The Godfather of Technical Analysis, Ralph Acampora, CMT joins Fill the Gap for a conversation about the history of markets, and market technicians. As the co-founder of the “MTA” in the late 1960s, Ralph’s passion for the discipline of technical market analysis has not waned a bit in his 50-year career on Wall Street. Discussing long-term secular market trends and periods of extended market expansion, Ralph shares that we may be in a fifth “Mega Market” cycle. Comparing historical periods of great economic expansion, Ralph coined the term to describe post-war market rallies in his book “The Fourth Mega Market” which he penned in the 1990s.  As the world slowly begins to emerge from the COVID pandemic, the massive injection of funding for research to fight the virus will likely be commercialized in the period ahead, helping extend a global bull market over the coming years.  Ralph opens up about his lifelong passion for historical study, his experience computing indicators and plotting charts by hand in the windowless “War Rooms” of the 1960s and 70s, and gaining direct advice from veteran technical analysts such as Ralph Rotnem and Ken Ward in his early career. These were the giants upon whose shoulders the technical community was built. Ralph references his personal Chart Museum, as well as other moments when the CMT Association library played a key role in expanding global finance knowledge. Ralph’s riveting stories about his accidental start in finance, as well as the contributions he’s made to the discipline of technical analysis over the last five decades, provide critical insight and context for market technicians operating in today’s digital-first environment. To better understand the concepts he references, we recommend you review the supplemental resources accompanying this episode using this link: go.cmtassociation.org/ftge6