John Welles Wilder Jr. (June 11, 1935 – April 18, 2021) was an American mechanical engineer, turned real estate developer. He is best known, however, for his work in

technical analysis In finance, technical analysis is an analysis methodology for analysing and forecasting the direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price and volume. As a type of active management, it stands in contradiction to ...

. Wilder is the father of several

technical indicator In technical analysis in finance, a technical indicator is a mathematical calculation based on historic price, volume, or (in the case of futures contracts) open interest information that aims to forecast financial market direction. Technical ind ...

s that are now considered to be the core tenets of

technical analysis software In finance, technical analysis is an analysis methodology for analysing and forecasting the direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price and volume. As a type of active management, it stands in contradiction to mu ...

. These include Average True Range, the

Relative Strength Index The relative strength index (RSI) is a technical indicator used in the analysis of financial markets. It is intended to chart the current and historical strength or weakness of a stock or market based on the closing prices of a recent trading per ...

(RSI), Average Directional Index, and the Parabolic SAR.

Life

John Welles Wilder was born June 11, 1935, in

Norris, Tennessee Norris is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee. Its population was 1,599 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Knoxville, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area. Norris was built as a model planned community by the Tennessee Valley Authority (T ...

. The oldest of four children to John Welles "Jack" Wilder, Sr., and Frances Green Wilder, his brother was former NFL defensive tackle and defensive end Albert Green "Bert" Wilder (April 14, 1939 – December 5, 2012). After serving in the Korean War in the US Navy, Wilder attended

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1962. He married Eleanor Dawn Barefoot on July 6, 1958. They had three children: John Welles "Johnny" Wilder III (April 22, 1959 – March 25, 2020), Catharine Cooper, and David Wilder, settling in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

. After a successful real estate practice, he founded Trend Research LTD, and its primary subsidiary, The Delta Society. He then published ''New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems'' in 1978. Wilder and his wife Dawn retired and relocated to

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in October 1999, becoming dual citizens shortly thereafter. While in retirement, he continued with system development until 2008. In 2020, Wilder was diagnosed with

vascular dementia Vascular dementia is dementia caused by a series of strokes. Restricted blood flow due to strokes reduces oxygen and glucose delivery to the brain, causing cell injury and neurological deficits in the affected region. Subtypes of vascular dement ...

and

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, having shown symptoms for the better part of the 2010's. John Welles Wilder Jr. died on April 18, 2021, in Christchurch at the age of 85.

Books

* * * *

Indicators

In his 1978 book, ''New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems'', Wilder introduced six popular technical indicators: *Commodity Selection Index (CSI) * Average Directional Movement Index (DMI) * Parabolic SAR *

(RSI) *Swing Index *Volatility Index

Accolades

* Forbes Magazine (October 1980) singled out Mr. Wilder as "the premier technical trader publishing his work today." * Barron's (July 1984) stated that: "In 1978, the basis of mathematical analysis was expanded when J. Welles Wilder, Jr. published New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems. * Financial World (July 1985) said that, "Over the years, Wilder has developed more accurate commodity trading systems and concepts than any other expert."

Famous quotes

#"Letting your emotions override your plan or system is the biggest cause of failure." #"Some traders are born with an innate discipline. Most have to learn it the hard way." #"If you can't deal with emotion, get out of trading."

References

External links

*The Best Business in the World
Welles Wilder - father of RSI & SAR
*Surviving the Test of Time

1935 births 2021 deaths Technical analysts American mechanical engineers People from Anderson County, Tennessee People with Alzheimer's disease People with vascular dementia {{US-mechanical-engineer-stub