Carl M. Birkelbach was born in 1940, part of the last generation to be born before World War II. He has trained himself in the arts while spending his entire career in the financial investment community. Carl began his career as a broker in 1964 and started his own investment advisory firm, Birkelbach Management Inc. in 1974 and his own brokerage firm, Birkelbach Investment Securities Inc. in 1978. He has been writing an investment advisory letter since 1966 and the "Investment Strategy Letter" since 1975 (over 500 issues). In September of 1981 (with the Dow at 800) Carl wrote his now well known "Lone Bull" Letter in which he predicted the oncoming Bull Markets of the 1980's and 1990's. In his "Lone Bull Revisited" Letter written in February of 1992 (with the Dow at 3100), Carl predicted a continuation of the Bull Market to above a Dow of 8000.
To predict the stock market Carl uses certain technical methods that involve law-abiding mathematical relationships that he believes are inherent in nature and are observable in the markets in repeating cyclical patterns. All of nature is mathematically rhythmical, from the frequency modulations of light, sound and brain waves to the cyclical patterns of the seasons. Carl's art explores these mathematical relationships and cyclical patterns in hope of revealing the divine nature and ultimate reality of the universal, that is otherwise hidden from us. Carl's art explores these hidden forces of nature that can influence our lives. Most are unaware of these influences, just as a stone being propelled through the air (if it had consciousness) would believe it is moving of its own free will. As human emotions are part of nature, some of these hidden forces can be graphically observed in the price movements of the markets. Price is the end result of all economic and psychological pressures and by examining the patterns of price movements, insights into these hidden forces can be explored. This is not so much a problem to be solved, as a mystery to be experienced.
Carl has written two pamphlets, Stock Market Profits Through Charting and Introduction to the Elliot Wave Principal. These pamphlets explore how to interpret the graphic patterns of price movement, so that projections into the future can be attempted. R. N. Elliott, who wrote "Nature's Law, The Secret to the Universe" in 1946, believed that all human activities have three distinctive features: pattern, time and ratio, all of which observe the Fibonacci Summation Series. (See Carl's "The Zen of Price Movements"). The Fibonacci series are a central theme of Carl's art. The series is as follows, 1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144 etc. The series is obtained by adding each number to its preceding number. These numbers show up in nature in many ways including the botany law of phyllotaxis. Leaves, sunflowers, pine cones etc. obey the Fibonacci Series. In addition, if each number is divided into the one immediately following it, the Series tends asymptotically toward the ratio of 1.618. Since antiquity this ratio has been called the Golden Ratio. This ratio is designated by the Greek letter phi and shows up in nature in a variety of ways and is also featured in Carl's art.
Carl's father, Max Birkelbach (1910-1996), devoted much his attention to exploring the many technical graphical methods for predicting the future direction of the markets. Carl grew up watching his father creating hand made charts, which seem much more personal and artistic than the present day computer generated charts. His father also developed his own over-bought/over-sold (buy/sell) mathematical indicator called The Strategy Index and constructed a measuring device that incorporated the Fibonacci Golden Ratio into a price predicting tool. These influences can be observed in Carl's art. In creating his paintings, Carl uses his father's drafting tools and sometimes his graph paper. His media varies and can be watercolors, pastels, pencil, pen, oil and acrylics or a combination. Sometimes he constructs a collage of different objects into his work. Carl can use paper, canvas or other objects to paint on.