The
direction of the stock/index price movement is called a
TREND. Prices either be rising or falling or moving narrowly(flat).
"Trend is your friend"-the often repeated phrase carries its weight in gold. Pay heed to this phrase all the time to become an unbeaten market player.
The most basic Trend analysis: Uptrend: Prices are rising and making higher tops and higher bottoms.
Downtrend: Prices are making lower bottoms and lower tops.
Sideways or Flat trend: Prices are moving in a narrow range with choppiness.
The terms bull market and bear market describe upward and downward market trends, respectively.
Prices do not rise or fall in a straight line but gets interrupted with counter moves in the opposite direction. These counter moves can be of zigzag or flat or some kind of triangles giving rise to minor tops & bottoms against the main trend.
For eg: If the trend is up, prices after a significant upmove will pause and make minor lower bottoms & lower tops- called corrections/ counter trend rally. Once this correction is over, the main trend will assert itself by taking the prices to new highs.
A top: is nothing but a price level from which the stock reverses direction to move downwards.
A bottom: is that level from where the scrip reverses the downmove and starts to rise.
A TREND: is the position of these tops and bottoms that determines the trend at any given point of time.
At any given point of time an investor or a trader has three options - to buy, sell or stay away from the market. If the trend is rising, he would do well to buy. If the trend is falling, he should be selling, and if the trend is flat, it is best to stay away unless you are capable of handling micro movements. Most of a trader's losses arise from trading in a flat market . Patience plays a vital part when market moves in a sideways, choppy mode.
Trend following for Medium to Long term Investing:
This weekly chart shows the benefit of trend following for the maximum gains requiring highest amount of discipline and patience.
A falling market cannot keep falling and at one point of time it is vulnerable to change. This change in the direction of the trend is called a
trend reversal. Once reversed, the new trend will make higher tops & higher bottoms until exhaustion sets in and it starts to make lower top and lower bottom.
Technical Analysis is this process, whereby one can spot trend reversal at an early stage and can ride the trend till the weight of evidence proves that it has reversed directions.
Trend following for short term Trading(Hour):Short term traders will do well to follow closely these minor price tops & bottoms and plan their trades. Many traders mix up the time cycle while following the trend and end up holding a losing position. For eg: One goes long spotting a trend change in the hourly time frame but hold on to it in spite of a continuation of the downtrend in the daily time scale. Every trading position has an "Expiry date" to it. If the anticipated price does not unfold within a set of time frame, exit thereby protecting the capital.
Trend following for short term Trading(Day):This simple concept of observing tops and bottoms posted by the stock can help the investor/ trader in riding the trend and spotting trend reversal.The short term trader must keep the daily trend as the main factor but use the hourly trend for entry & exit.
I label all the critical pivot points in numbers(tops & bottoms) which help me tremendously to follow the market as numbers stay on in my mind longer and number is what I see on the trading screen.
Price: One of the first rules of
trend following is that price is the main concern. Traders may use other indicators showing where price may go next or what it should be but as a general rule these should be disregarded. A trader need only be worried about what the market is doing, not what the market might do. The current price and only the price tells you what the market is doing.
Money Management: Another decisive factor of trend following is not the timing of the trade or the indicator, but rather the decision of how much to trade over the course of the trend.
Risk Control: Cut losses is the rule. This means that during periods of higher market volatility, the trading size is reduced. During losing periods, positions are reduced and trade size is cut back. The main objective is to preserve capital until more positive price trends reappear.
Though this concept appears very simple, it is probably the most important concept that can be quite profitably employed in trading the market. In using this concept, one may use either a bar/candle chart or the close price chart.
Find the time cycle that best suits your time and nature and follow that trend to find your treasure.Get rich slowly.
