ADVANCE/DECLINE RATIO

Overview
The Advance/Decline Ratio ("A/D Ratio") shows the ratio of advancing issues to declining issues. It is calculated by dividing the number of advancing issues by the number of declining issues.

Interpretation
The A/D Ratio is similar to the Advancing-Declining Issues in that it displays market breadth. But, where the Advancing-Declining Issues subtracts the advancing/declining values, the A/D Ratio divides the values. The advantage of the Ratio is that it remains constant regardless of the number of issues that are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (which has steadily increased).
A moving average of the A/D Ratio is often used as an overbought/oversold indicator. The higher the value, the more "excessive" the rally and the more likely a correction. Likewise, low readings imply an oversold market and suggest a technical rally.
Keep in mind, however, that markets that appear to be extremely overbought or oversold may stay that way for some time. When investing using overbought and oversold indicators, it is wise to wait for the prices to confirm your belief that a change is due before placing your trades.
Day-to-day fluctuations of the Advance/Decline Ratio are often eliminated by smoothing the ratio with a moving average.

Example
The following chart shows the S&P 500 and a 15-day moving average of the A/D Ratio.



You can see that prices usually declined after entering the overbought level above 1.25 ("sell" arrows) and that they usually rallied after entering the oversold level below 0.90 ("buy" arrows).

Calculation
The A/D Ratio is calculated by dividing the number of stocks that advanced in price for the day by the number of stocks that declined.



Table 3 shows the calculation of the A/D Ratio.

ADVANCE/DECLINE LINE

Overview
The Advance/Decline Line ("A/D Line") is undoubtedly the most widely used measure of market breadth. It is a cumulative total of the Advancing-Declining Issues indicator. When compared to the movement of a market index (e.g., Dow Jones Industrials, S&P 500, etc) the A/D Line has proven to be an effective gauge of the stock market's strength.

Interpretation
The A/D Line is helpful when measuring overall market strength. When more stocks are advancing than declining, the A/D Line moves up (and vice versa).
Many investors feel that the A/D Line shows market strength better than more commonly used indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average ("DJIA") or the S&P 500 Index. By studying the trend of the A/D Line you can see if the market is in a rising or falling trend, if the trend is still intact, and how long the current trend has prevailed.
Another way to use the A/D Line is to look for a divergence between the DJIA (or a similar index) and the A/D Line. Often, an end to a bull market can be forecast when the A/D Line begins to round over while the DJIA is still trying to make new highs. Historically, when a divergence develops between the DJIA and the A/D Line, the DJIA has corrected and gone the direction of the A/D Line.
A military analogy is often used when discussing the relationship between the A/D Line and the DJIA. The analogy is that trouble looms when the generals lead (e.g., the DJIA is making new highs) and the troops refuse to follow (e.g., the A/D Line fails to make new highs).

Example
The following chart shows the DJIA and the A/D Line.



The DJIA was making new highs during the 12 months leading up to the 1987 crash. During this same period, the A/D Line was failing to reach new highs. This type of divergence, where the generals lead and the troops refuse to follow, usually results in the generals retreating in defeat as happened in 1987.
Calculation




Because the A/D Line always starts at zero, the numeric value of the A/D Line is of little importance. What is important is the slope and pattern of the A/D Line.

ACCUMULATION SWING INDEX

Overview
The Accumulation Swing Index is a cumulative total of the Swing Index. The Accumulation Swing Index was developed by Welles Wilder.
Interpretation
Mr. Wilder said, "Somewhere amidst the maze of Open, High, Low and Close prices is a phantom line that is the real market." The Accumulation Swing Index attempts to show this phantom line. Since the Accumulation Swing Index attempts to show the "real market," it closely resembles prices themselves. This allows you to use classic support/resistance analysis on the Index itself. Typical analysis involves looking for breakouts, new highs and lows, and divergences.
Wilder notes the following characteristics of the Accumulation Swing Index:
• It provides a numerical value that quantifies price swings.

• It defines short-term swing points.

• It cuts through the maze of high, low, and close prices and indicates the real strength and direction of the market.

Example
The following chart shows Corn and its Accumulation Swing Index.



