1.                  Trading the Financial Markets

1.1              Share Trading

1.1.1        Entry Level Technical Trading (ELT) and Risk Management Procedures

The ELT course is an introductory course designed to remove the mystique that surrounds share trading. It is often the first exposure that many students have to the share market and technical analysis.

At the completion of the ELT course students will:

·         Document a comprehensive trading plan for use on the Australian share market
·         Identify major risk elements involved in share trading
·         Apply risk management procedures to manage the consequences of the risks that have
          been identified
·         Apply technical analysis tools to identify trade entry signals, exit signals, and price targets
·         Use up-to-date learning techniques to determine where to focus their learning

Formal contact time:         14 hours

Project work expected:     14 hours minimum

1.1.2        Advanced Beginner Technical Trading (ABT) and Risk Management Procedures

In the ABT course students build on their experience in the ELT course … this time they focus more on the technical analysis tools and on fine-tuning the knowledge and skills acquired during their previous attendance at the weekend workshop. Depending on the scheduling of the Trader Tutorial Courses, students will normally have completed one or two of the tutorial courses before attending the ABT.

At the completion of the ABT course students will have as a minimum standard the competencies included in the nationally accredited Course in Trading and Technical Analysis. While ACOFE is not accredited to assess and certify competencies in this course students completing the ACOFE course are expected to achieve Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) should they wish to seek such recognition. 

Formal contact time:         14 hours

Project work expected:     14 hours minimum

1.1.3        Trader Tutorial Courses

The trader tutorial courses are designed to help students improve and advance their trading skills in specific areas of share trading. Each tutorial is a stand-alone course in its own right. Attendance at the ELT course is a pre-requisite for attending the trader tutorial courses. To ensure maximum impact of these tutorial courses, participant numbers are restricted. It is expected that each student will complete each tutorial course at least twice.

1. ELTL01     Trend Lines and Turning Points

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this training session participants will:

 §  Draw resistance trend lines that define downward market price movement,
§  Draw support trend lines that define upward market price movement,
§  Draw horizontal support and resistance lines that define sideways price movement,
§  Identify turning points to act as construction points for drawing trend lines,
§  Define “turning points” based on the “two-in-two-out” principle,
§  Describe the circumstances when it is not essential to apply the strict definition of “turning point”,
§  Demonstrate the discipline of keeping closing prices below resistance lines and above support lines,
§  Use trend lines as the basis for listening to the market for buy and sell signals.

2. ELTI01      Technical Indicators

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this training session participants will:

 ·         Define “Technical Indicator”,
·         Describe clearly the role of technical indicators in trading,
·         Identify buy and sell signals from single moving averages, dual moving averages, and from
          the histogram representation of the MACD,
·         List the strengths and weaknesses of the MACD,
·         Apply the MACD(H) to change-of-trend trades,
·         Interpret and describe price momentum by reference to the Relative Strength Indicator (RSI), ·         Calculate the value of an RSI,
·         List the strengths and weaknesses of the RSI,
·         Apply the RSI to re-entry trades.

3. ELCP01     Chart Patterns for Trading

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this training session participants will:

 ·         Describe and identify flag patterns on price charts,
·         Describe and identify pennant patterns on price charts,
·         Describe and identify ascending and descending triangle patterns on price charts,
·         Identify the most probable direction of price break-out from the chart patterns,
·         Calculate price targets from chart patterns,
·         Trade for the break-out from chart patterns,
·         Identify conflicting signals from chart patterns,
·         Apply trading rules in situations where there are conflicting signals from chart patterns,
·         Identify and interpret Double Top and Double Bottom patterns,
·         Calculate price targets from Double Top and Double Bottom patterns,
·         Identify and interpret Head and Shoulders patterns,
·         Calculate price targets from Head and Shoulders patterns.

4. ELVP01     Volume Studies

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this training session participants will:

·         Define “Volume of Trades”
·         Define “Volume of Transactions”,
·         Determine the strength of a price move by making reference to Volume Studies,
·         Identify volume climax patterns,
·         Identify volume trend patterns,
·         Apply volume studies to price chart patterns, to increase the probability of making
          profitable trades.

