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Will somebody always buy my stocks when I sell them?
No. If you try to sell more shares than people are willing to buy or if your price is unreasonable, it may take a long time for them to sell, if at all. However, if you use market orders on medium or high volume stocks you should not have any problems selling them immediately.
What Is Support?
Support is the price level at which demand is thought to be strong enough to prevent the price from declining further. The logic dictates that as the price declines towards support and gets cheaper, buyers become more inclined to buy and sellers become less inclined to sell. By the time the price reaches the support level, it is believed that demand will overcome supply and prevent the price from falling below support.
Support does not always hold and a break below support signals that the bears have won out over the bulls. A decline below support indicates a new willingness to sell and/or a lack of incentive to buy. Support breaks and new lows signal that sellers have reduced their expectations and are willing sell at even lower prices. In addition, buyers could not be coerced into buying until prices declined below support or below the previous low. Once support is broken, another support level will have to be established at a lower level.
Chart Indicators:
• Bollinger Bands
• MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence)
• Parabolic SAR
• Stochastics
• RSI (Relative Strength Index)
• Moving Average
• RSI(SMA)
• RSI(EMI)
• Momentum
• MC
• Volume
• ADX
• OBV
• MFI
• Williams % Range
• ROC
• Volatility
• Standard Deviation
• Trend Line
• Elliott Wave
Sometimes, there is a price cluster with a high or low spike sticking out. A price cluster is an area where prices are grouped within a tight range over a period of time. The price cluster can be used to draw the trend line, and the spike can be ignored. The Coca Cola (KO) chart shows an internal trend line that is formed by ignoring price spikes and using the price clusters, instead. In October and November 1998, Coke formed a peak, with the November peak just higher than the October peak (red arrow). If the November peak had been used to draw a trend line, then the slope would have been more negative, and there would have appeared to be a breakout in Dec-98 (gray line). However, this would have only been a two-point trend line, because the May-June highs are too close together (black arrows). Once the Dec-99 peak formed (green arrow), it would have been possible to draw an internal trend line based on the price clusters around the Oct/Nov-98 and the Dec-99 peaks (blue line). This trend line is based on three solid touches, and it accurately forecasts resistance in Jan-00 (blue arrow).
Carry Trade: The Carry Trade is a trading strategy where investors/traders sell or borrow assets (such as currencies) with lower yielding interest rates to fund or buy higher yielding assets.
In the Foreign exchange, interest is debited or credit from a trader's account everyday on open positions.
The most popular Carry Trade in recent history has been to sell Japanese Yen and buy higher yielding currencies such as the Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, and British Pound.
For example, if you buy the AUD/JPY, then you sell Japanese Yen (which yields 0.00% a year)and buy an equivalent amount of Australian Dollars (which yields 3.50% a year) simultaneously. So, for as long as you hold that position you would pay 0.00% interest a year for borrowing Japanese Yen, and receive 3.50% a year for holding Australian Dollars.
The interest rate differential of that position is 3.50 (3.50% - 0.00%). So you would receive approximately 3.50% a year on the value of the position, depending on the margin interest charged by the broker and on exchange rate volatility.
How to Pick a Time Frame
The time frame used for forming a chart depends on the compression of the data: intraday, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual data. The less compressed the data is, the more detail is displayed.
Daily data is made up of intraday data that has been compressed to show each day as a single data point, or period. Weekly data is made up of daily data that has been compressed to show each week as a single data point. The difference in detail can be seen with the daily and weekly chart comparison above. 100 data points (or periods) on the daily chart is equal to the last 5 months of the weekly chart, which is shown by the data marked in the rectangle. The more the data is compressed, the longer the time frame possible for displaying the data. If the chart can display 100 data points, a weekly chart will hold 100 weeks (almost 2 years). A daily chart that displays 100 days would represent about 5 months. There are about 20 trading days in a month and about 252 trading days in a year. The choice of data compression and time frame depends on the data available and your trading or investing style.