You can see that the breakouts of the price trend lines labeled "A" and "B" were confirmed by breakouts of the Accumulation Swing Index trend lines labeled "A'" and "B'."
Calculation
The Accumulation Swing Index is a cumulative total of the Swing Index. The Swing Index and the Accumulation Swing Index require opening prices.
Step-by-step instructions on calculating the Swing Index are provided in Wilder's book, New Concepts In Technical Trading Systems.

ACCUMULATION/DISTRIBUTION

Overview
The Accumulation/Distribution is a momentum indicator that associates changes in price and volume. The indicator is based on the premise that the more volume that accompanies a price move, the more significant the price move.

Interpretation
The Accumulation/Distribution is really a variation of the more popular On Balance Volume indicator. Both of these indicators attempt to confirm changes in prices by comparing the volume associated with prices.
When the Accumulation/Distribution moves up, it shows that the security is being accumulated, as most of the volume is associated with upward price movement. When the indicator moves down, it shows that the security is being distributed, as most of the volume is associated with downward price movement.
Divergences between the Accumulation/Distribution and the security's price imply a change is imminent. When a divergence does occur, prices usually change to confirm the Accumulation/Distribution. For example, if the indicator is moving up and the security's price is going down, prices will probably reverse.

Example
The following chart shows Battle Mountain Gold and its Accumulation /Distribution.



Battle Mountain's price diverged as it reached new highs in late July while the indicator was falling. Prices then corrected to confirm the indicator's trend.

Calculation
A portion of each day's volume is added or subtracted from a cumulative total. The nearer the closing price is to the high for the day, the more volume added to the cumulative total. The nearer the closing price is to the low for the day, the more volume subtracted from the cumulative total. If the close is exactly between the high and low prices, nothing is added to the cumulative total.

ABSOLUTE BREADTH INDEX

Overview
The Absolute Breadth Index ("ABI") is a market momentum indicator that was developed by Norman G. Fosback.
The ABI shows how much activity, volatility, and change is taking place on the New York Stock Exchange while ignoring the direction prices are headed.

Interpretation
You can think of the ABI as an "activity index." High readings indicate market activity and change, while low readings indicate lack of change.
In Fosback's book, Stock Market Logic, he indicates that historically, high values typically lead to higher prices three to twelve months later. Fosback found that a highly reliable variation of the ABI is to divide the weekly ABI by the total issues traded. A ten-week moving average of this value is then calculated. Readings above 40% are very bullish and readings below 15% are bearish.

Example
The following chart shows the S&P 500 and a 5-week moving average of the ABI.



Strong rallies occurred every time the ABI's moving average rose above 310.

Calculation
The Absolute Breadth Index is calculated by taking the absolute value of the difference between NYSE Advancing Issues and NYSE Declining Issues.


Absolute value (i.e., ABS) means "regardless of sign." Thus, the absolute value of -100 is 100 and the absolute value of +100 is also 100.

The Time Element

The discussion that began on page explained the open, high, low, and closing price fields. This section presents the time element.
Much of technical analysis focuses on changes in prices over time. Consider the effect of time in the following charts, each of which show a security's price increase from $25 to around $45.
Figure 43 shows that Merck's price increased consistently over a 12-month time period. This chart shows that investors continually reaffirmed the security's upward movement.


As shown in Figure 44, Disney's price also moved from around $25 to $45, but it did so in two significant moves. This shows that on two occasions investors believed the security's price would move higher. But following the first bidding war, a period of time had to pass before investors accepted the new prices and were ready to move them higher.



The pause after the rapid increase in Disney's price is a typical phenomena. People have a difficult time accepting new prices suddenly, but will accept them over time. What once looked expensive may one day look cheap as expectations evolve.
This is an interesting aspect of point and figure charts, because point and figure charts totally disregard the passage of time and only display changes in price.

A Sample Approach
There are many technical analysis tools in this book. The most difficult part of technical analysis may be deciding which tools to use! Here is an approach you might try.

1. Determine the overall market condition.
If you are trading equity-based securities (e.g., stocks), determine the trend in interest rates, the trend of the New York Stock Exchange, and of investor sentiment (e.g., read the newspaper). The object is to determine the overall trend of the market.

2. Pick the securities.
I suggest that you pick the securities using either a company or industry you are familiar with, or the recommendation of a trusted analyst (either fundamental or technical).

3. Determine the overall trend of the security.
Plot a 200-day (or 39-week) moving average of the security's closing price. The best buying opportunities occur when the security has just risen above this long-term moving average.

