Trading Tips

Ichimoku Kinko Hyo: The name sounds intimidating to those unfamiliar with Japanese, and a quick glance at the formula makes this indicator seem far more complex than it is. In reality, though, the Ichimoku Cloud is a simple, straight-forward, and very revealing technical indicator. In fact, it might be the most single versatile and effective [...]

According to the American Association of Individual Investors, market portfolios traded according to CAN SLIM were up an astounding 1,351.3% between January 1998 and December 2008, compared to a loss of 6% by the S&P 500. Wow! But does this mean that CAN SLIM is guaranteed to continue to post these kind of results? Of [...]

In 1967, a technical analyst named Richard W. Arms invented the Arms Index. Later, this same statistic became known as TRIN — or Short-Term TRading INdex. No matter what you want to call it, Arms/TRIN is a great indicator to have in your arsenal. Basically, TRIN can be applied to the NYSE or Nasdaq, and [...]

High-Low Index examines a particular index or exchange, such as the Nasdaq, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the New York Stock Exchange, etc. Once a particular index or exchange is selected, High-Low Index takes the number of new highs that day among stocks trading on the index or exchange, and divides them by the total [...]

Net New Highs is a simple indicator that packs a powerful punch. The formula used to calculate it is straightforward: subtract the number of new 52-week lows from the number of new 52-week highs. But where the subtlety and skill come in are in interpreting this statistic. Furthermore, Net New Highs is a stepping stone [...]

The High-Low Index (HLI) is an easy-to-read “market breadth indicator.” At least that’s what “they” say. The truth is, the HLI is pretty flawed at measuring the “breadth” of an uptrend or downtrend. But that doesn’t mean it is not a valuable indicator, nonetheless. If you used HLI along with the Nasdaq and NYSE composites, [...]

In this week’s episode, we look at Volume Weighted Price Average, or — as the bigwigs call it — VWAP. Who are these bigwigs I’m referring to? Well, institutional investors, of course. They use VWAP to guide their trades, and also to evaluate performance. And after watching this video, you will be able to, too. [...]

When one looks at Bollinger Bands, one generally looks at two things: (1) how far apart or how close together the Bollinger Bands are, and (2) where the stock’s current price is in relation to those Bands. Well, just as Bollinger BandWidth quantified the width of Bollinger Bands, Bollinger Band %B quantifies exactly where a [...]

There are dozens and dozens of technical indicators and chart formations that predict whether a stock is due to go up or down… What there aren’t a lot of is indicators that accurately predict WHEN a stock is about to make a major move. This is what Bollinger BandWidth is good for — not determining [...]

“Slope.” An optimist might think of Aspen and skiing when confronted with the term, and math whizzes may fondly remember Junior High, but for the rest of us, the term takes us back to Geometry class: Slope = Rise over Run. Well, you’ve probably gone your whole life without using that tidbit of public-education knowledge [...]