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Friday 31 August, 2012

Price Action Trading Method


Swing Highs and Lows
The first thing that we need to recognise is what is a Swing High and Swing Low. This is probably the easiest part of price action and bar counting although the whole process gets easier with practice.

I define a swing high as;
Swing High     A three bar combination
     A bar preceded and succeeded by lower highs


I define a swing low as;
Swing Low     A three bar combination
     A bar preceded and succeeded by higher lows


Market Phases
There are only three ways the market can go;
  • Up
  • Down
  • Sideways
With the swing high/low definition now in mind we can start to build some layers on to the chart to identify these market phases and start to do a simple count of these swing highs and lows.
In short
  • The market is going up when price is making higher highs and higher lows
  • The market is going down when price is making lower highs and lower lows
  • The market is going sideways when price is not making higher highs and higher lows OR lower highs lower lows
This may sound like child's play and a statement of the obvious but you will be surprised at how often people will forget these simple facts. One of the biggest questions I get asked is, which way is the market going? By doing a simple exercise you can see which way that price is going and decide on your trading plan and more importantly timing of a trade.
What do I mean by timing? It may be that you are looking for a shorting opportunity as the overall trend is down but price on your entry time frame is still going up (making HH's & HL's). There is, at this stage, no point in trying to short a rising market until price action start to point down (making LH's & LL's. More on this shortly).
Bias Changes
Bias Change
A Short or Bearish Bias Change occurs when the following sequence develops.
HH>HL>LH>LL>LH The bias change is confirmed when price moves below the las lower low made as highlighted on the chart.
Another way of saying this is 123 reversal and you are trading the pullback as your entry trigger (Red Line).
There are a few variations of this pattern but this is quite simply a price action bias change in its simplest form.
Bias Change
A Long or Bullish Bias Change occurs when the following sequence develops.
LL>LH>HL>HH>HL The bias change is confirmed when price moves above the last higher high made as highlighted on the chart.
Another way of saying this is 123 reversal and you are trading the pullback as your entry trigger (Blue Line).
There are a few variations of this pattern but this is quite simply a price action bias change in its simplest form.
Trending Price Action
After a bias change has been seen and confirmed, one of the phases that the market can then take is to start trending either up or down depending on the bias change previously.
In the chart below we can see what price ideally looks like when price is trending up and trending down. Each phase shows price making HH's & HL's on its way up and LH's & LL's on its way down.
Trending upTrending Down
Ranging Price action
Now this is where the chart can become interesting. By using the price action counting of the swing highs and lows we can know at a very early stage IFprice is going to start to develop range bound activity.
  • Price is not making new highs OR new lows
I don't mean all time highs/lows or new day/week/month highs/lows... just simply a new chart swing high or low. Price will start to stall and not make a new swing high/low and typically will stay contained within the last swing high and low that was made on the chart. Isn't that a simple definition?
Range rule definitions
  • Price doesn't make a new high or low on the move
  • If price stays contained within the last swing high and swing low to be made, price will remain range bound until it makes news move highs or lows.
  • Price confirms the range when a lower high and a higher low is made within the previous swing high and low.
In the chart below you can see that from the left side of the chart price is making LH's & LL's all the way to the first blue arrow which in real time would be the latest lowest low. Price then moves higher to make a HH. These two swing levels have been highlighted.
At the point of the chart, in real time, price needs to either start moving higher past the last swing high (red Arrow) making a new high OR move lower past the last swing low (blue arrow) making a new low. Until either of those things happens price will most likely remain range bound. In this example that is what happened.
Range Bound
Range considerations
Some considerations for identifying ranges at an early stage in real time are;
  • That price could be creating a pullback or bias change and as the chart unfolds for you a new high or low could be made voiding the potential range.
  • There are several definitions of a range one of the more common ones is that you are looking for a double touch of support and resistance. For me this is a little too late in the game as price may not create the double touch as in the example above. With this price action method you can identify the possibility of a range developing VERY early without having to worry IF price does or does not give you the double touch. As you can see with that definition you would interpret that price is not range bound at all but, you can clearly see visually that price is moving sideways without any definition.
What you should have learnt from this short article
  • A simple rule defined method to identify swing highs and lows
  • How to use this swing high/low definition to interpret price action market phases
  • How to identify a bias change
  • How to identify trending price action
  • How to identify Range bound price action
Bias Change pattern variation
In the below images we can see the pattern variation and compare them to the outlined pattern above.  The only main difference is that you are looking for a breach of a previous swing high or low as the first qualifier to indicate a potential bias change.