4. Pick your entry points.
Buy and sell using your favorite indicator. However, only take positions that agree with overall market conditions.

Much of your success in technical analysis will come from experience. The goal isn't to find the holy grail of technical analysis, it is to reduce your risks (e.g., by trading with the overall trend) while capitalizing on opportunities (e.g., using your favorite indicator to time your trades). As you gain experience, you will make better, more informed, and more profitable investments.
"A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees."- William Blake, 1790

Periodicity

Regardless of the "periodicity" of the data in your charts (i.e., hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, etc), the basic principles of technical analysis endure. Consider the following charts of a Swiss Franc contract shown in Figures 40, 41, and 42.







Typically, the shorter the periodicity, the more difficult it is to predict and profit from changes in prices. The difficulty associated with shorter periodicities is compounded by the fact that you have less time to make your decisions.
"While we stop and think, we often miss our opportunity."- Publilius Syrus, 1st century B.C.
Opportunities exist in any time frame. But I have rarely met a successful short-term trader who wasn't also successful a long-term investor. And I have met many investors who get caught by the grass-is-greener syndrome believing that shorter-and-shorter time periods is the secret to making money--it isn't.

Line Studies

Line studies are technical analysis tools that consist of lines drawn on top of a security's price and/or indicator. These include the support, resistance, and trend line concepts already discussed.

MARKET INDICATORS

Market Indicators
All of the technical analysis tools discussed up to this point were calculated using a security's price (e.g., high, low, close, volume, etc). There is another group of technical analysis tools designed to help you gauge changes in all securities within a specific market. These indicators are usually referred to as "market indicators," because they gauge an entire market, not just an individual security. Market indicators typically analyze the stock market, although they can be used for other markets (e.g., futures).
While the data fields available for an individual security are limited to its open, high, low, close, volume (see page ), and sparse financial reports, there are numerous data items available for the overall stock market. For example, the number of stocks that made new highs for the day, the number of stocks that increased in price, the volume associated with the stocks that increased in price, etc. Market indicators cannot be calculated for an individual security because the required data is not available.
Market indicators add significant depth to technical analysis, because they contain much more information than price and volume. A typical approach is to use market indicators to determine where the overall market is headed and then use price/volume indicators to determine when to buy or sell an individual security. The analogy being "all boats rise in a rising tide," it is therefore much less risky to own stocks when the stock market is rising.
Categories of market indicators
Market indicators typically fall into three categories: monetary, sentiment, and momentum.
Monetary indicators concentrate on economic data such as interest rates. They help you determine the economic environment in which businesses operate. These external forces directly affect a business' profitability and share price.
Examples of monetary indicators are interest rates, the money supply, consumer and corporate debt, and inflation. Due to the vast quantity of monetary indicators, I only discuss a few of the basic monetary indicators in this book.
Sentiment indicators focus on investor expectations--often before those expectations are discernible in prices. With an individual security, the price is often the only measure of investor sentiment available. However, for a large market such as the New York Stock Exchange, many more sentiment indicators are available. These include the number of odd lot sales (i.e., what are the smallest investors doing?), the put/call ratio (i.e., how many people are buying puts versus calls?), the premium on stock index futures, the ratio of bullish versus bearish investment advisors, etc.
"Contrarian" investors use sentiment indicators to determine what the majority of investors expect prices to do; they then do the opposite. The rational being, if everybody agrees that prices will rise, then there probably aren't enough investors left to push prices much higher. This concept is well proven--almost everyone is bullish at market tops (when they should be selling) and bearish at market bottoms (when they should be buying).
The third category of market indicators, momentum, show what prices are actually doing, but do so by looking deeper than price. Examples of momentum indicators include all of the price/volume indicators applied to the various market indices (e.g., the MACD of the Dow Industrials), the number of stocks that made new highs versus the number of stocks making new lows, the relationship between the number of stocks that advanced in price versus the number that declined, the comparison of the volume associated with increased price with the volume associated with decreased price, etc.
Given the above three groups of market indicators, we have insight into:
1. The external monetary conditions affecting security prices. This tells us what security prices should do.
2. The sentiment of various sectors of the investment community. This tells us what investors expect prices to do.
3. The current momentum of the market. This tells us what prices are actually doing.
Figure 35 shows the Prime Rate along with a 50-week moving average. "Buy" arrows were drawn when the Prime Rate crossed below its moving average (interest rates were falling) and "sell" arrows were drawn when the Prime Rate crossed above its moving average (interest rates were rising). This chart illustrates the intense relationship between stock prices and interest rates.
Figure 35


