John Bollinger

Bollinger Bands

Bollinger Bands are intervals drawn on a price chart that define high and low on a relative basis. Bollinger started developing Bollinger Bands in the early 1980s. They are an adaptation of Keltner Bands and similar to Donchian channels. He was trading options at the time and much of his analytics involved volatility. At the time fixed width trading bands were in use. Mr. Bollinger's contribution was to use volatility standard deviation to make trading bands adaptive.

When they were introduced to the public on Financial News Network they didn't have a name. His interviewer pointed to the chart and said "What are those?" and Bollinger said "Let's call them Bollinger Bands." That was how they got their name.

Rational Analysis

“John Bollinger, CFA, has always concentrated on the overlap between technical and fundamental analysis, rather than focus on the differences. To bridge the gap between fundamental and technical analysis, Bollinger advocates an approach he calls ‘Rational Analysis’”. Bollinger first coined the term “Rational Analysis” in the late 1980s. He then defined it as the “juncture of the overlap between technical and fundamental analysis” and created a visual representation.

At the 2004 AIMR Conference, in his presentation titled Combining Technical and Fundamental Analysis, he took his concept one step further. Because the financial analysis community sub-categorizes itself in ever finer specialty groups, his updated definition of Rational Analysis was stated as “the union of the sets of technical, fundamental, quantitative and behavioral analysis”.

The analogy Bollinger uses for Rational Analysis is having multiple tool kits each with different tools. To get the job done the rational approach is to take the tool that does the job best, regardless of which tool kit it comes from. The same is true for financial analysis. Depending on the analytical scenario, sometimes technical analysis tools provide the best insights. Sometimes fundamental analysis, behavioral analysis or quantitative analysis; and most often a combination of all four is the most rigorous and productive.

Computerized Technical Analysis

After purchasing his first microcomputer in 1977, Bollinger became involved in the seminal stages of computer driven technical analysis. Computer technology allowed Bollinger to develop Group Power, an industry group ranking system that shows developing trends in industry groups and sectors. Over the years the service evolved, the underlying structure becoming a proprietary equal-weighted industry group structure and delivery via the Internet allowed ever more complex analytics.

In 1996 Bollinger recognized the potential of the Internet for financial analysis and began the programming for www.equitytrader.com. The service utilized a 52 rule fuzzy logic model to provide analytics of the US equities market and was one of earliest charting and technical analysis websites.

Professional Life

After becoming an independent trader in 1980 he joined the Financial News Network where he was the Chief Market Analyst for seven years, 1984–1990, a role in which he had primary responsibility for the technical analysis content presented on air. After FNN was purchased by NBC Bollinger helped with the transition to CNBC and continued to provide commentary on CNBC on a regular basis. He founded his own firm, Bollinger Capital Management, an investment management and research firm. Bollinger is both a CFA Chartered Financial Analyst and CMT Chartered Market Technician and was the first financial analyst to earn both designations. Bollinger is the recipient of the Technical Securities Analysts Association of San Francisco Lifetime Award for Outstanding Achievement in Technical Analysis and the 2005 Market Technicians Association Annual Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Technical Analysis. He is also the founding president of Market Analysts of Southern California. Bollinger is the president and founder of Bollinger Capital Management, an investment management company that provides technically driven money management services and develops proprietary research for institutions and individuals.

Board Memberships

Bollinger served on the board of the Market Technicians Association (MTA) for ten years (1988-1997), on the board of International Federation of Technical Analysts (IFTA) for five years (1998-2003) and on the board of the Market Technicians Association Education Foundation (MTAEF) from 2008 though 2012.

Member of

CFA Institute [1]

CFA Society Los Angeles [2]

Technical Securities Analysts Association [3]

Market Technicians Association [4]

Articles and Books by John Bollinger

Bollinger, John (2001). Bollinger on Bollinger Bands. McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-07-137368-3. 

Les bandes de Bollinger, John Bollinger. Valor Editions. ISBN 2-909356-34-5

MetaStock Monitor, March 2009, Bollinger Band Basics

SFO Magazine, February 2003, Bollinger Bands and Volume Oscillator Pair Up For Range Trading Stock Strategy

Active Trader, March 2002, Volume Indicators Revisited

Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities, February 1992, Using Bollinger Bands

Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities, March 1993, Put Volume Indicators

Articles about John Bollinger and his work

Los Angeles Times, December 7, 2008, John Bollinger: Stock Scholar, Walter Hamilton

CFA Magazine, November 2005, John Bollinger Profile, Nancy Opiela

SFO Magazine, February 2003, Bollinger Bands and Volume Oscillator Pair Up For Range Trading Stock Strategy, John Bollinger

Active Trader, February 2001, John Bollinger: Focus on the Markets, Interview with John Bollinger

Active Trader, April 2003, Relatively Speaking, Interview with John Bollinger

The Technical Analyst, January 2009, Techniques for Recognizing Market Bottoms

SFO Magazine, August 2008, Tips from the Pros, Matt Blackman

Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities, Interview: John Bollinger of Bollinger Bands Fame, by Jayanthi Gopalakrishnan