Short selling is not as common as going long for several reasons:
It requires a margin account, which has special requirements.
There is the risk of losing more than 100% of your money from your investment portfolio.
Some people consider it wrong to bet against a company.
Despite these concerns, short selling is successfully used every day by thousands of traders. It is actually a healthy part of the markets. For example, when the markets are having a bad day, who is buying the shares that most people are trying to get rid of? Short sellers are, along with the "longs" who are trying to buy at bargain prices. They are trying to cover their shorted positions and take a profit.
Support/Resistance
Simple chart analysis can help identify support and resistance levels. These are usually marked by periods of congestion (trading range) where the prices move within a confined range for an extended period, telling us that the forces of supply and demand are deadlocked. When prices move out of the trading range, it signals that either supply or demand has started to get the upper hand. If prices move above the upper band of the trading range, then demand is winning. If prices move below the lower band, then supply is winning.
Descending Triangle: A descending triangle is a simple chart pattern used in technical analysis. The descending triangle is formed from two trendlines, one for high prices and one for lows. The upper trendline of the triangle is a descending trendline, while the lower trendline is a horizontal trendline. The resulting shape is a right triangle whose hypotenuse moves downward over time.
In order to confirm a descending triangle on an asset's chart, traders must note two reaction lows of similar magnitude and two reaction highs, each declining in price over time. There should be a reasonable amount of distance between each low or high. Descending triangles usually form and develop over a one to three month period.
The descending triangle is always a bearish pattern, indicating a strong sell signal. Prices on the upper trendline continue to decline, narrowing the triangle formation, until the level of support represented by the lower trendline is broken. When a level of support is broken, it becomes a level of resistance, confirming the overall downward trend of the asset's price over time.
Trader's Remorse
Not all technical signals and patterns work. When you begin to study technical analysis, you will come across an array of patterns and indicators with rules to match. For instance: A sell signal is given when the neckline of a head and shoulders pattern is broken. Even though this is a rule, it is not steadfast and can be subject to other factors such as volume and momentum. In that same vein, what works for one particular stock may not work for another. A 50-day moving average may work great to identify support and resistance for IBM, but a 70-day moving average may work better for Yahoo. Even though many principles of technical analysis are universal, each security will have its own idiosyncrasies.
What is the Dow Jones or the DJIA?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (often referred to as the "Dow") is an averaged number representing the values of 30 U.S. "blue-chip" stocks. The DJIA is the most well-known market indicator in the world and was created in 1896 by Dow Jones
Diamond: The diamond formation, more commonly known as a diamond top, is a relatively rare chart formation used in technical analysis. When a diamond top forms, it forms at the conclusion of a long uptrend in price, and it indicates an imminent reversal of the trend. As such, the diamond top formation generates a very strong sell signal.
Traders and technical analysts recognize a diamond formation by first recognizing a head-and-shoulders formation (a peak and trough, followed by a higher peak and another trough, followed by a peak somewhere below the level of the previous peak: in other words, three peaks, the middle one being the tallest.) Four trendlines are drawn: one (ascending) from the first peak to the second peak, one (descending) from the second peak to the third peak, one (ascending) from the second trough to the low of the third peak, and one (descending) from the first trough to the second trough. The four lines altogether form a rough diamond shape, giving the chart its name.
The diamond top forms an overall descending trend channel, allowing traders to determine levels of support and resistance for the asset's price as it enters a downtrend or a momentary reversal. However, if the lower support line of the channel is broken, traders consider it likely that asset prices will reverse and begin again to climb.
Prices Movements are not Totally Random
Most technicians agree that prices trend. However, most technicians also acknowledge that there are periods when prices do not trend. If prices were always random, it would be extremely difficult to make money using technical analysis. In his book, Schwager on Futures: Technical Analysis, Jack Schwager states:
"One way of viewing it is that markets may witness extended periods of random fluctuation, interspersed with shorter periods of nonrandom behavior. The goal of the chartist is to identify those periods (i.e. major trends)."