Figure 36 shows a 10-day moving average of the Put/Call Ratio (a sentiment indicator). I labeled the chart with "buy" arrows each time the moving average rose above 85.0. This is the level where investors were extremely bearish and expected prices to decline. You can see that each time investors became extremely bearish, prices actually rose.
Figure 36


Figure 37 shows a 50-week moving average (a momentum indicator) of the S&P 500. "Buy" arrows were drawn when the S&P rose above its 50-week moving average; "sell" arrows were drawn when the S&P fell below its moving average. You can see how this momentum indicator caught every major market move.
Figure 37


Figure 38 merges the preceding monetary and momentum charts. The chart is labeled "Bullish" when the Prime Rate was below its 50-week moving average (meaning that interest rates were falling) and when the S&P was above its 50-week moving average.
Figure 38


The chart in Figure 38 is a good example of the roulette metaphor. You don't need to know exactly where prices will be in the future--you simply need to improve your odds. At any given time during the period shown in this chart, I couldn't have told you where the market would be six months later. However, by knowing that the odds favor a rise in stock prices when interest rates are falling and when the S&P is above its 50-week moving average, and by limiting long positions (i.e., buying) to periods when both of these indicators are bullish, you could dramatically reduce your risks and increase your chances of making a profit.

Divergences

A divergence occurs when the trend of a security's price doesn't agree with the trend of an indicator. Many of the examples in subsequent chapters demonstrate divergences.
The chart in Figure 34 shows a divergence between Whirlpool and its 14-day CCI (Commodity Channel Index). [See page .] Whirlpool's prices were making new highs while the CCI was failing to make new highs. When divergences occur, prices usually change direction to confirm the trend of the indicator as shown in Figure 34. This occurs because indicators are better at gauging price trends than the prices themselves.
Figure 34

Trending prices versus trading prices

There have been several trading systems and indicators developed that determine if prices are trending or trading. The approach is that you should use lagging indicators during trending markets and leading indicators during trading markets. While it is relatively easy to determine if prices are trending or trading, it is extremely difficult to know if prices will trend or trade in the future. [See Figure 33.]
Figure 33

Leading versus lagging indicators

Moving averages and the MACD are examples of trend following, or "lagging," indicators. [See Figure 30.] These indicators are superb when prices move in relatively long trends. They don't warn you of upcoming changes in prices, they simply tell you what prices are doing (i.e., rising or falling) so that you can invest accordingly. Trend following indicators have you buy and sell late and, in exchange for missing the early opportunities, they greatly reduce your risk by keeping you on the right side of the market.
Figure 30


As shown in Figure 31, trend following indicators do not work well in sideways markets.


Another class of indicators are "leading" indicators. These indicators help you profit by predicting what prices will do next. Leading indicators provide greater rewards at the expense of increased risk. They perform best in sideways, "trading" markets.
Leading indicators typically work by measuring how "overbought" or "oversold" a security is. This is done with the assumption that a security that is "oversold" will bounce back. [See Figure 32.]



What type of indicators you use, leading or lagging, is a matter of personal preference. It has been my experience that most investors (including me) are better at following trends than predicting them. Thus, I personally prefer trend following indicators. However, I have met many successful investors who prefer leading indicators.

MACD

The MACD is calculated by subtracting a 26-day moving average of a security's price from a 12-day moving average of its price. The result is an indicator that oscillates above and below zero.
When the MACD is above zero, it means the 12-day moving average is higher than the 26-day moving average. This is bullish as it shows that current expectations (i.e., the 12-day moving average) are more bullish than previous expectations (i.e., the 26-day average). This implies a bullish, or upward, shift in the supply/demand lines. When the MACD falls below zero, it means that the 12-day moving average is less than the 26-day moving average, implying a bearish shift in the supply/demand lines.
Figure 28 shows AutoZone and its MACD. I labeled the chart as "Bullish" when the MACD was above zero and "Bearish" when it was below zero. I also displayed the 12- and 26-day moving averages on the price chart.
Figure 28


