V.16:1 (42-49): On Synergy and Strategy: Tom Bierovic Of Synergy Futures by Thom Hartle

On Synergy and Strategy: Tom Bierovic Of Synergy Futures by Thom Hartle

Thomas Bierovic is president of Synergy Futures, a research, trading, and education company. He also writes Synergy Fax, a daily advisory service for futures traders, and he wrote the well-regarded trading manual A Synergetic Approach to Profitable Trading. His specialty involves "synergizing" a variety of trend-following indicators, directional-movement indicators, momentum oscillators, Fibonacci retracements, and chart patterns to create low-risk/high-reward trading methods. Stocks & Commodities Editor Thom Hartle spoke with Bierovic on October 24, 1997, via telephone to talk about his approaches.

So how did you get interested in the markets?

I started in the futures business at a very early age. My father owned a seat on the old Chicago Open Board of Trade, which is now the MidAmerica Commodity Exchange. Back in 1961, I used to earn my allowance money by getting prices on agricultural commodities out of the daily newspaper and constructing point and figure charts, as well as weekly and daily bar charts. I would plot trendlines and at least two moving averages for my dad. And each summer vacation, from junior high through high school, I worked on the floor of the Mid-Am for my father.