Disparity Index: The disparity index is a percentage measurement for the position of the current closing price of an asset relative to that asset's moving average. Traders commonly attribute this measurement to Steve Nison, based on his book Beyond Candlesticks.
The disparity index can take either a positive or a negative value. A positive value indicates that the asset's price is rapidly increasing, while a negative value indicates that the price is rapidly decreasing. A value of zero means that the asset's current price is exactly consistent with its moving average.
The disparity index crossing the zero line reflects an extremely rapid change in the trend of a given asset, and is therefore a strong early-warning indicator of the asset's increasing momentum.
Nison's book suggests that the disparity index can indicate whether an asset is overbought (in the case of a positive value) or oversold (in the case of a negative.) Since overbought and oversold assets are very vulnerable to rapid price reversals, the disparity index is a good indicator of when following the trend of a given asset might be a dangerous proposition.
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Uptrend Line
An uptrend line has a positive slope and is formed by connecting two or more low points. The second low must be higher than the first for the line to have a positive slope. Uptrend lines act as support and indicate that net-demand (demand less supply) is increasing even as the price rises. A rising price combined with increasing demand is very bullish, and shows a strong determination on the part of the buyers. As long as prices remain above the trend line, the uptrend is considered solid and intact. A break below the uptrend line indicates that net-demand has weakened and a change in trend could be imminent.
Trading Range
Trading ranges can play an important role in determining support and resistance as turning points or as continuation patterns. A trading range is a period of time when prices move within a relatively tight range. This signals that the forces of supply and demand are evenly balanced. When the price breaks out of the trading range, above or below, it signals that a winner has emerged. A break above is a victory for the bulls (demand) and a break below is a victory for the bears (supply).
After an extended advance from 27 to 64, WorldCom (WCOM) entered into a trading range between 55 and 63 for about 5 months. There was a false breakout in mid-June when the stock briefly poked its head above 62 (red oval). This did not last long and a gap down a few days later nullified the breakout (black arrow). The stock then proceeded to break support at 55 in Aug-99 and trade as low as 50. Here is another example of support turned resistance as the stock bounced off 55 two more times before heading lower. While this does not always happen, a return to the new resistance level offers a second chance for longs to get out and shorts to enter the fray.
Central Bank: Central banks play a key role in the currency markets because of their power over monetary policy. They have a direct influence over money supply, which in turn affects demand and price of the currency. Through the use of different policies, central banks can try to manipulate the markets so that they can keep their currency at specific levels. Some countries and their central banks try to peg their currency to that of another currency or basket of currencies (for example, China to the U.S.).
The central bank can participate in the forex market by buying and selling their currency at the spot market in order to keep it from changing too much. Another motivation for central banks is to keep the local currency at a specific price in order to make their local economy more attractive for international trade. If a country’s currency appreciates too quickly, it could actually make it less appealing to importers.
Remember that many transactions have to use the local currency. Thus, if currency that is needed rises too quickly, it effectively makes goods more expensive to foreigners, which in turn, hurts trade. To counter this, the central bank may intervene in the market by selling its currency and buying up other major currencies. This in effect, weakens the local currency so as to make it more appealing to foreign importers.
While the exact value of what percentage such central bank transactions take up isn’t known, take note that because these are the banks of national governments, such interventions can have a much larger impact on the market than any single commercial bank.
What is short selling?
Short selling is the act of selling stock that you don't own at a high price by borrowing it from a brokerage and then buying it back at a lower price in the future. The hope is that the stock price will drop in value and a profit can be made. This is an advanced technique that has strict requirements and higher risks.
From the PeopleSoft (PSFT) example, we can see that support can turn into resistance and then back into support. PeopleSoft found support at 18 from Oct-98 to Jan-99 (green oval), but broke below support in Mar-99 as the bears overpowered the bulls. When the stock rebounded (red oval), there was still overhead supply at 18 and resistance was met from Jun-99 to Oct-99.
