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Trending Indicators For Successful Trading

Trending indicators are used by stock traders to generate entry/exit signals. Another indicator type is of the oscillating kind, but only the former kind will be addressed in this article. This kind of trend indicator is very handy when traders wish to know about where a stock trend is heading.
The list of trending indicators includes moving averages and moving average envelopes, Bollinger bands and Momentum indicators. Every indicator works with stock prices, both historic and present. These are typically plotted out on a stock chart utilizing a particular equation that may include average prices.
Moving averages: It's a extremely simple concept. The average of closing prices for a fixed period such as the last 20 days is calculated every day. These average points for each day plotted on the chart indicate where the price is heading to.
Moving averages can be either simple or exponential. Under the simple system described above, all data points on the chart carry an equal weight. Under the exponential system, the most recent prices are assigned larger weights.
Moving average envelopes: The envelopes are simply two lines on the chart that track the aforementioned moving average in parallel at a set percentage. The moving average is the baseline, one envelope is above the baseline and the other one is below it. This provides traders with clean signals that don't take into account whiplash variations in the zone in-between.
Bollinger bands: The concept here is quite similar to the one above in the envelopes. Bollinger bands are calculated by taking a typical SMA of around 20 periods with a band above and below at MA plus or minus 1 or 2 standard deviations or another multiple of the period. It has become such a big hit that even other sectors besides the stock markets are using it.
Momentum: It is a simple indicator based on common sense that does not require any formulas or equations. The only thing done here is a comparison of the present closing price to that at a previous date. If the closing price at the present date is higher than the one before, the stock can be said to be on an upward trend. Otherwise, the trend is downward.
Some of these descriptions may seem like a geek's paradise to those unaware of how traders use signals. But the truth is that stock trading is a extremely precise science, and signals generated by trending indicators are absolutely essential for traders. It determines the precise moment when traders will enter or exit a trade.

By: Mark Dearth

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