A 9-day moving average of the MACD (not of the security's price) is usually plotted on top of the MACD indicator. This line is referred to as the "signal" line. The signal line anticipates the convergence of the two moving averages (i.e., the movement of the MACD toward the zero line).
The chart in Figure 29 shows the MACD (the solid line) and its signal line (the dotted line). "Buy" arrows were drawn when the MACD rose above its signal line; "sell" arrows were drawn when the MACD fell below its signal line.
Figure 29


Let's consider the rational behind this technique. The MACD is the difference between two moving averages of price. When the shorter-term moving average rises above the longer-term moving average (i.e., the MACD rises above zero), it means that investor expectations are becoming more bullish (i.e., there has been an upward shift in the supply/demand lines). By plotting a 9-day moving average of the MACD, we can see the changing of expectations (i.e., the shifting of the supply/demand lines) as they occur.

Indicators

An indicator is a mathematical calculation that can be applied to a security's price and/or volume fields. The result is a value that is used to anticipate future changes in prices.
A moving average fits this definition of an indicator: it is a calculation that can be performed on a security's price to yield a value that can be used to anticipate future changes in prices.
The following chapters (see page ) contain numerous examples of indicators. I'll briefly review one simple indicator here, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD).

MOVING AVERAGES

Moving Averages
Moving averages are one of the oldest and most popular technical analysis tools. This chapter describes the basic calculation and interpretation of moving averages. Full details on moving averages are provided in Part Two.
A moving average is the average price of a security at a given time. When calculating a moving average, you specify the time span to calculate the average price (e.g., 25 days).
A "simple" moving average is calculated by adding the security's prices for the most recent "n" time periods and then dividing by "n." For example, adding the closing prices of a security for most recent 25 days and then dividing by 25. The result is the security's average price over the last 25 days. This calculation is done for each period in the chart.
Note that a moving average cannot be calculated until you have "n" time periods of data. For example, you cannot display a 25-day moving average until the 25th day in a chart.
Figure 23 shows a 25-day simple moving average of the closing price of Caterpillar.
Figure 23


Since the moving average in this chart is the average price of the security over the last 25 days, it represents the consensus of investor expectations over the last 25 days. If the security's price is above its moving average, it means that investor's current expectations (i.e., the current price) are higher than their average expectations over the last 25 days, and that investors are becoming increasingly bullish on the security. Conversely, if today's price is below its moving average, it shows that current expectations are below average expectations over the last 25 days.
The classic interpretation of a moving average is to use it to observe changes in prices. Investors typically buy when a security's price rises above its moving average and sell when the price falls below its moving average.

Time periods in moving averages
"Buy" arrows were drawn on the chart in Figure 24 when Aflac's price rose above its 200-day moving average; "sell" arrows were drawn when Aflac's price fell below its 200-day moving average. (To simplify the chart, I did not label the brief periods where Aflac crossed its moving average for only a few days.)
Figure 24

Long-term trends are often isolated using a 200-day moving average. You can also use computer software to automatically determine the optimum number of time periods. Ignoring commissions, higher profits are usually found using shorter moving averages.


Merits
The merit of this type of moving average system (i.e., buying and selling when prices penetrate their moving average) is that you will always be on the "right" side of the market--prices cannot rise very much without the price rising above its average price. The disadvantage is that you will always buy and sell late. If the trend doesn't last for a significant period of time, typically twice the length of the moving average, you'll lose money. This is illustrated in Figure 25.
Figure 25



Traders' remorse
Moving averages often demonstrate traders' remorse. As shown in Figure 26, it is very common for a security to penetrate its long-term moving average, and then return to its average before continuing on its way.
Figure 26



You can also use moving averages to smooth erratic data. The charts in Figure 27 show the 13 year history of the number of stocks making new highs (upper chart) and a 10-week moving average of this value (lower chart). Note how the moving average makes it easier to view the true trend of the data.
Figure 27

TRENDS

Trends
In the preceding section, we saw how support and resistance levels can be penetrated by a change in investor expectations (which results in shifts of the supply/demand lines). This type of a change is often abrupt and "news based."
In this section, we'll review "trends." A trend represents a consistent change in prices (i.e., a change in investor expectations). Trends differ from support/resistance levels in that trends represent change, whereas support/resistance levels represent barriers to change.
As shown in Figure 19, a rising trend is defined by successively higher low-prices. A rising trend can be thought of as a rising support level--the bulls are in control and are pushing prices higher.

