December 17, 2006

This week's free newsletter takes a look at something which many traders never even consider: The Character of Market Moves.

My primary focus as a trader is on price.  It has to be!  Price is the biggest factor and it carries the most weight.  What price are traders willing to pay?  What price are traders willing to sell for?  Price IS the market, and there's no arguing with it.  Price is always subject to change, and fortunately we can bank on that occurring.

But it isn't everything.

Under the surface, there's a lot more to look at:

• There is up volume, down volume, and total volume.

• There are moving averages and a slew of other indicators.

• There are strong opens and strong closes.

• There are weak opens and weak closes.

• There are trend days and there are choppy days.

I could go on, but the bottom line is that beyond price, there is the character of the market, and it must always be considered.

Character Counts!

I'm constantly asking myself things like how is the market moving? and who is in control?  When the market is posting closes near its highs of the session, there's almost certainly some accumulation going on which is worth taking note of.  The opposite is true for distribution.  How is the market behaving around support and resistance levels?  Is it adding or subtracting from their validity?

You see the point I'm making though!  Watching price is one thing that as traders we're required to take note of, but until you learn to gauge the character of HOW the market is moving, you'll always be a step behind as a trader.

What About Right Now?

Right now, the market is in an uptrend and we can't ignore it.  The bulls are still in the driver's seat, but they don't have their foot pressed to the floorboard and they aren't aggressively pushing the market higher.  In fact, they've been a bit hesitant lately.  Key resistance levels have been cleared, but rather than blasting through them without looking back, the indexes are notching single-digit gains in ho-hum fashion.  Why?  Is there more going on which we need to take notice of?

Of course there is!  There are technical influences, there are statistics in play, and there's always trader psychology at work.

Making Sense of the Action

How do you sort it all out?  Do you want some help digging deeper to gather important clues about what's driving the market?

Learning the character of the market can be tricky and is a process that takes time, but we at TheStockBandit.com can help you make sense of it.  We have years of trading experience and have learned to judge the market's character through many ups and downs.  In fact, our past mistakes and losing trades have taught us more than anything.

Our job here at TheStockBandit.com is to help you streamline your trading process.  Every night, key levels are updated and of course our stock picks are provided with clear-cut entries and exits so that you have a specific trading plan to put to use.  But that isn't the most valuable part of our service.

The real value comes when we explain what is going on beneath the surface.  Whether it's our Market Conditions page where we constantly evaluate the major market indexes, or it's an in-depth explanation of why a stock is even a trading candidate in the first place, we spell it out for you so that you can learn to do it for yourself.

Watch the market's character at all times, and you'll pick up some important clues to integrate with your upcoming trades.  There's no substitute for looking at all the angles, so don't just take things at face value in the market - look a little deeper.  It's totally worth it!

Start your Free Trial and put some character in your trades!

TAKE THE FREE TRIAL!

Jeff White
President, The Stock Bandit, Inc.
www.TheStockBandit.com

The Stock Bandit, Inc. - 17460 IH-35 N. #160, PMB 240 - Schertz, TX 78154
Copyright 2004 -2008 The Stock Bandit, Inc. All Rights Reserved