Runaway Gaps
Runaway gaps are also called measuring gaps, and are best described as gaps that are caused by increased interest in the stock. For runaway gaps to the upside, it usually represents traders who did not get in during the initial move of the up trend and while waiting for a retracement in price, decided it was not going to happen. Increased buying interest happens all of a sudden, and the price gaps above the previous day's close. This type of runaway gap represents an almost panic state in traders. Also, a good uptrend can have runaway gaps caused by significant news events that cause new interest in the stock. In the chart below, note the significant increase in volume during and after the runaway gap.
Ford Motor Co. (F) Runaway Gap example chart from StockCharts.com
Runaway gaps can also happen in downtrends. This usually represents increased liquidation of that stock by traders and buyers who are standing on the sidelines. These can become very serious as those who are holding onto the stock will eventually panic and sell – but sell to whom? The price has to continue to drop and gap down to find buyers. Not a good situation.
The term measuring gap is also used for runaway gaps. This is an interpretation that is hard to find examples for, but it is a way of helping one decide how much longer a trend will last. The theory is that the measuring gap will occur in the middle of, or half way through, the move.
Sometimes, the futures market will have runaway gaps that are caused by trading limits imposed by the exchanges. Getting caught on the wrong side of the trend when you have these limit moves in futures can be horrifying. The good news is that you can also be on the right side of them. These are not common occurrences in the futures market despite all the wrong information being touted by those who do not understand it, and are only repeating something they read from an uninformed reporter.
Analyst: When analyzing the market, analysts can generally be divided into two camps - fundamentals and technicals.
Fundamental analysts are those who mainly look at the fundamental aspects of an economy in forming their opinions. They stay on top of the markets by reading and analyzing what the current economic data say about current market conditions, what is fundamentally driving the market, and where it's headed.
Technical analysts are those who primarily rely on chart indicators and patterns to help predict where price will move next. Some tools that technical analysts use are Fibonacci retracement, candlesticks and momentum indicators.
A technician believes that it is possible to identify a trend, invest or trade based on the trend and make money as the trend unfolds. Because technical analysis can be applied to many different time frames, it is possible to spot both short-term and long-term trends. The IBM chart illustrates Schwager's view on the nature of the trend. The broad trend is up, but it is also interspersed with trading ranges. In between the trading ranges are smaller uptrends within the larger uptrend. The uptrend is renewed when the stock breaks above the trading range. A downtrend begins when the stock breaks below the low of the previous trading range.
What is a small-cap stock? Mid-cap? Large-cap?
These terms refer to a company's market capitalization, which is the number of outstanding shares times the stock's price.
Small cap: $250 Million to $2 Billion, approximately
Mid cap: $2 Billion to $10 Billion, approximately
Large cap: $10 Billion and up, approximately
Descending Trendline: Descending trendlines are a variety of trendlines, one of the most fundamental tools for technical analysis. Descending trendlines are simply trendlines with a negative slope, indicating falling prices. There are two types of descending trendlines: descending top trendlines, in which the high prices for an asset are falling, and descending bottom trendlines, in which the low prices for the asset are falling.
The rules for trading using descending trendlines are the same as the rules for trading with trendlines in general. A descending top trendline is a measure of the resistance to an asset's price, and traders consider a break in price through the descending top to be buy signal for the asset. A descending bottom trendline is a measure of the support in an asset's price, and traders consider a break in price through the descending bottom to be a sell signal for the asset. Many traders consider it necessary for additional signals to appear on the chart before a broken descending trendline is confirmed, and before those traders will take the appropriate market action.
Weaknesses of Technical Analysis Analyst Bias
Just as with fundamental analysis, technical analysis is subjective and our personal biases can be reflected in the analysis. It is important to be aware of these biases when analyzing a chart. If the analyst is a perpetual bull, then a bullish bias will overshadow the analysis. On the other hand, if the analyst is a disgruntled eternal bear, then the analysis will probably have a bearish tilt.
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