When you first pull up a stock chart you will see Price and Volume plotted versus time.
As Traders, Technical Analysis allows us to Judge Potential, Identify Accumulation, and Manage Risk.
It allows us to see through the noise and interpret price action.
Here is How To Read a Stock Chart For Beginners (Thread)
When you first pull up a stock chart you will see Price and Volume plotted versus time.
Some people like candlesticks, I personally think Open/High/Low/Close (OHLC) Bars are more intuitive
For each bar/candle, the four important data points of each period are represented:
High
Low
Open
Close.
To do this we use our tools: Price and Volume
Then picture a game of tug of war with participants representing buying pressure on the left and selling pressure on the right.
If the team on the left (The Buyers) is winning and is able to pull the close nearly to the left (The high) then Buyers are in control.
This means the battle is larger and whoever wins is likely to keep winning over the next few sessions.
This is why as traders we put more weight on bars with high volume (more shares traded)
There are two main ways:
Compare the volume on a particular day to a moving average reference point
or
Compare the volume to the previous 5-10-20 days to see if it is abnormal.
The higher the volume the more important the bar.
Low volume indicates that there are not many participants
Look for tight action where the price bars' ranges or closes do not change much in value or drift slightly lower on low volume
It's what we call a volatility contraction, coined by @markminervini, where supply has been wrung out.
Here is a quick quiz.
On this chart of $NNOX highlight any tight areas you see where price compresses for at least 2-3 bars.
Reply below with your answers 👇 Don't Cheat!
Notice how after a tight area we often get a directional move on higher volume breaking out of the tight area (range) you drew.
This move often continues for 3-5 days in a momentum burst @PradeepBonde
If a stock is in an uptrend it is likely to continue that uptrend after the pause/tight area/consolidation. Likewise if it is in a downtrend it will more likely break down
Large Trading ranges are called "Bases". Like from smaller tight areas, after we break above a larger range we often continue in the direction of the longer term trend.
An Uptrend is a series of higher highs and higher lows
A Downtrend is a series of lower highs and lower lows
As a general rule of rule of thumb, if a stock is trending above a rising moving average then it is in an uptrend during that timeframe.
Below declining = downtrend
Chopping around sideways MA = Base
I use:
The 10ema
The 21ema
The 50sma
The 200sma
When the trends are all in alignment, the stock is in a strong uptrend.
Let's say it's Sunday night and you are building a focus list for the next week and stumble upon this chart.
What is the longer term trend? Are we Basing, in an Uptrend, or in a downtrend.
For NET, we are above a rising 200 SMA and building a 14 week base.
There is a saying "the longer the base the higher the space" meaning the further a stock can move once it breaks out.
The stock is also moving up the right side of the base approaching the top of the range
So we have a stock in a longer term uptrend, forming a constructive base, with a tight range up the right hand side with pivot clearly defined.
It is okay for volume to be low on the breakout day as long as the stock acts strong.
Volume can also come in over the next few days.
If I put it at the low of the range then I am giving the stock more room to wiggle. However, to keep the same $ risk I need to decrease my position size
We also break above another relevant pivot of a sub range.
At this point we are up around 5% after risking ~ 2.5% using the Low of the day (LOD) stop
Now let's try to let the stock work and trend
Once the moving averages catch up to your buy point you can switch your stop from breakeven to a close, or 2 closes below a relevant MA
So look to sell if the stock breaks trend.
Since you are at a healthy profit you could sell a portion of your position and try to let the rest keep working.
At this point because the longer term uptrend has been going on for ~ 20 months I'd be tracking a stock closely and watching for a break in the accelerated trend
The Trade is over.
If you didn't have sell rules you gave back 40%-150% gains.
I hope you found it helpful!
If you did make sure to
1. Follow @RichardMoglen
2. Retweet the tweet below to share with your audience
3. Check out https://t.co/TvGS94qkPP
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More from Richard Moglen 📽️🚢
The Importance of Trading Rules (Quick thread)
Last week I sent out this poll asking if people have a written
Over 60% of people said they did not have one.
