Customer Reviews

The Spiral Calendar and Its Effect on Financial Markets and Human Events

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Bought this book in 1994 and have watched the predictions.
Timing is more exact than direction. This accounts for the price reduction over recent years. Carolan's comparison of 1987 with 1929 is different, but every bit as amazing as John Murphy's Intermarket Worldwide Crash analysis of those two pivotal panic moments.

Upon pondering Carolan's concepts, I developed a home-made projection indicator (via Metastock) which gave me chills as to how it could pinpoint turns in the US stock Idx. A key was to correct his table in the back (p155) "Natural Time Days" to weekly (Friday only) data. Using current data of Boolean logic where 1=HHV(H,5days) & -1=LLV(L,5days), and then subtracting a sum of the current "Even Spiral Days" from the current "Odd Spiral Days", Nodal turning points into the future of the data series could be isolated. Projections in different markets carried the same patterns. Major volatility breakouts could be isolated within 3 days. The quality of these patterns was consistent across various markets, but was unusual in that the "indicator" would "compress" to where the smallest turn would lead to the biggest market whop. Thats the poop for the technically inclined... I lost interest in pursuing this when eSignal locked my eyes on all that intraday streaming data.

Upon examining Carolan's comparison of the 1929 & 1987 panics, I believe it impossible for thinking readers to ignore the stunning observations he makes. We like the ocean's tides are quantitatively moved by forces bigger than ourselves. This book is a classic I do not intend to sell. Would love to see others pursue research in this area.

I found this book quite a delight. The author stumbled upon his theory while comparing two Stock market charts. I've written a computer program that incorporates the ideas here and it's been great fun to watch them correlate (or not) to the market. The book is one of those eccentric pieces of scholarship that demonstrates things you never would have guessed in a million years - my favorite kind of book. Thanks to the author.

Chris Carolan's Spiral Calendar brings to light the undeniable discovery that important market moves can be linked together in time using a more natural, and therefore more efficient time system based on Fibonacci and our own moon. By "more efficient" I mean "more efficient than man-made time units."
This is one of those books where you will need to read it once over, put it away for a few days, then read it again in order to be able to fully grasp everything that is being said. It can get pretty complicated at some points, but Chris does his best to display the information and explain things in a way that makes the most sense.
Yes, as a previous reviewer pointed out, some of the systems have not yet been perfected. You must understand that this is only the tip of the iceberg for a completely new way of looking at not only market behavior but the world around us. Chris lays the basic foundation for what I hope one day will be pursued as a real supplement to market forecasting, especially Elliott Wave (and if no one else does, I am, so it'll get done one way or another).
In a way, this book may be the modern day equal to the R.N. Elliott's original writings back in the 30's; a great discovery but very much in its infancy.
So this book is about as "complete" as you can get because it tells pretty much all that is currently known on the subject at this time.

Beware of long convoluted gobbledygook from anyone. It won't work. This book is a fine example -- Check out chapter 10, "Future Forecasts". Carolan says there will be a big top about October 1995. Was there? No. Then "Expect a major low in the Dow Jones Industrial Average near Monday, July 27, 1998." There was a small low in October which led to the rally into 2000 but all July had was a small top. This guy is batting 0 for 2, which is perhaps to be expected given his odd semi-astrological methods. There are tons of good ways to measure the market that do work. You don't need this book. I stopped to review it because I am now on my way to recycle it along with some other waste paper.

I bought this book back when it first came out. I found it an odd mix of interesting ideas and off-the-wall speculation, with a lot of dubious math thrown in. I recently pulled it down from the shelf where it has sat for lo, these many years and it still strikes me that way. If unorthodox theories about mass psychology interest you, The Spiral Calendar is worth a glance. But don't expect too much in the way of useful information.

"Ronnie Davis" below appears to be yet another poseur, generally using my background as both a technical analyst and real estate professional to take shots at books he evidently doesn't understand.

"Ronnie's" cycle analysis clearly demonstrates he doesn't understand and/or hasn't read Chris's book. I'd guess he lacks my MA in math, as well. As it happens, I did a bit of the statistical analysis involved in validating the work Chris did. The work I did does, in fact, confirm that Chris's methods work.

On the other hand, using them is non-trivial. I have not put in the work to incorporate the methodology into my own work, but perhaps I should. I have seen how well Chris uses his own methods; his results are very good indeed.

I will say that if you expect a quick read that makes you an instant multimillionaire, this is not the book for you. This is a book that requires a good bit of reader effort, both in the understanding and the application. Perhaps that's where "Ronnie" went wrong.

This book is a must read for all traders and/or markets watchers or students.
However I wonder what the other reviewer from Fort Worth wrote: it is quite complicated and not stricly related to the text. Maybe if he could elaborate....
thanks
JC

I don't profess to be a mathematics expert, but even I am able to calculate a cycle. I can guess with the best of them. That's it!! No more nor less! Cycles analysis is a very simple concept. Is it ethical to take/borrow a concept from soemone else and then apply one's name to it? I don't think so but I have seen this many times in this unethical industry. Regardless whoever the the vendor or promoter might be I can guarantee you that I have likely created or produced the orignal research. Trading is not even a full time job for me as I devote most of my time to real estate. Now don't get me wrong the author may have something to say but one could gain enough information related to this topic by merely reading a paragraph on the internet. I am tempted to write my own book on the shams and deceit practiced by securities' vendors but I feel obligated to expose my own industry first. Do I perceive myself as a consumer advocate crusader? You bet! Am I qualified? Most certainly!