Q: It takes hours for me to scan through my charts each night looking for setups. Are there shortcuts to speeding up that process?

A: After years of charting, it is now automatic. It's like looking in a photo album for familiar faces. Over time, you get a feel for what looks good or bad -- what's breaking down or out, or stocks setting up. It just takes time to get used to it. I always look at yearly charts, but also five-year charts as well. It is about recognizing certain patterns. The first thing I do is cross out charts that have no pattern to them. Secondly, I isolate stocks that are breaking down. This gives me a good idea about the market. The more stocks that break down, the worse the outlook I would have. I then look for setups that are basing and have a chance to break out. Lastly, for stocks that are breaking out, it’s all about pattern recognition. Time will take care of you becoming faster at it. I remember when I spent hours each weekend looking at Daily Graphs. Now I run through them in 1-2 hours. Keep studying what a good chart looks like, as well as the bad, and keep at it. This is my best advice.

Gary Kaltbaum