Rodney Gibson was Nirvana Systems' Trader of the Year for 1997. A relatively new Futures trader, he has already achieved phenomenal success, increasing his Futures account over 550% in his first year of trading! We're pleased to say he attributes much of this success to OmniTrader. This interview was first published in December 1996's State of Nirvana newsletter.

How well have you done with the program?
This has been a record year for me. My futures account is up over 500% with 705 winning trades since November 1995. I use OmniTrader's default settings and turn off all the Model Option settings except medium term and long term pivot point stops. I also like to look at the charts with Exit on Reversal Signals turned on and off. I look at each contract in the medium and long time frames and I use both aggressive and open models. When I find a contract with an OmniTrader buy signal, I look at the list of indicators that are giving buy/sell signals. If I see divergence, trendline violations, or signals on volume based indicators, I tend to mentally give the signal more weight. I look at the weekly chart in OmniTrader to get a view of the longer term trend and then I use SuperCharts to look at several trend confirming indicators. Some of my favorite indicators are On Balance True Range, ADX and DMI, Bruce DeLaurentis' Trend Filter and Short Trend indicators, Tom DeMark's REI indicator, and a 9-day moving average channel of highs and lows.

I can't say for sure my percentage of gain in stocks, but I expect my trading portfolio will be up over 100% for the year. I currently have an account with a full service broker, a long time buy and hold account, and my trading account, which I trade with OmniTrader. My trading account has outperformed the other two accounts by a huge margin. I am in the process of transferring the brokerage account into my trading account because I now feel that I can do a better job of picking stocks than my broker.

What do you like best about OmniTrader?
OmniTrader's ability to totally automate the process of selecting indicators and systems to apply to each security. Before OmniTrader I was only able to select 6 to 8 favorite indicators and then apply them to 110 stocks. With OmniTrader I apply 118 indicators/systems to 2100 stocks, 50 mutual funds, and 32 futures contracts and allow the program to select the proper indicators to use with each security. That allows me to look at a much larger universe of stocks and gives me the confidence of knowing the indicators that I am using are the best ones for a particular security. A second very valuable feature of OmniTrader is the automated trendlines, support and resistance, and of course, the candlestick patterns. I never make a trade without first analyzing the price chart in relation to trendlines and support and resistance areas.

I am a strong believer in the logic used by OmniTrader. I believe that finding the right indicator to use with each security is one of the keys to using technical analysis. With OmniTrader I can very quickly find the right indicators and systems for each stock that I monitor.

What is your advice for those who are just starting to use OmniTrader?
Take time to learn how OmniTrader works. Try to understand the logic used in OmniTrader and then work with the many parameters until you find a system that fits your comfort level. Finally, if at all possible, attend on the OmniTrader workshops (seminars). I think a person who does those three things will see that OmniTrader is a dynamic program that will give them that added advantage they need to be a successful trader.

How does OmniTrader help you save time in your daily trading routine?
The time savings that I get from having OmniTrader pre-screen stocks for me to analyze has cut my chart analyzing time by 75% or more. In addition to taking on more securities to analyze, I also have much more time to read and work on new trading strategies. I think my trading has moved to a much higher level now, because I can spend the extra time on continuing my trading education.

What is your trading style?
I am primarily a trend following trader. For stocks I set OmniTrader to medium term aggressive mode and run Test with a 500-day and a 90-day backtest with no forward test. I then apply other technical analysis methods to each stock with a signal and further narrow the list. The first thing I want to see is price above the 50-day moving average and the moving average rising. For the stocks that pass the first test, I look at trendlines, support and resistance, and chart patterns such as triangles, flags, head and shoulders, and gaps. If I find a stock that I still like, I look at it on a weekly chart as well as look at things like ADX, DMI and percent of retracement.

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