V.10:2 (55-60): "Technician's Technician" Martin Pring by Thom Hartle

"Technician's Technician" Martin Pring by Thom Hartle

Technician-writer-money manager: Martin Pring was described as the "technician's technician" by Barron's, and his diverse background can certainly confirm that. Pring received his initial training with a Canadian investment dealer. His interest in technical analysis led him to join Storey, Boeckh in 1975, publisher of The Bank Credit Analyst. "The Pring Market Review" was introduced in 1984 as an extension of his interest in technical analysis. Along the way, he has lectured on and published a number of works on investing and technical analysis. He helped form investment counseling firm Pring-Turner Capital Group in 1988, dedicated to conservative asset allocation based on business cycle developments. STOCKS & COMMODITIES Editor Thom Hartle interviewed Pring via telephone on November 19,1991, and asked him about, among other topics, his KST indicator and the market cycle model.

So how were you introduced to technical analyst?

I started off in the Canadian brokerage industry in 1969 and after a year's training, I got transferred to a one-man office about 120 miles north of Toronto in a town called Owen Sound. About then I found out that the firm's research was inadequate; I had learned a little bit about technical analysis by picking up a copy of Edwards & Magee [Technical Analysis of Stock Trends ], and I decided that this would be my approach, I would use my own technical research to advise my clients. That's how I got started in technical analysis. About three years later, a good client friend gave me a copy of The Bank Credit Analyst, which [at the time, in 1973-74] explained why interest rates were going up, why we had inflation, and so on and so forth. I thought it was brilliantly put together. The problem was, they had a paragraph on technical analysis that I did not think was well put together, and so I researched to find out what The Bank Credit Analyst had been doing on a technical basis previously. I found that they could have used technical analysis to their benefit if they had had a little better understanding of it. So I suggested that I consult for them. About three months later they called me and said yes, and about two months after that, I was offered a chance to transfer to institutional sales with the same brokerage firm in Montreal, and since The Bank Credit Analyst was also based there, [I moved there]. I was again faced with the problem of not being able to market my research, so eventually I joined the staff of Bank Credit Analyst, where I was able to learn more about monetary and economic indicators and to further my knowledge of technical analysis.