"Glancing at your old Fullermoney's that you have been posting recently, one interesting observation stands out for me: in those days, you utilised P&F charts almost exclusively to describe chart action. Nowadays, seem to prefer candle charts.

"I have to admit that I hardly ever refer to P&F charts, mainly because I have not taken the time to develop a familiarity with them.

"I wondered whether this apparent switch reflects any learning experience that you went though and that we could benefit from.

"Thanks, as ever for, for your service."

David Fuller's view You are welcome and thanks for a question likely to be of interest to other subscribers.

In those early days we did not have computerised graphics and I have always regarded point & figure as a terrific system, from the trained analyst's perspective. Drawing one's own charts is a laborious process and we mainly opted for wider coverage rather than two or three graphics systems in a smaller library.

The advantages of p&f charts, which we drew on a closing basis, are the ability to filter out minor moves - what I call mental noise - without losing sensitivity of scale. Also, because they condense data horizontally - no entries if no price changes relative to the scales selected, and no additional columns until prices change direction on the 3-box scale system we used - more peak to trough swings can be seen in the same horizontal space.

The disadvantage with p&f charts is that they are fiddly, necessitating tinkering with the scales to provide the most informative picture, and this can be a matter of individual preference. Also, they do not lend themselves to overlays and ratios. Additionally, a p&f charting system has to be explained to those new to the subject.

With the advent of computer graphics I find that I prefer candlestick, which we could never have drawn in the more Dickensian days.

Fortunately, the Fullermoney Chart Library enables subscribers to chose among candlestick, p&f, bar charts, or plain line charts in customising their 'Favourites' sections.

Price charts provide the clearest picture of market history and current trends available to investors. Without them one is handicapped because markets are not just about fundamental data, which can be out of date, difficult to monitor and susceptible to subjective interpretation. Markets are also about liquidity and sentiment. The price trend evident on a graph is a factual presentation, including the distillation of market fundamentals, liquidity and sentiment.