This is a pretty old thread now, but I just stumbled upon it and wanted to add a few comments.
Carter's approach (which may not be the only valid one) to pivots is very simple. I'll try and describe it in a few points:
1) Abandon any pre-conceived ideas that you may have about the pivots acting as support or resistance - you cannot predict this in advance. Instead, try to think of the pivots as levels where somethingsignificant will happen.
2) Wait to see how price reacts when it approaches the pivots. Do not try to second-guess breakouts or reversals.
3) If price breaks cleanly through (ie 'ignores') a pivot level, then a pullback to that violated level can be bought or sold in the direction of the breakout.
4) The only time that Carter will anticpate a pivot reversal and place orders in advance is when volume is extremely low.
Do not attempt to use this on any instrument that is not pit-traded, doesn't have a regular cash session, or doesn't closely mirror such instruments (the YM trades electronically and off-floor, but its price always follows that of the Big Dow contracts which are pit-traded, for example, making it acceptable).
You cannot expect pivots to have any significance outside of the pits, so Forex Pivots are a waste of time.
The other thing that you will need to consider (I don't have the answer to this!) is whether floor traders still even use pivots, or whether they are now an outdated tool.
Hope that's all helpful to anyone reading this old thread!