Currency Technical Analysis Part 3: Dow Theory – Bull and Bear Markets
In previous articles, we’ve looked at the history of Dow Theory, and why it's the best theory ever, for currency technical analysis. The logic for spotting the big trends follows - and it’s these trends that we want to catch - as they yield the big profits! Hamilton identified three specific phases, in both primary bull markets, and primary bear markets. These stages are a reflection of the psychological state of the market - and their reflection in currency technical analysis. A primary bull market was defined as: a sustained advance, marked by improving fundamentals, and investor confidence - a primary bear market is a mirror image – i.e. the exact opposite of a primary bull market. In both primary bull markets, and primary bear markets, there will always be secondary movements, that run counter to the major trend. While Dow theory was developed for stocks, the format works perfectly, (if not better) in the currency markets. Here we look at a bull market move, as defined by Dow Theory: Primary Bull Market: Stage 1 – Accumulation Hamilton concluded that the initial stages of a bull market were indistinguishable from the last reaction rally, of a bear market. Pessimism, which was excessive at the end of the bear market, still remains at the start of a bull market. It’s at this stage, that professional investors begin to accumulate positions - as the market is cheap, and now offers good value – This is true of any market. In the first stage of a bull market, prices begin to find a bottom, and firm up, as these positions are established. When the market starts to rise, there is skepticism that a bull market is emerging. After the first leg peaks, and starts to head back down - this then confirms the bearish view of the majority. It’s at this stage that careful analysis is needed, with Dow Theory - to determine if the decline is a secondary movement (a correction of the first leg up). If it’s a secondary move, a low forms above the previous low, a period of low volatility will be present as the market firms - and the advance finally starts to get under way. When the previous peak is surpassed, the beginning of the second leg forms - and the move is valid and confirmed. Primary Bull Market: Stage 2 - Big Move The second stage of a primary bull market is normally the longest - and represents an easily identifiable trend – clearly indicated with any form of currency technical analysis. This period sees a sustained advance in prices - it’s a period marked by improving fundamentals, and increased confidence. This is considered the easiest period to make money, as participation is broad and the trend followers are in - and investor confidence is high, with strong buying. Primary Bull Market: Stage 3 – Excess The third stage of a primary bull market is marked by excessive optimism, and excessive speculation. During this third and final stage, the uninformed public are heavily involved. In reaction to this, prices are excessive, as confidence has soared - and greed takes over. Prices are being pushed by investor greed and we all know what happens next! Primary Bear Market: Stage 1 – Distribution Accumulation is the hallmark of the first stage of a primary bull market, and distribution marks the beginning of a bear market - as the "smart money" begins to realize, that prices are too far away from fair value. The public is still full of greed at this stage, and are still heavy buyers – the fundamentals appear to be bullish - but this is how every major bull market ends. Prices start to decline, but most investors remain bullish. After a moderate decline, there is a reaction rally, (secondary move) which retraces a portion of the decline. Hamilton noted that reaction rallies during bear markets were very swift and sharp. This quick recovery movement gives confidence to the bulls - however, the reaction high of the secondary move will form - and will be lower than the previous high. After making a lower high, a break below the previous low, will confirm the bull move is over. The exact opposite happens in a bear market. Dow Theory is the best way to catch a long term a trend, using currency technical analysis - and the logic is easy to understand.