Figure 20 shows a falling trend. A falling trend is defined by successively lower high-prices. A falling trend can be thought of as a falling resistance level--the bears are in control and are pushing prices lower.


Just as prices penetrate support and resistance levels when expectations change, prices can penetrate rising and falling trend lines. Figure 21 shows the penetration of Merck's falling trend line as investors no longer expected lower prices.
Note in Figure 21 how volume increased when the trend line was penetrated. This is an important confirmation that the previous trend is no longer intact.
Figure 21


As with support and resistance levels, it is common to have traders' remorse following the penetration of a trend line. This is illustrated in Figure 22.



Again, volume is the key to determining the significance of the penetration of a trend. In the above example, volume increased when the trend was penetrated, and was weak as the bulls tried to move prices back above the trend line.

Resistance becomes support

When a resistance level is successfully penetrated, that level becomes a support level. Similarly, when a support level is successfully penetrated, that level becomes a resistance level.
An example of resistance changing to support is shown in Figure 17. When prices broke above the resistance level of $45.00, the level of $45.00 became the new support level.
This is because a new "generation" of bulls who didn't buy when prices were less than $45 (they didn't have bullish expectations then) are now anxious to buy anytime prices return near the $45 level.



Similarly, when prices drop below a support level, that level often becomes a resistance level that prices have a difficult time penetrating. When prices approach the previous support level, investors seek to limit their losses by selling (see Figure 18).

Traders' remorse

Following the penetration of a support/resistance level, it is common for traders to question the new price levels. For example, after a breakout above a resistance level, buyers and sellers may both question the validity of the new price and may decide to sell. This creates a phenomena I refer to as "traders' remorse" where prices return to a support/resistance level following a price breakout.
Consider the breakout of Phillip Morris in Figure 13. Note how the breakout was followed by a correction in the price where prices returned to the resistance level.


The price action following this remorseful period is crucial. One of two things can happen. Either the consensus of expectations will be that the new price is not warranted, in which case prices will move back to their previous level; or investors will accept the new price, in which case prices will continue to move in the direction of the penetration.
If, following traders' remorse, the consensus of expectations is that a new higher price is not warranted, a classic "bull trap" (or "false breakout") is created. As shown in the Figure 14, prices penetrated the resistance level at $67.50 (luring in a herd of bulls who expected prices to move higher), and then prices dropped back to below the resistance level leaving the bulls holding overpriced stock.



Similar sentiment creates a bear trap. Prices drop below a support level long enough to get the bears to sell (or sell short) and then bounce back above the support level leaving the bears out of the market (see Figure 15).


The other thing that can happen following traders' remorse is that investors expectations may change causing the new price to be accepted. In this case, prices will continue to move in the direction of the penetration (i.e., up if a resistance level was penetrated or down if a support level was penetrated). [See Figure 16.]


A good way to quantify expectations following a breakout is with the volume associated with the price breakout. If prices break through the support/resistance level with a large increase in volume and the traders' remorse period is on relatively low volume, it implies that the new expectations will rule (a minority of investors are remorseful). Conversely, if the breakout is on moderate volume and the "remorseful" period is on increased volume, it implies that very few investor expectations have changed and a return to the original expectations (i.e., original prices) is warranted.

Supply and demand

There is nothing mysterious about support and resistance--it is classic supply and demand. Remembering "Econ 101" class, supply/demand lines show what the supply and demand will be at a given price.
The "supply" line shows the quantity (i.e., the number of shares) that sellers are willing to supply at a given price. When prices increase, the quantity of sellers also increases as more investors are willing to sell at these higher prices.
The "demand" line shows the number of shares that buyers are willing to buy at a given price. When prices increase, the quantity of buyers decreases as fewer investors are willing to buy at higher prices.
At any given price, a supply/demand chart (see Figure 12) shows how many buyers and sellers there are. For example, the following chart shows that, at the price of 42-1/2, there will be 10 buyers and 25 sellers.


