.

Neural networks (NN) are useful for developing leading indicators, such as forecasting the highest high and lowest low of the next 8 bars. A good neural net product will automatically try various combinations of inputs to attain optimal performance. BrainCel develops neural nets in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, and the forecasting models produced can be used in several platforms.

Genetic Algorithms (GA) are useful for developing and fine-tuning trading rules. Evolver is a GA that works in Excel spreadsheets, whereby you would place your market data and indicators on a spreadsheet, and design trading rules that have adjustable parameters. These rules could, for example, select which stocks or markets may be traded that day as well which indicators to use, and what patterns to look for within the indicators. You then let Evolver adjust these parameters in order to optimize trading performance.

For more details on NN and GA, click HERE.

 Why is your software better ?

Two reasons: better algorithms and better product development.

One ingredient to winning the markets is to remove as much lag in your timing as possible. You simply cannot compete against traders pre-empting your trades by several bars. They will get the lion's share of profits and you get the scraps. Standard technical indicators have lots of lag, the primary cause for late trades and lost profit potential.

Creating indicators that are timely, responsive and smooth is a very difficult task. Consequently, indicators available from vendors also suffer from excessive lag. Jurik Research algorithms are specifically designed to provide meaningful technical indicators with AS LITTLE LAG AS POSSIBLE. This helps you make earlier trades, giving you and your account a bigger piece of the action.

As for product development, all tools are first designed and tested using MATLAB, the engineer's choice for heavy duty signal processing. We then submit each formula for alpha testing that may last many months. After developing what we think is the final version, we then submit it for beta testing, which also lasts several months.

In addition to thorough testing, our policy is to reward any customer who finds any error in our software documentation. We immediately correct the error, thereby assuring you get the most accurate documentation available. (Now isn't that a breath of fresh air!) We strive to assure product quality, and our satisfied customers say we have achieved that goal.

 Any free trials or demo versions?

They are counter-productive with Jurik Tools. That may come as a surprise, but there is sound logic behind it.

Standard technical indicators have significant lag. For years users have grown accustomed to it and tried to devise ways to mitigate its disadvantages. Because our tools have little lag, proper application requires spending time rethinking how to write technical indicators THE WAY THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN ALL ALONG. For example, a common first-approach toward creating a MACD with JMA is to use it for both the fast and slow crossover lines as follows:

MyMACD=fast JMA - slow JMA

However, the result is mediocre. This is because MACD actually *requires* lag, but only *between* the two crossing lines. Therefore, for best results, it's better that the slower line have both lag and momentum so that it does not weaken when price reverses. Otherwise, the crossover is delayed as the faster line tries to meet the slower one (which is turning away). A simple moving average (SMA) has more lag and momentum than JMA. So a better MACD would be as follows:

MyMACD=fast JMA - slow SMA

This revised formula simultaneously maximizes lag between the two filters as well as minimizes the delay in attaining crossover signals. Its surprising how many customers discover this on their own.

Learning when and where to add or remove lag in technical indicators takes time, and we found that during a brief trial period, the user is either not committed or not able to do so. Consequently, he may decide JMA is not much better than what he already has.

A few demonstration charts beyond those displayed on our web site would not offer added value because they lack the interaction needed to realize our tools' true power. In contrast, customers who buy our tools will dedicate time to go through our manuals and inevitably discover ways to make new indicators. The varieties of ways users have applied CFB, for example, amaze me.

We realize that having no free trials will discourage some from acquiring our software, and that's OK.

To help in the decision making process, our web site displays numerous charts that point out the advantages of using Jurik Tools, and posts a large collection of letters from users. We also try to provide quality tech support (within reason).

We are happy to have a user satisfaction rate better than 99.5%

 Do your tools replace mine ?

In some cases, yes, but in others, no. For instance, you might well simply replace "momentum" with our VEL and the classic RSI with our RSX. However, our JMA has so little lag, it makes you rethink how lag plays a useful role in some technical indicators. As a consequence, simply replacing your current moving average with JMA may or may not be appropriate. An example is provided here.

 Any return policy on your books ?

No. Research is a very expensive process. Purchasing the book gives the customer access to our past research. We make no representation that our past research will satisfy the customer's particular needs. The book does not include our most recent research. Access to recent works requires hiring us as consultants.

 Can I get additional passwords

Some users may want to run Jurik software on a computer at home and another at work. Also, a new password may be required when the user replaces an old computer with a new one (excluding TradeStation owners who use the same Customer Number). To accomodate these situations, we have the following password policy:

TradeStation:

Your password is keyed to your TradeStation Customer Number (TCN), and will run on all your computers having TradeStation installed with the same TCN. Consequently, additional passwords are not needed.

All Other Platforms:

Jurik Research provides extra passwords to enable installation onto additional computers owned by the licensed user. The first additional password is free. If you want a third password, there is a fee of 1/2 the current package rate for the tool set you have licensed. However, that fee is waived if the licensed user can document he has recently purchased a new computer. A faxed copy of your new computer's invoice would suffice as proof.

To request an additional password, go HERE.

 1000 simultaneous plots ?

You can have 1000 plots of Jurik Tools running simultaneously. Our tools are designed for multiple separate function calls per chart, and across multiple charts.

 Do your tools work in real-time ?

Yes. All Jurik tools are designed to operate as fast as possible in real-time, within limitations of the hosting platform. To see what version of Jurik Tools runs on your platform, go HERE.