1 The Story
The analyst who connected the markets
John J. Murphy (1942–2026) was an American market analyst widely regarded as the 'father of intermarket analysis.' A former director of technical analysis at Merrill Lynch and a longtime technical analyst for CNBC, he became the public face of StockCharts.com.1
His books — Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets and Intermarket Analysis — are standard references: the first a definitive guide to charting, the second formalising how stocks, bonds, commodities, and currencies move in relation to one another.1
2 The Big Idea
No market trades in isolation
The asset classes move together; their relationships reveal the cycle and confirm trends.
Murphy's signature contribution was intermarket analysis: reading the linkages between stocks, bonds, commodities, and currencies. Bonds, commodities, and the dollar all feed into where stocks go — so the relationships between them help gauge the business cycle and confirm (or question) a trend.1
3 The Method
Charting & intermarket analysis
Master the chart
His first book is a complete toolkit — trends, patterns, indicators, and volume — taught clearly.
Read intermarket links
Stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies: watch how they confirm or diverge from each other.
Gauge the cycle
Different asset classes lead at different points in the business cycle — their rotation is a map.
Confirm with breadth
Use the whole system, not one chart, to judge whether a trend is healthy.
4 Try It Today
Test the idea for yourself
A no-risk exercise
Pull up charts of a stock index, a government-bond proxy, a commodity index, and the dollar, side by side. Notice how they often move in relation to one another. Asking 'do these confirm each other?' instead of staring at one chart is the heart of Murphy's intermarket method.
5 The Books & Their Big Ideas
What they wrote — and what to take from it
6 Watch & Read
Go deeper
- CONCEPTTrends & Market Structure
- BOOKTechnical Analysis of the Financial Markets
- READ"John Murphy" — Wikipedia & StockCharts.1
§ Sources
- "John Murphy (technical analyst)," Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murphy_(technical_analyst)
- "Intermarket Analysis," StockCharts ChartSchool — chartschool.stockcharts.com