Other Trading Tips Articles
20 Tips to Keep Love Alive Have you ever been at a loss to think of something special that you can do for that special someone in your life? Maybe you want to do a little extra for an important event, like his or her birthday, Valentine's Day, Christmas, or anniversary.Here are some excellent tips and ideas of some special actions that you can take to help keep lo ...Birthday Ecards For Friends: How To Select? Friend's birthdays are always very exciting. If the friend is a very close friend, you may begin making plans to select the gift many days in advance. A good friend is rare and his/her birthday will come only once in a year. Sharing friend's birthday is very joyous occasion for all of us. In this article you will get tips about how to get free b ...Avoid Zits By Learning How To Properly Care For Acne Prone Skin Acne: It’s the curse of teenagers and adults alike. It’s a condition that nobody wants and can make the lives of people who suffer with it a misery, but the fact is that many people experience acne during some course of their life.Of course, conditions vary from person to person. However, whether it’s just a one-off breakout or a long-te ...Trading in the Forex Requires Some Caution Whether it is in the millions or thousands, trading in the Forex is a bit risky. There are a lot of players involved and if you don’t arm yourself properly with knowledge about the Forex you may just get swamped.The Forex is the largest most vibrant market in the whole wide world. The financial world has never had a market that involves s ...Energies Seasonal Trends – How To Trade Them For Huge Profits! If you want big profits you need volatile trending markets and energy markets are just such a market.Seasonal trends allow traders to better isolate high return, low risk trades and are easy to use and take advantage of and can increase your profit potential dramatically.They are perfect for all traders, even those who have never t ...Futures Brokerage Firms Trading in the futures market can be very risky and very complicated, which is why there is a need to find a competent broker who can help you, not only in effectively trading in the market, but also in understanding it. Having a good broker can be an asset since your profits can be maximized and you can have a certain level of security. Howev ...Christmas Shopping - Tips and Advice Its that time of year again when everyone hits the high street to do their Christmas shopping. There are a few Christmas shopping strategies.Start in June This saves you panicking in a number of ways You don't get into debt because you are spreading the cost of Christmas over 7 months. You get to buy presents at bargain prices and take ad ...Forex Trading Tips Foreign Exchange Trading better known as FOREX trading is the buying and selling of currencies from different nations. With different factors involved in this trading and its fast paced nature, it is best that you find simple ways to give you a head start in the industry.The main purpose of getting involve in FOREX trading, just like ever ...Business Banking Basics One of the most important features of large and small business is to have good business banking. Good business banking will allow the money within your company to flow, and will greatly save you time and money. If you are a small business owner and are unsure about where to begin with business banking, then here are some basic tips to get you st ...Build Your Own Profitable FOREX Trading System in Five Simple Steps If you want to make big profits, then you should know that the best way is do it for yourself - and not rely on others.Any trader (even a novice) can build a successful FOREX trading system - and this article shows you how to build a profitable system in five simple steps.What Makes a Successful FOREX Trading System?Successf ...A Child's First Trip to the Dentist As parents, it is important to inculcate in your child's consciousness the importance of good oral health. Starting early is crucial. Your child's first trip to the dentist should take place no later than his 2nd birthday. It is recommended by the American Dental Association that a child should visit a dentist as early as 6 to 12 months of ag ...Can You Time The Market? Every day on TV we hear yet another idiot telling us that you can't time the market. What a line of Wall Street BS. Of course they have to tell you that. If they told you that you should only put your money in the market from November to May, what would they do in June/July August? How would fund managers justify their existence? They couldn ...Will Emerging Economies Come to the Rescue of the U.S.? U.S. Federal Reserve Chariman Ben Bernanke stated lately that the enormous U.S. trade deficit that the U.S. has incurred over the years is nothing to worry about because it merely reflects global savings patterns. He states that emerging economies has a huge glut of savings and thus the U.S. necessarily must have a great debt to balance out the ...Consider Timeshare Purchase Only A Vacation Investment On a recent vacation I had a first-hand opportunity to see how the timeshare world operates and it wasn't a pretty picture. I've never been a big fan of timeshares as a real estate investment and so I decided I'd better get the low-down on what they're all about and how consumers or vacationers get sucked in to the timeshare world. We were payin ...Stock Options A stock option is defined as a right to buy or sell a stock at a stated price within a specified time. Buyers of stock options are called holders and those who sell options are writers. "Call" suggests an option contract giving the owner the right but not the obligation to buy a specified amount of an underlying security at a specified price wit ...Full Service