Richard Wyckoff was a trader and market analyst who was active in the market
around the turn of the 20th century, about the same time as Charles Dow was
writing for the Wall Street Journal. As a trader who was curious about the
market, he arrived at a methodology that concentrated on price and volume
analysis, point and figure charting, and a comparison between related
markets and indexes. He wrote several books about the market, including the
famous 'Rollo Tape,' a book about the subject of tape reading written under
an assumed name. His writings were later compiled into a comprehensive
stock market training course, which is still offered today. Wyckoff
postulated the 'composite operator' theory, which stated that large pools
work to manipulate the price of stocks, leaving definite footprints behind
on the chart in patterns of accumulation and distribution. Wyckoff also
believed in the theory of 'cause and effect' whereby the market would build
up of supply or demand within a trading range.

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