Technical Analysis Articles –
Breakout systems can actually be considered another form of swing trading, (which is a style of short term trading designed to capture the next immediate move). In other words, the trader is not concerned with any long term forecast or analysis, only the immediate price action.
I am not a huge fan of technical indicators, being primarily a chartist in my market analysis. That said, I do watch the volatility-based indicators to help get an idea of how the market is doing at present and what is likely to happen in the future. The two indicators I use in that regard are Bollinger Bands and Average True Range (ATR).
In a very brief but informative article in the January 1991 issue of Technical Analysis of Stocks and Commodities, Arthur Merrill considered the question of whether the degree of volatility in the stock market is a useful indication of the market’s future course.
The Percent Range (%R) technical indicator was developed by well-known futures author and trader Larry Williams. This system attempts to measure overbought and oversold market conditions. The %R always falls between a value of 100 and 0. There are two horizontal lines in the study that represent the 20% and 80% overbought and oversold levels.
Joseph Skibinski Although Moving Averages offer an excellent means for determining the trend in the market, their lag and lack of precision makes it difficult to trade them in an optimal fashion. Trendline Analysis allows us to more effectively trade the market by clearly defining levels of support and resistance. This is particularly true when …
I used to think only price bars could predict the future. I started as a novice, experimenting with every indicator in the book. I could never get the markets to match my mathematics, so I finally gave up and became a pattern reader. In fact, my early writings are so pattern-centric they appear intolerant of all other trading techniques.
I use chart patterns in my trading because they give me tips on how a stock will perform. Sometimes the tip turns out to be a lie, but that’s okay. I use stops to limit losses (don’t you?). When the tips are accurate, I clean up. This article discusses two such tips: partial declines and partial rises. They forecast the breakout direction from a chart pattern.
The Andrews Pitchfork is yet another one of my “secondary” trading tools. My “primary” trading tools include basic trend lines and chart patterns, trader psychology and fundamental analysis. I use the secondary trading tools to help confirm what my primary trading tools may be telling me.