Hello Fellow ChartWatchers!
October didn't live up to its fearsome repution this year. The major averages were all up somewhere between 2 and 4% for the month with the exception of the Russell 2000 (which was up only 0.7%). Will things stay in positive territory for November? See the other articles in this newsletter for some thoughts on that.
November is "Get Certified" Month!
Today I want to show you how, with a little bit of work, StockCharts members can double their membership discount - guaranteed - saving themselves money (potentially lots of it) next month. I'm talking about taking advantage of the combination of our traditional year-end holiday special combined with passing our new ChartWatchers Certification Exam.
So first off, if you are somewhat new to StockCharts, you might not know that we have always offered a special membership deal during the holiday season at the end of the year. Each year the terms of the special change slightly but, in general, if you renew your members during that time, you will get additional time for free.
In addition, members can use their Loyalty Discount on top of the holiday special to save even more. What is the Loyalty Discount? Well, members get an electronic coupon each year that they can use to save money on their next subscription. Normally, the coupon is worth 1% off the total cost for each year that you've been a member. While that doesn't sound like much, it adds up over time and can drop your per-month cost significantly. For example, a 5-year PRO subscriber who takes advantage of both the holiday special and their normal loyalty coupon could drop their per-month cost from the standard $49.95 per month to only $35.28 per month (over 14 months) saving them over $14.50 every month.
So, my first point is this: If you are a member and you like our service, always try to renew for at least a year during one of our Specials and always use your Loyalty Discount.
But now, this year, we've added a new wrinkle - the ChartWatchers Certification Exam. There are two major benefits to taking and passing this exam:
- You will definitely learn more about technical analysis and about using StockCharts.com. The exam gives you a great reason to spend some time and dive down into topics that you've probably been meaning to spend time learning anyway, right? That right there is a big benefit.
- You will DOUBLE your Loyalty Discount! After passing the exam, your discount will be worth 2% per year instead of just one. And that doubling will continue for each year you remain a member.
Going back to our example of the 5-year PRO subscriber from above, if they take some time and pass the Certification Exam before December and then renew during the special, their per-month cost would then drop to only $33.42 saving them over $16.50 every month!
My point here is that if you are a happy StockCharts member and you are at all interested in taking the ChartWatchers Certification Exam, then this month is the month to do it so that you can double your Loyalty Coupon before our traditional holiday specials kick in. Make sense?
Q: Is the exam hard? Does it take a long time?
A: Yes and yes - but hear me out...
Anything worth doing requires effort. What can be frustrating is if the reward for a lot of effort isn't worthwhile. The rewards for the effort involved in preparing for and taking the Certification Exam are clear: you will become a more knowledgeable technical investor, you will get more out of the tools on StockCharts.com, and you will double your Loyalty Discount saving you money in the long run.
After reviewing the results from the first group of people who have taken the exam, I can also give you a couple of tips that should ensure you pass on your first attempt:
- Before taking the real exam, read the Certification Study Guide that we've prepared. It's not long and it will really help you prepare effectively.
- Have the StockCharts website open in a second browser window while taking the exam. The exam is essentially "open book" - you can look up the answers on the site while taking it.
- Always, always, always use the "Search" box on our homepage to search for answers/definitions/etc. for every question on the exam. "Search" is your friend.
Finally, because you are a great ChartWatcher and have read to the end of this article, here is the answer to the #1 most missed exam question:
In order to calculate a 100% accurate 50-day Exponential Moving Average value, you need to use every daily data point going back to the day the stock first started trading. More details
So try to find some time this month to get certified. As a more knowledgeable technical investor, you'll reap the rewards forever - but especially in December!
- Chip
