BIGTRENDS
BigTrends Coaching
Moving Averages
Course Instructor: Price Headley
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BigTrends Coaching
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investment. You are solely responsible for your investment decisions, and
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Coaching Schedule
Focused Courses with Defined Goals
Price Action (Technical vs. Fundamental Analysis)
Building Your Trading Plan
Drawing Support & Resistance Lines
Williams Percent R Rules
Moving Averages
1
2
3
4
5
Williams Percent R Scans
Acceleration Bands
Continuous Growth via Trade Journal
6
7
8
9
10
Know Your Options (Intro to Options)
ACE Trading Strategies (Simple Options)
Strategy Session
Trading Plan
Indicator
Indicator
Indicator
Psychology
Options Selection
Strategy Session
Indicator
Indicator
BIGTRENDS
Common Uses for Moving Averages
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Moving Average Strategies
Trend Identification
When a trend has started
Momentum Indicators
Multiple time period MA’s
Support
When a stock might bottom
Resistance
When a stock might pull back
Exit Points
When the trend has ended
Using MAs in Trading
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What is a Moving Average?
A Moving Average is the mean number of a given data set that changes
over time as new data points are added.
Like many technical indicators, they are a statistical calculation that is
applied to the prices of securities.
Moving Averages remove bar-to-bar volatility. They smooth data and
generalize trends helping traders identify REAL trends.
Multiple Moving Averages with different time frames are often plotted on a
chart in an attempt to determine the current prevailing trend.
Understanding How MAs are Created
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Types of Moving Averages
Most common MA used
Equals the sum of closing
prices in a period divided
by number of prices used
in calculation
Simple MA
Least common used
Created to mitigate equal
weighting issue in SMA
Similarly calculated like
SMA, EXCEPT each data
point is multiplied by
weight correlated to time.
Today’s data is five times
more important than five
days ago…
Weighted MA
Similar to WMA, but more
efficient—weights recent
data more
More responsive than any
other MA
Exponential MA
Understand the Differences
Types vary in calculation, not interpretation—price weight is the difference
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Strengths & Weaknesses
Simple MA
All price data is equal,
regardless of when it
occurred
Recent data is more
important
Weighted MA
Very similar to an
Exponential MA
Not all trading platforms
have this type
Exponential MA
Reduces lag in price by
applying more weight to
recent price action
Can cause more
whipsaws
Compare and Contrast Methods
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Advanced Uses for Moving Averages
Moving Average Strategies
Moving Average Crossovers
One or more short term MA’s
crosses a long term MA.
Using standard deviations around
moving averages
Example… Bollinger Bands or
Acceleration Bands
Applying moving averages to other
indicators or chart data
Example… Volume, DMI, etc.
MAs at work in Indicators
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Price Action
There are 3 Main types of charts in technical analysis.
Line Chart –
Basic chart only showing closing prices.
Doesn’t show broader price action during a given time-frame.
Bar Chart –
Advanced Chart showing Open, High, Low, Close (OHLC) prices.
Price information is displayed by a vertical line with small dashes on both sides.
Candlestick Chart –
Advanced chart showing OHLC information, similar to a bar chart.
Broad price range (High and Low) are displayed on a vertical line.
Narrow price range (Open and Close) are displayed in a box on top of the line.
Candle charts rely heavily on color to distinguish different bars.
Types of Charts
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Bar Chart
There are 4 areas of focus on a bar chart:
Open Price
High Price
Low Price
Closing price
This is an example of a bullish bar.
Bearish bars will have the open price higher than the closing (see red bar in picture).
Bar charts allow you to squeeze more price data onto a single chart.
Key Points
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Candle Chart
There are 5 areas of focus on a candlestick chart:
Open Price
High Price
Low Price
Closing price
Real Body
This is an example of a bullish candle.
Bullish candles have the open price at the bottom of the real body, and the close at the top.
Bearish candles will have the open price at the top of the real body, and the close at the bottom.
Key Points
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Support & Resistance
Technical Analysis is based upon the logic that the price action of a security
(stock) tends to move in similar fashion to past data.
Once a stock has reached a certain price, that level becomes important.
Support Levels are areas where you are likely to see increased buying (potential
bottom).
Resistance Levels are areas where it is likely to see increased selling (potential
top).
Support and Resistance levels don’t always hold, but they are important levels
that merit attention for technical traders.
Key Levels
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Support
Support
A price level where the price tends to find
support (floor) as it goes down.
The price often hesitates at this level
before either bouncing off of the level or
breaking through it.
Once a support level is broken:
The old support level now becomes
resistance.
The price continues to fall until it
reaches the next support level, if there
is one.
Potential Bearish Reversal Point
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Resistance
Resistance
A price level where the price tends to find
resistance (floor) as it goes up.
The price often hesitates at this level
before either bouncing off of the level or
breaking through it.
Once a resistance level is broken:
The old resistance level now becomes
support.
The price continues to rise until it
reaches the next resistance level, if
there is one.
Potential Bullish Reversal Point
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Support & Resistance
Support and resistance lines can be horizontal or diagonal.
These lines are open to interpretation by different traders.
Support & resistance lines are stronger if:
Level has been tested multiple times successfully.
Other technical indicators can prove to be support or resistance, such as:
Moving Averages
Bollinger Bands & Acceleration Bands
50 Level on Percent R
Key Points
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Channels
Channel
Also referred to as a “Price Channel”.
A pair of parallel trend lines that form boundaries
for an existing trend.
Channels can be ascending, descending, or
horizontal.
Upper line of channel acts as resistance, while
lower acts as support.
When a stock breaks through the channel and then
sustains price action outside of the channel, the
trend is violated.
This can be to the upside or the downside.
A Defined Passageway
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Round Numbers
Horizontal support and resistance levels often occurs at round number
price points. Why?
1. Traders are VERY emotional beings, so most major round numbers, such as
DOW 7000 are big emotional hurdles to be crossed.
2. Most option strike prices are in 5 point increments, such as $50, $55 and $60.
Many major stock traders pay attention to the options market, even if they don’t trade
options.
This is because options volume and open interest at the different strike prices can
show a strong interest in a stock reaching a certain level.
Key Levels
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Do You Have
Any Questions?