Quote from MohdSalleh:
you see, very soon the dow jones will trade in a 5 pts range for some yrs to come.
1200 posts in just over a year. SHEW. Go away. Some of us actually have moola (not Allah) at stake.
Well kiddies, isn't quite quiet now, is it?
The trough on the 20 day ATR of a swing move can only be determined in hindsight. It's safe to say that occured on January 14th at 1.16%. SPY closed at $114.03. Doesn't matter, price peaked two days later and we're talking volatility. Range expansion. Present 20 day ATR is 1.43%
Earnings season makes a great alibi.
Has market direction been determined? Nope, not necessarily. We do have a weak market and many issues rolling over. Until the number of new lows gets to 50ish, this (the present period and deeply over-sold) would be a great place to spring a bear trap in stocks with high short interest. Identified prey for the ax. Their numbers have been growing in recent days. "They" are obligated to cover at some point (period) and hence thee most predictable in their actions.
What we do have is a valuable tool for the remainder of 2010 namely the January 31st high. Pssst, in this instance, due to the calendar, it would be the 29th. I'm, not going into why this date is important. Too much typing. But going forward that price point can serve as a line of demarcation.
This weekend, you might go through your stable of tickers and note the January 29th high for each.
As a special sidenote to those with their cap on backwards, a Mountain Dew near at hand and introducing irrelevent 40 year old virgins and such, a "stable" refers to a group of stocks that you follow closely, some you own, some you don't own, some you have owned, some you trade actively. You "know" them. This is in contrast to running a scan and flitting from flower to flower only to get eventually wacked because you're not familiar with the stock's personality. Yes Virginia, stocks have personalities, reflecting the underlying players and market makers. Personalities often can be quantified BY volatility.
As I write, with the exception of stocks that closed AT their highs (unlikely) virtually all stocks are BELOW their line of demarcation.
As time progresses, this will change. Stocks worthy of long consideration will eventually emerge (and remain) above this line. This may occur Monday, next week, next month, 6 months from now, 9 months from now, etc.
Likewise, other stocks will find that line to be formidible resistance. and never breach it.
It's alot like tape reading. You have a reference point to work with. It is a FILTER, not a signal.
The line of demarcation for SPY is $109.80. A focal point.