Those interested in learning more about Dr. Andrews' techniques may wish to visit MarketGeometry.com where they will find an abundance of excellent free and premium information presented by Timothy Morge, a long-term professional trader; or they may wish to consult his book, Trading With Median Lines, which offers an excellent detailed discussion. Another long-term user of Dr. Andrews techniques, Gordon DeRoos at PitchforkPrimer.com, offers both a well-regarded course and a fine book, Trading With the Pitchfork. Patrick Mikula has also written a good book describing Dr. Andrews' methods and some ideas of his own: The Best Trendline Methods of Alan Andrews and Five New Trendline Techniques.
Pitchforks are drawn based on three pivot points (high, low, high or low, high, low). A median line is drawn from the first pivot through the midpoint of the second two pivots; parallel lines are then drawn from the second two pivots. Warning lines can be added parallel to the median line. Andrews taught that prices would return to the median line about 80% of the time. Prices also have a tendency to reverse at key warning lines.
To start drawing an Andrews' Pitchfork, press the
button, or choose Andrews' Pitchforks from the menu. Once you have chosen the options you prefer, draw the Pitchfork by clicking three points on the chart. These three points should correspond to a low, a high and a low (or a high, a low and a high) and they should be clicked in order from left to right.
Sometimes a standard Pitchfork is too steep to be useful. Jerome Schiff, a friend and student of Andrews, discovered that drawing such Pitchforks from a point on the original price bar that is midway between the first pivot and the second or third pivot (50%) gives better results. Dr. Andrews later adopted (and adapted) this idea (see examples below).
Three alternate styles of Median Lines (Pitchforks) are supported (see examples below). Should you want to use one of these styles, you can either change the default style in the Pitchfork dialog; or you can convert an existing Pitchfork by typing one of the letters in the table below after you have selected a Pitchfork (or when you just point at it).
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a
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Standard Andrews Median Lines
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s or m
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Modified Schiff Median Lines (as used by Dr Andrews)
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o
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Original Schiff Median Lines (as defined by Jerome Schiff)
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i or r
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Inside (or Reverse) Median Lines
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These are examples of the different styles of Median Lines, along with descriptions of how they are drawn.
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When drawing Standard Andrews Median Lines, you first choose three alternating pivot points (high, low, high or low, high, low), which are often labeled A, B and C.
Then ChartOverlay draws a line between B and C. Next ChartOverlay draws the Median Line from A through the midpoint of line BC. To switch to this style of Median Lines from any of the others, simply select the item (or point at it) and type a. |
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When drawing Modified Schiff Median Lines, you again choose three alternating pivot points (high, low, high or low, high, low).
Then ChartOverlay draws a line between B and C. This time, however, ChartOverlay draws the Median Line from the midpoint of line AB through the midpoint of line BC, which results in lines with a more gradual slope. (This is Dr. Andrews' variation of Schiff's original idea.) To switch to this style of Median Lines from any of the others, simply select the item (or point at it) and type s or m. |
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When drawing Original Schiff Median Lines, you again choose three alternating pivot points (high, low, high or low, high, low).
Then ChartOverlay draws a line between B and C. This time, however, ChartOverlay draws the Median Line from a point directly above A (and at a price half way between A and B) through the midpoint of line BC, which also results in lines with a more gradual slope. (This was Schiff's original idea.) To switch to this style of Median Lines from any of the others, simply select the item (or point at it) and type o. |
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When drawing Inside (or Reverse) Median Lines, you again choose three alternating pivot points (high, low, high or low, high, low).
Then ChartOverlay draws a line between A and B (not B and C). And then, ChartOverlay draws the Median Line from the midpoint of line AB through Point C. This is a technique used by advanced traders under unusual circumstances, and it should not be used without first mastering its theory. To switch to this style of Median Lines from any of the others, simply select the item (or point at it) and type i or r. |
If you like to experiment, you can manually produce your own variation of the standard Pitchfork. To do this, simply ctrl-click on point A and drag it to a new position. As you drag point A, a number will be displayed in the title bar (at the very top of the overlay window). This number tells you where A now lies as fraction of the difference in price between A and B. The Standard style is always at [1.00] and the Schiff styles are always at [0.50], but you are free to choose any value you like and also to choose the horizontal position you prefer. You can use this technique to feel out the data and see where you get the best fit.
See Disclaimer.