5. ELTP01     Trading Plan and Risk Management

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this training session participants will:

 ·         Document the key components of a trading plan,
·         Evaluate two different methods of applying money management and risk
          management parameters to a trading plan,
·         Explain the importance of each and every component of money management as they apply
          to trading,
·         Expand individual trading plans to incorporate trading set-ups above and beyond
          change-of-trend and re-entry trades.

6. ELRA01     Review and Self Assessment Exercise

Students / participants will be set a case study assignment based on subject areas and skills learned in the Introduction Weekend, and reinforced in the various tutorials and traders’ group activities.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this training session participants will:

·         Review the case study material that they have completed,
·         Identify areas in which they are competent,
·         Identify areas that require more work,
·         Devise and document an action plan for live trading and / or further education.

1.2              Options Trading

1.2.1        Introduction to Options Trading

At the completion of the course on the introduction to options trading participants will:

·         Demonstrate the use and interpretation of pay-off diagrams
·         Identify why traders use options
·         List the risks and opportunities open to both buyers and sellers of options
·         Define put options
·         Define call options
·         Describe the use of options as hedging tools
·         Use technical analysis on the underlying share market to determine the most
          probable direction of the market
·         Perform technical analysis on the options price to trade that option
·         Apply volatility indicators to the underlying market to help with the decision to buy
          or sell the option

Formal contact time:         8 hours

Project work expected:     8 hours minimum

1.2.2        Basic Options Trading Strategies

At the completion of the Basic Options Trading Strategies course students will:

·         Describe the features and benefits of using specific options trading strategies
·         Illustrate the market conditions that dictate what strategy or strategies to employ
·         Construct and interpret pay-off diagrams for particular options strategies
·         Translate the specific options strategies to charts of the underlying share price action
·         Illustrate the use of stop loss techniques as they relate to trading options

Formal contact time:         5 hours

Project work expected:     10 hours minimum

============================

1.3              Futures Trading

2.                  Investing for Wealth Creation and Growth

2.1              Basic Principles of Investing for Growth

2.2              Residential Real Estate

2.3              Shares

2.4              Cash

2.5              The Plan and the Balanced Portfolio

============================

3.                  Using Trading and Investing Tools

It is essential that individual traders learn to make productive use of their tools of trade. To ensure that this happens there are three courses designed to help the new trader to become operational, confident and proficient with the trading software that is being used. To this end there are three specific courses that form part of the ACOFE total education package. They are:

3.1              Getting Started with IC3000

3.2              Extended Techniques with IC3000, and

3.3              Advanced Techniques with IC3000

Getting started with IC3000 is a one-on-one course that takes the student from installation of trading software to the basic uses. At the end of the Getting Started with IC3000 course the student will:

·         Download daily price data
·         Call up charts of specific company price data
·         Save charts of specific companies in specialised directories
·         Apply trendlines to charts
·         Adjust parameters of indicators
·         Apply indicators to price charts
·         Alternate between daily, weekly and monthly charts

Formal contact time:         2 hours

Practice expected:             10 hours minimum

Extended Techniques with IC3000 is a classroom-style course designed for students who have attended the ELT course and have mastered the basic operation of the trading tool. At the end of this course the student will:

·         Label buy and sell signals on the charts
·         Apply multiple indicators to charts
·         Write text commentaries directly onto the charts
·         Record background information using the memo facility
·         Create and manage watch lists
·         Create and manage portfolio lists 
·         Identify price targets using the price projection tool

Formal contact time:         3 hours

Project work expected:     3 hours minimum

Advanced Techniques with IC3000 is also a classroom-style course. It is designed for active traders and those actively trading options. At the completion of this course the student will:

·         Demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the latest additions to the trading toolkit
·         Update the options tree facility
·         Determine the “best value” options by application of the derivatives tools       

Formal contact time:         3 hours

 Project work expected:         3 hours minimum