Brian Shannon, CMT (November 16, 1967) is an American author and technical analyst. Shannon published his acclaimed book entitled Technical Analysis Using Multiple Timeframes in 2008 to educate beginning and intermediate day traders on the tools and techniques that have made him "one of the best indie traders in the business". In the book The Stocktwits Edge, Howard Lindzon wrote "it is not by accident that about one-third of the traders featured in this book point to Brian as a mentor who has had the biggest impact on their careers."
Shannon runs a swing and day trading service which is focused on: low risk, high probability trade ideas presented as daily educational videos and a chat room through his Alphatrends web site as well as live webinars.
Background
Shannon was born in Denver, Colorado though his parents lived in Aurora, Colorado at the time. They later moved to Andover, Massachusetts where he grew up.
Shannon watched Louis Rukeyser on Wall $treet Week with his physician father as a child. He placed his first trade with money earned as a caddie and his newspaper route when he was 13 years old. He was living in Boston and car thefts were common so he bought shares of LoJack at $US 5.00 and watched the stock double over the next three months.
Shannon went to High School at Austin Preparatory School where he graduated in 1986. He then went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Merrimack College in 1991.
Shannon has two sons, Matthew and Ryan, and currently resides in Denver, CO.
Career
After college Shannon worked for a penny stock company called Thomas James for a couple of months before taking a position as a stockbroker with Lehman Brothers in Boston, MA where he was first exposed to technical analysis. Even though his interest in the market was founded at an early age his real passion for this line of work began with the chart analysis he was exposed to at Lehman Brothers. He moved to Tucker Anthony in 1992. From 1994 to 1998 Shannon worked as a stockbroker for Dain Bosworth in Denver, CO. He spent a short period as a trader for Generic Trading, LLC in New York, NY before moving to Denver, CO to run Landmark Securities as a Series 24 Manager. From 1999 to 2006, Shannon was Lead Trader and the Director of Research at MarketWise Securities before creating Alphatrends in 2006.
Over the course of his career he has held Series 7, 24, and 63 licenses however they were all expired by 2013. Later in 2013, Shannon passed the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) exam.
He has been described as "one of the best indie traders in the business" Shannon is a trend trader that focuses on price of primarily NASDAQ stocks. Shannon is not influenced by the rumors or news surrounding a stock though he does pay attention to the volatility created by these events. Shannon also believes every trader must define the risk and reward of and trade before taking the position.
In the 2013 E-book on THE BEST OF THE BEST by Brian Lund, Shannon's planning and analysis styles from StockTwits are quoted.
Shannon appeared on the CNBC Halftime Report in 2014 with Scott Wapner discussing charts for Tesla Motors, Caesars Entertainment Corporation, overall market direction as well as his view on managing risk.
Trader education
Shannon began educating and mentoring people about technical analysis and trading techniques at MarketWise.
Alphatrends was created by Shannon in 2006 where his active participation in financial education included blog posts as well as daily video updates. The blog was called the "YouTube of technical analysis" by the editor of Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities in describing Shannon's teaching and occasional reviews of the Wallstrip stock of the day picks. As of 2010, over 400 people subscribed to Shannon's trading service.
Shannon's primary focus is on price action and he registered the domain www.onlypricepays.com after repeatedly referencing that phrase since 2005. Technical trading tools and indicators like the VWAP and moving averages are taught and talked about in Shannon's Alphatrends posts. Shannon does look at volume because it shows him "the collective psychology of the participants if they are fearful or overly optimistic" but advises traders to use price to position their exit rather than volume. His approach is focused on assisting people apply these to make decisions about market direction and risk management. Shannon asserts that "you must have a backup plan for every situation. And you must do this before you enter your every trade".
An early user and skeptic of the StockTwits network, Shannon likes the ability to gain different perspectives on trades and the open honest atmosphere.
Mentoring
Shannon provides mentoring services for new traders looking to improve their performance in the markets. He likes to mentor people with "street smarts" that can anticipate their thought flow and actions. In the book The Stocktwits Edge Howard Lindzon wrote "it is not by accident that about one-third of the traders featured in this book point to Brian as a mentor who has had the biggest impact on their careers."
Many notable traders have considered Shannon one of their mentors. Trader and author Anne-Marie Baiynd counts Shannon as one of her mentors for teaching her about time frame analysis. Baiynd references Shannon in her 2011 book as having never "met anyone in the work world who is so willing to share knowledge and insight with aspiring trader". Retired Major League Baseball starting pitcher Todd Stottlemyre cites the mentorship of Shannon and Joe Donohue with his success. Multi-millionaire Hedge Fund trader and author Timothy Sykes also cites Shannon as a mentor.
Book
Technical Analysis Using Multiple Timeframes was published by Shannon in 2008. The book was written to assist traders new to technical analysis with intermediate level material such as market structure and trend alignment. Though the book has been referred to as a "textbook", it is not “'dry', boring and difficult". The book is filled with advice and “nifty†sayings to assist the reader's memory. Timothy Sykes called the book the "single most accurate/honest/understandable book on charting since Steve Nison’s classic: Japanese Candlestick Charts." Alex Capel at Wall St Cheat Sheet called the book a "must-have" for new and intermediate traders and Howard Lindzon added it to his top ten trading books in 2008. Edward Dobson, the President of Traders Press Inc. also noted that Shannon's book "earns a place in my 'top 10 trading books ever written' list". Charles E. Kirk of The Kirk Report noted that while many traders struggle to explain their methods, Shannon broke down "relatively complex ideas" in a very "straightforward manner". The Market Technicians Association review of the book called it "readable and valuable" for both novices and experienced traders.
The book works through concepts in sections starting with explanations of the accumulation, markup, distribution, and decline phases of the market cycle. Shannon then describes how he applies analysis of price, trends, support and resistance, moving averages, volume, and time frames to define his trading methodology. He discusses these indicators and the psychology surrounding the moves associated with them. After building the framework of analysis, Shannon describes the selection of long versus short strategies. Shannon focuses on price action but takes the time to detail his views on the interpretation of news and fundamental data into the price. In the final section, Shannon offers the reader valuable wisdom on risk management, exiting a trade, and defines his personal rules.
References
External links
- alphatrends.net - Shannon's website
- AlphaTrends YouTube - Educational videos by Shannon
