Alan Shaw
Alan Shaw was a distinguished and iconic market technician with a remarkable career spanning 46 years on Wall Street. He began his career as a fundamental securities analyst, and in the early 1960s he became actively involved in practicing technical market analysis. He served as research director at Harris Upham before its merger with Smith Barney in 1976 and was appointed to the firm's prestigious investment policy committee, where he offered often quite vocal input, right up to his retirement. He contributed significantly to the growth and success of both firms, it was there he coined the term "The Trend is Your Friend". At the time of his retirement in 2004, Shaw was a Managing Director in Technical Research at the brokerage firm, Smith Barney. He turned over the management of the department in 2000 to protégé, Louise Yamada. Shaw died on January 23, 2024. He was 85 years old.
His greatest market call was in May 1985, a research note, titled the Technical Bull Case for Bonds.”
He told his clients that “based on our technical analysis, we believe that a structural bull market is underway for Bonds; short, intermediate and long term indicators are allowing the best bond bet to be made in possibly the entire investment career of the reader.”
AFFILIATIONS
He was the second president of the CMT Association.
He was a recipient of the CMT Association’s Annual Award.
He was the founder and first president of the NY Society of Junior Security Analysts.
He founded the Market Technicians Association, now the Chartered Market Technician Society.
EARLY CAREER