Support occurs at the price where the supply line touches the left side of the chart (e.g., 27-1/2 on the above chart). Prices can't fall below this amount, because no sellers are willing to sell at these prices. Resistance occurs at the price where the demand line touches the left side of the chart (e.g., 47-1/2). Prices can't rise above this amount, because there are no buyers willing to buy at these prices.
In a free market these lines are continually changing. As investor expectations change, so do the prices buyers and sellers feel are acceptable. A breakout above a resistance level is evidence of an upward shift in the demand line as more buyers become willing to buy at higher prices. Similarly, the failure of a support level shows that the supply line has shifted downward./p>
The foundation of most technical analysis tools is rooted in the concept of supply and demand. Charts of security prices give us a superb view of these forces in action.

SUPPORT & RESISTANCE

Support and Resistance
Think of security prices as the result of a head-to-head battle between a bull (the buyer) and a bear (the seller). The bulls push prices higher and the bears push prices lower. The direction prices actually move reveals who is winning the battle.
Using this analogy, consider the price action of Phillip Morris in Figure 6. During the period shown, note how each time prices fell to the $45.50 level, the bulls (i.e., the buyers) took control and prevented prices from falling further. That means that at the price of $45.50, buyers felt that investing in Phillip Morris was worthwhile (and sellers were not willing to sell for less than $45.50). This type of price action is referred to as support, because buyers are supporting the price of $45.50.


Similar to support, a "resistance" level is the point at which sellers take control of prices and prevent them from rising higher. Consider Figure 7. Note how each time prices neared the level of $51.50, sellers outnumbered buyers and prevented the price from rising.

The price at which a trade takes place is the price at which a bull and bear agree to do business. It represents the consensus of their expectations. The bulls think prices will move higher and the bears think prices will move lower.
Support levels indicate the price where the majority of investors believe that prices will move higher, and resistance levels indicate the price at which a majority of investors feel prices will move lower.
But investor expectations change with time! For a long time investors did not expect the Dow Industrials to rise above 1,000 (as shown by the heavy resistance at 1,000 in Figure 8). Yet only a few years later, investors were willing to trade with the Dow near 2,500.



When investor expectations change, they often do so abruptly. Note how when prices rose above the resistance level of Hasbro Inc. in Figure 9, they did so decisively. Note too, that the breakout above the resistance level was accompanied with a significant increase in volume.

Once investors accepted that Hasbro could trade above $20.00, more investors were willing to buy it at higher levels (causing both prices and volume to increase). Similarly, sellers who would previously have sold when prices approached $20.00 also began to expect prices to move higher and were no longer willing to sell.
The development of support and resistance levels is probably the most noticeable and reoccurring event on price charts. The penetration of support/resistance levels can be triggered by fundamental changes that are above or below investor expectations (e.g., changes in earnings, management, competition, etc) or by self-fulfilling prophecy ( investors buy as they see prices rise). The cause is not as significant as the effect--new expectations lead to new price levels.
Figure 10 shows a breakout caused by fundamental factors. The breakout occurred when Snapple released a higher than expected earnings report. How do we know it was higher than expectations? By the resulting change in prices following the report!

Other support/resistance levels are more emotional. For example, the DJIA had a tough time changing investor expectations when it neared 3,000

CHARTS

Charts
The foundation of technical analysis is the chart. In this case, a picture truly is worth a thousand words.
Line charts
A line chart is the simplest type of chart. As shown in the chart of General Motors in Figure 2, the single line represents the security's closing price on each day. Dates are displayed along the bottom of the chart and prices are displayed on the side(s).


A line chart's strength comes from its simplicity. It provides an uncluttered, easy to understand view of a security's price. Line charts are typically displayed using a security's closing prices.

Bar charts
A bar chart displays a security's open (if available), high, low, and closing prices. Bar charts are the most popular type of security chart.
As illustrated in the bar chart in Figure 3, the top of each vertical bar represents the highest price that the security traded during the period, and the bottom of the bar represents the lowest price that it traded. A closing "tick" is displayed on the right side of the bar to designate the last price that the security traded. If opening prices are available, they are signified by a tick on the left side of the bar.



Volume bar chart
Volume is usually displayed as a bar graph at the bottom of the chart (see Figure 4). Most analysts only monitor the relative level of volume and as such, a volume scale is often not displayed.



Other chart types
Security prices can also be displayed using other types of charts, such as candlestick, Equivolume, point & figure, etc. For brevity's sake, explanations of these charting methods appear only in Part II.