Turning points: United Icap's Walter Zimmermann

From meditating with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to using fractals to predict oil prices, Walter Zimmermann of United Icap has had a remarkably varied career. Alexander Osipovich reports

To some people, it is a provocative idea. But Walter Zimmermann is a fierce proponent of the value of technical analysis in energy markets. In his view, oil prices do not depend on how much crude Libya will pump next year or when the Seaway pipeline will be reversed; instead, they depend on the emotions of investors, and the best way to predict that is through an examination of price charts. If you look at those charts and find the right wave pattern, Zimmermann believes, you can predict the