KEY
TAKEAWAYS
- A key short-term breadth indicator became oversold in mid April.
- Stocks are bouncing after this oversold reading.
- Breadth, however, has yet to show a serious expansion in participation.
Stocks fell sharply into late April and then rebounded over the last two weeks. SPY fell 5.34% from March 28th to April 19th and then rebounded with a 3.26% gain the last two weeks. Does this bounce have legs? Chartists can separate serious bounces from dead-cat bounces using breadth. Today’s example will use the S&P 500 and the percentage of S&P 500 stocks their 20 day SMAs.
There are two steps. First, the indicator needs to become oversold (setup). Second, we need to see a significant increase (breakout) in upside participation (signal). An oversold reading signals a significant decline and provides the setup for a bounce. Aggressive traders can trade the oversold condition. A subsequent move above the breakout level signals adequate participation to sustain the advance. Now comes the subjective part. We must choose our oversold and breakout levels. I am choosing 10 and 70 percent for SPX %Above 20-day SMA.
The green shading on the chart above shows when SPX %Above 20-day became oversold and the green arrow-lines mark the subsequent move above 70%. There were setup-signals in March-April and again in October-November. Both led to significant bounces. Notice the red shading where the indicator failed to clear 70% in mid October. This was a feeble bounce and SPY moved to a new low in late October. SPX %Above 20-day then surged above 70% in early November for a signal. Recently, the indicator became oversold here in mid April for a setup and moved back above 50% this week. An oversold bounce is indeed underway, but I need to see a move above 70% to show a participation breakout.
We are monitoring the rebound in the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 at TrendInvestorPro (ChartTrader). Our 10 indicator composite indicator became oversold in mid April, but we have yet to see the required breadth thrust to signal a strong increase in participation. ChartTrader reports and videos provide broad market timing signals and trading setups for leading stocks and ETFs. This week we featured setups in the T-Bond ETF (TLT), the Biotech SPDR (XBI) and four Tech ETFs (IGV, SOXX, CIBR, SKYY). Click here for immediate access.
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Choose a Strategy, Develop a Plan and Follow a Process
Arthur Hill, CMT
Chief Technical Strategist, TrendInvestorPro.com
Author, Define the Trend and Trade the Trend
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Arthur Hill, CMT, is the Chief Technical Strategist at TrendInvestorPro.com. Focusing predominantly on US equities and ETFs, his systematic approach of identifying trend, finding signals within the trend, and setting key price levels has made him an esteemed market technician. Arthur has written articles for numerous financial publications including Barrons and Stocks & Commodities Magazine. In addition to his Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation, he holds an MBA from the Cass Business School at City University in London.
