A Wonderful Kind of Crazy
It's tough to separate Lou Mendelsohn's professional life from his personal one. For most people, this might be considered a bad thing, but for Lou, it's all in the family. He is the founder and president of Market Technologies in Pasco County, a fast-growing financial trading software firm run by himself and three sons.

 Ever since he can remember, Mendelsohn's avocation was analyzing financial markets and trading equities based on that analysis. But with advanced degrees in social work and business, Lou was solidly entrenched in hospital management in the late 1970's. 

Enter personal computers
Mendelsohn, 56, says with the power, speed and accuracy of the PC's ability to analyze historical market data, he concluded that personal computers would revolutionize technical analysis and trading. He didn't want to miss the ride, despite the risk, so he made what he calls the craziest move ever in his professional life: "In 1979, after much soul searching I formed Market Technologies to develop and sell technical analysis software for the commodity futures markets," says Mendelsohn. "A year later I left hospital administration to devote full time to (the firm)."

In 1983, the pioneering company marketed the first commercial trading software (to perform strategy back-testing) for the financial industry. By the mid-1980s these capabilities had become a standard in microcomputer trading software for both equities and futures.

In 1986, Mendelsohn developed the first commercial intermarket analysis software. By doing this, the linkages between related global financial markets could be quantified and their influences on one another determined," he says.

Building on his research, Mendelsohn applied pattern recognition technologies on intermarket analysis, utilizing a mathematical tool known as neutral networks. In 1991, Market Technologies introduced a powerful, yet easy-to-use software tool that captured the intricacies that underline the global markets.  

Today, his research continues to focus on the application of artificial intelligence technologies to intermarket analysis and global market forecasting. "This is an interesting juxtaposition between pure science and real-world application," says the pioneer.

The success can be quantified. By 2004, Market Technologies (www.tradertech.com) was ranked No.420 in the INC.500 list of fastest-growing private companies.

Surprisingly, says Mendelsohn, Market Technologies does not have any direct competitors offering comparable forecasting technologies based on intermarket analysis. "Most software competitors have continued to limit their analytic capabilities to single-market analysis, which in my opinion fails to recognize the global nature of today's markets."

 

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