Moving Average

[JTH]

Here is a chart of the S&P 500 with the number of its stocks moving above the 50, 150, & 200 day simple moving average. The yellow line represents the October 2007 peak and looking at that point in time we can see we were already having problems on the 150 & 200 SMA.

I wonder how much money I might have saved if I had been monitoring this chart back then? :rolleyes:

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[XL-entLady]

Wow, J, where do you find these things?! Very nice information! Keep us informed, okay?

Lady

[JTH]

Thanks Lady, I'll try to keep it updated if I notice any changes in movement.

[JTH]

In July 2008, these metals all moved under the 200 SMA within days of each other.

Aside from Gold & Silver, the other industrial metals are making a run for the boarder. I wish I could get a large position in on Copper :rolleyes:

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[JTH]

Here is a chart of the S&P 500 with the number of its stocks moving above the 50, 150, & 200 day simple moving average.

Here is the same chart on a 7 year time line. The blue horizontal lines represents the recent April 3rd peak. This chart doesn't tell you where we are going, but it does give you a good comparison to the lows of 2002. :eek:

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[etftalk]

Cool chart. I am surprised to see so many stocks above the 200-day MA back in early 2002. Do you have one that includes 2000-2001?

[JTH]

Cool chart. I am surprised to see so many stocks above the 200-day MA back in early 2002. Do you have one that includes 2000-2001?

Sorry Tom, this is as far back as these Ticker symbols go within the Stockcharts.com website. I still haven't exhasted all the features of this website, but I'm trying. :toung:

[JTH]

Last I checked, FAS tracks 194 stocks.

Of those stocks...

158 above 20 SMA
154 above 50 SMA
42 above 150 SMA
18 above 200 SMA

In comparison, here are the latest S&P SMA stats.
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[JTH]

This is sort of adding to Lady's post in Market Talk's thread about new highs (or the lack of.)

http://www.etftalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2509&postcount=33

Last Thursday and Monday's S&P 500 Stocks above the 50, 150, & 200 SMA were virtually tied. Only difference was 1 stock dropped below the 200 SMA.
I don't know if that means we peaked, I just thought it was a neat observation.

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[JTH]

Last I checked, FAS tracks 194 stocks.

Of those stocks...

158 above 20 SMA
154 above 50 SMA
42 above 150 SMA
18 above 200 SMA


FAS Update:

178 above 20 SMA
185 above 50 SMA
73 above 150 SMA
42 above 200 SMA

[JTH]

I had to convert over to a weekly chart and go back 5 years to find the last timne we had this many stocks abover their 50 Day SMA. :eek:

The 150 & 200 made a big jump today.

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[JTH]

Sorry, here is a better picture of the daily. :)

http://i138.photobucket.com/albums/q261/Kendlefox/sc.png

[alevin]

Nice charts! Guess I can't do that with free Stock charts version, eh? If I can, haven't figured it out yet.

[XL-entLady]

JTH knows how to do things with stockcharts that I just look at slack-jawed! I have the paid version and I don't know how to do those charts either. :embarrest:

Lady

[JTH]

Thanks Lady, I had to renew my subscription to Stock charts.com because I missed some of the features and the pretty colors. :rolleyes:

Anyways, here is an updated chart of the S&P 500's stocks above their 50, 150, & 200 Day Simple Moving Average.

In particular, I'm impressed by the 150 and its ability to pass previous peaks. I'm also watching the 200 which is also sitting at a previous peak.

I don't use this chart much, I just think it's a neat way to look at the overall health of the S&P 500 :)

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[XL-entLady]

Great post from John C. Lee this morning. For those of you who read, TSPTalk, please forgive the double post, but I think it is an important one:

"...I received hundreds of questions/e-mails over the past few weeks on a variety of topics. I think I'm going to cover moving averages. The main question was, "what MA's do you use?". That's simple. I layer all of my long charts with the 15, 20, 50, 100, and 200-day MAs. For shorts, I add the 5 and 10 as well. The MA's for the long-term are the 200-day (primary) and the 100-day (secondary). The intermediate-term MA is the 50-day. Short-term MA's are the 15 and 20-day, and the most important for swing trading.

The most ideal situation is when the 15 and 20-day both provide underlying support. What's even better is if the 50 and 100-day MA's also provide underlying support. Right now, in the majority of stocks, the 200-day acts as an initial price target for exit. The 200-day MA is the strongest MA out of the ones mentioned. It defines the long-term trend. The COMP is the only MA that is testing the underbelly of the 200-day. Interestingly, the QQQQ is resting above it. Technically, if something is above the 200-day, it is in bullish territory, so keep an eye on tech.

The MA's also gets rid of headaches and panic attacks. If you know where one of these significant MA's are located, then you know there will be a bounce, at a minimum (in most cases). Conversely, if a stock is approaching a major MA, you know there will likely be a pullback or failure. Besides price, volume, and the basic chart patterns, I've relied primarily on the moving averages to make my trading decisions. I let the MA's make the call. Stop panicking and impulse trading for no good reason. Let the charts make the decision for you."

http://weeklyta.blogspot.com/

Lady

[JTH]

The MA's also gets rid of headaches and panic attacks. If you know where one of these significant MA's are located, then you know there will be a bounce, at a minimum (in most cases).

Thanks Lady, and this is why I so love the moving average. Here is nice example this morning. :)

A bounce off SLW's 200SMA on the 15 minute chart.

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A bounce off SLW's 50SMA on the 60 minute chart.

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And just because I think it's neat... The birth of the 200SMA on the weekly chart...

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