Bias Change Variations

Acronyms used
  • HH - Higher High
  • HL - Higher Low
  • LH - Lower High
  • LL - Lower Low
By Philip Newton
www.trading-strategies.info

Philip Newton is a professional trader and teaches new and experienced traders the skills needed to trade for a living. His live chat room is amongst the best in the industry. Inside the members area traders can watch videos of his trades and receive support for any question they may have. The live trading room is the heart of the website where the real learning begins. www.trading-strategies.info

PRICE & VOLUME RELATIONSHIP


PRICE & VOLUME RELATIONSHIP


Up-trending marketPriceVolume
   
UptrendUpUp
CorrectionDownDown
ReversalDownUp

Down-trending marketPriceVolume
   
UptrendDownUp
CorrectionUpDown
ReversalUpUp

Market directionPriceVolumeCalculation
    
UptrendUpUp+ Volume
DowntrendDownUp- Volume
CorrectionsUp / DownDown0

Sunday 26 August, 2012

Momentum investing


Momentum investing involves buying and selling stocks that are likely to witness a substantial jump in prices in a short span of time. In other words, the investor buys stocks that are about to soar and sells them at a much higher price. As a momentum investor, one seeks to identify stocks that have the potential to yield spectacular returns within a short to medium holding period, say, 1-6 months.
When the market rallies, momentum stocks are usually better placed to lead the market and touch new highs. Typically, the strategy involves capitalising on an existing trend. So, one would try to lock in gains by riding hot stocks, those that are already witnessing a surge in prices, or momentum. 
 "Momentum investing is essentially about betting on stocks that have already gathered momentum."
This involves monitoring stock prices daily and cashing out within weeks or months of acquiring the asset. However, this is not as easy as it sounds. Momentum play can be highly misleading and frustrating at times. If you get your calculation wrong, the money may just as easily go down the drain. Without the right tools, getting a fix on such stocks is difficult. Hitesh Sheth, head, technical research, Prabhudas Lilladher, says, "Momentum investing can be rewarding if you can master the use of the indicators available. The strategy can work both ways—you can ride the bull markets as well as benefit from market declines."
How to spot momentum stocks
For those keen on making money from this strategy, there are several indicators or tools that can help identify momentum stocks. However, before learning about these indicators, you must understand the logic behind their functioning.
As anyone driving a car knows, he needs to slow down to change the direction. Likewise, the speed at which a stock is moving up or down will reduce before the final turnaround. The momentum indicators help you capture this reduction in speed. However, a stock that is losing momentum need not necessarily result in a turnaround. Just as a car can slow down, but then accelerate again, so should a loss in momentum be considered as an indication of a possible turnaround.
Through the following charts, we explain some simple momentum indicators and a few basic rules. You can start keeping track of the performance of some potential momentum stocks using these tools. Over time, you will be able to spot the stocks that can deliver high, double-digit returns in a few months or even weeks. These indicators are readily available for investors on Websites, such as yahoofinance.com.
Rate of change
The rate of change (RoC) indicator is a basic momentum oscillator, which measures the speed at which the stock price is changing within a defined time period. It calculates the percentage change between the most recent stock price and the price that existed 'n' periods ago. When plotted as a trendline, it forms an oscillator that fluctuates above and below the zero line as the RoC moves from positive to negative.
/photo.cms?msid=10793443
A value greater than zero indicates an increase in upward momentum (spike in RoC reflects a sharp uptick in price) and a value less than zero suggests an increase in downward pressure (plunge in RoC reflects a sharp fall in price). However, this indicator can be misleading if used in isolation. It should be used in combination with other momentum indicators.
Trading volume
Another indicator to be considered is the trading activity around the stock, which is represented by its trading volume. The stocks that are adequately supported by strong volumes can be assured of continued interest, at least in the near term. Low trading volumes, on the other hand, indicate lack of interest in the security and, therefore, a lack of momentum. Usually, momentum investors prefer to buy stocks that are rising with high volume and sell stocks that are falling with high volume.
The RSI compares the magnitude of recent gains to recent losses. It is calculated by using the formula, RSI=100-100/(1+RS), where RS is the average price for 'x' days when the stock closes up divided by the average price of 'x' days when it closes down. RSI ranges from 0 to 100 and a stock is considered to be overbought when this value is above 70, and oversold when it is below 30.
/photo.cms?msid=10793446
However, these are not considered as buy or sell signals because the stock may continue to move, taking the RSI to much higher/lower levels. Like other indicators, a signal is generated when a stock loses its momentum and turns around. In this case, RSI crossing the 70 mark from above is considered a a sell signal and crossing the 30 mark from below is considered a buy signal.