It's now one of my main goals to get as many people as possible to commit to writing their own rules which codify their goals and methods.
I strongly believe that writing down your strategy especially if you are a new trader/investor will lead to improved and more consistent performance in the stock market.
Trading the markets is a tough business, money is on the line and emotions can run high.
Preparing ahead of time is essential so that in the moment you are just executing your plan.
This is the best way to stay in the game for the long haul
Last week I sent out this poll asking if people have a written
Do you have a written Trading/Investing Plan?
— Richard Moglen \U0001f4fd\ufe0f\U0001f981\U0001f6a2 (@RichardMoglen) March 7, 2021
Over 60% of people said they did not have one.
It's now one of my main goals to get as many people as possible to commit to writing their own rules which codify their goals and methods.
I strongly believe that writing down your strategy especially if you are a new trader/investor will lead to improved and more consistent performance in the stock market.
Trading the markets is a tough business, money is on the line and emotions can run high.
Preparing ahead of time is essential so that in the moment you are just executing your plan.
This is the best way to stay in the game for the long haul
More from Traderlion
How to time the market (thread)
There is the old saying that “Time in the market beats timing the market” The chart below from Dr. Wish’s @WishingWealth presentation at the @TraderLion_ conference shows that to be false.
Full presentation: https://t.co/o2f21GBXci
The green line is unattainable realistically, however, missing volatile times during corrections yields better performance than buy and hold and we can aim for the green line.
Investors usually only show the gray and red results.
More
There are many strategies for investing/trading in the stock market operating within different timeframes and with different objectives.
That is of course what creates a market and opportunity. Timing the market may not be what works for you or what fits your goals/lifestyle.
However, everyone involved in the market is here to make money over time and corrections can cause huge drawdowns in the high alpha names negating incredible performance during strong market uptrends.
There is the old saying that “Time in the market beats timing the market” The chart below from Dr. Wish’s @WishingWealth presentation at the @TraderLion_ conference shows that to be false.
Full presentation: https://t.co/o2f21GBXci
The green line is unattainable realistically, however, missing volatile times during corrections yields better performance than buy and hold and we can aim for the green line.
Investors usually only show the gray and red results.
More
There are many strategies for investing/trading in the stock market operating within different timeframes and with different objectives.
That is of course what creates a market and opportunity. Timing the market may not be what works for you or what fits your goals/lifestyle.
However, everyone involved in the market is here to make money over time and corrections can cause huge drawdowns in the high alpha names negating incredible performance during strong market uptrends.
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I like this heuristic, and have a few which are similar in intent to it:
Hiring efficiency:
How long does it take, measured from initial expression of interest through offer of employment signed, for a typical candidate cold inbounding to the company?
What is the *theoretical minimum* for *any* candidate?
How long does it take, as a developer newly hired at the company:
* To get a fully credentialed machine issued to you
* To get a fully functional development environment on that machine which could push code to production immediately
* To solo ship one material quanta of work
How long does it take, from first idea floated to "It's on the Internet", to create a piece of marketing collateral.
(For bonus points: break down by ambitiousness / form factor.)
How many people have to say yes to do something which is clearly worth doing which costs $5,000 / $15,000 / $250,000 and has never been done before.
Here's how I'd measure the health of any tech company:
— Jeff Atwood (@codinghorror) October 25, 2018
How long, as measured from the inception of idea to the modified software arriving in the user's hands, does it take to roll out a *1 word copy change* in your primary product?
Hiring efficiency:
How long does it take, measured from initial expression of interest through offer of employment signed, for a typical candidate cold inbounding to the company?
What is the *theoretical minimum* for *any* candidate?
How long does it take, as a developer newly hired at the company:
* To get a fully credentialed machine issued to you
* To get a fully functional development environment on that machine which could push code to production immediately
* To solo ship one material quanta of work
How long does it take, from first idea floated to "It's on the Internet", to create a piece of marketing collateral.
(For bonus points: break down by ambitiousness / form factor.)
How many people have to say yes to do something which is clearly worth doing which costs $5,000 / $15,000 / $250,000 and has never been done before.