Commodity Brokers Full-service commodity brokers offer a wide selection of investment products such as agricultural commodities, currencies, stock indices, and insurance. They specialize in risk management in the agricultural industry. They provide comprehensive and personal service for an individual trader.Full-service commodity brokers understand the cli ...FOREX Trading Systems – How To Pick One For Huge Gains FOREX trading systems are big business now as the internet allows anyone to use one and make big profits.The question traders need answered is - what do they look for when they buy a FOREX trading system to locate the good FOREX systems from the losing majority.This article will give clear, concise, tips for picking a FOREX trading ...Top Ten Reasons to Write a Sales Letter for Each Product? - Part 1 Authors/publishers are great at getting their books written. Entrepreneurs know their products. But after the initial one-year honeymoon, sales slow down. To counter this make sure your ebook, product, or service you offer will keep on selling from the first day, the first year, even for life. Write a short sales letter for each product or eboo ...Stock Options: Limited Loss and Unlimited Profit Many people believe that the stock market can make you rich one day, but also make you bankrupt the next. Well, how eould you like to know about a method of stock trading that completely saves you from unlimited loss, but still leaves the door open for unlimited profit? That method is buying and selling stock options. How to trade stock option ...Forex Trading Software If you are looking to get started trading the Forex, you will find that there are numerous software programs available (both web based and desktop based) for you to use in your trading. In fact, most brokers offer clients a software package for free or as part of their trading account. Usually the software that comes with your trading account is ...5 Ways To Protect Your Bond Portfolio From Rising Interest Rates The Federal Reserve recently raised its target federal funds rate for the first time since March 2000. This could be just the tip of the iceberg, though, as many experts believe rising inflation and a strengthening economy will spur continued rate hikes for the foreseeable future.This is bad news for bond investors, since bonds lose valu ...How to Choose the BEST Charting Software I suggest that you do not spend a lot of money on charting software as most perform very similar functions. Often the price is inflated to capitalize on the mentality that expensive is better. A software package under $1000 will perform all of the tasks required by even the most advanced traders.The perfect charting software needs to be t ...10 Tips for Responsible Medication Use All medications, which include prescriptions, over-the-counter preparations, vitamin and mineral supplements, and herbal preparations, are potentially dangerous. Following some simple rules will not only reduce your chance of having a problem, but should reduce your cost as well. Always shop around for medications – there is a sig ...Dollar Cost Averaging – Automatically Dollar cost averaging (DCA) is a technique designed to reduce market risk through systematic purchase of securities at predetermined intervals and set amounts. If you participate in your company’s 401K plan, knowingly or unknowingly, you are practicing dollar cost averaging. Each pay period your company deducts a specified dollar amount from y ...Discover the Biggest Trading & Investing Online Mistake Any online investor / trader seeks an excellent off or online future trading career opportunity. Despite this goal, did you know 95 percent of all traders go broke within the first two months? Why do investors lose vast amounts of wealth in one or more of the following markets – option trading, forex trading or currency trading, stock trading, ...How to Spot Market Turning Points Using Free Legal Insider Information How would you like to be able to take advantage of insider information and trade with the most successful traders in energies commodities, stocks and commodities?Well you can - with the commitment of traders report, published by the CFTC. This report shows insider commercial trading positions by professional hedgers!The commitment ...Take Home The Money For short term trading, not much beats momentum, where a stock is on fire and we simply hop on for a short ride and jump back off. This is the life blood of short term holds whether it be a pre-earnings run, a split run, or a news driven pure momentum play. One of the biggest faults that can be made in this game is hanging on too long.One ...The Best Link Building Strategies The best link building strategies all have to do with common sense for the most part. People are always on the lookout for web pages that feature far more information and a lot of external links that will lead them to other like minded pages to air in their search for information. Barring any kind of unforeseen circumstances the best link buildi ...Ten Tips to Build a Culture of Inspirational Leadership Leadership, leadership development and leadership training are “Hot” issues in today’s business world. A recent Internet search uncovered over 44 million hits on leadership, over 20 million hits on leadership development and 15.7 million on leadership training. Visiting an Internet bookstore revealed similar interest with almost 18,000 titles ...Online Bond Trading Online bond trading is a far less risky venture than online stock trading. It is because bonds are usually long-term investments and have maturity date. If you invest in bonds, you get a steady stream of interest because unlike other assets, bonds are not subject to shifts in interest rates.In the past, online bond trading is lagging behi ...
|