ChartWatchers

Bonds (TLT) Break Important Support

Carl Swenlin

Carl Swenlin

Founder, DecisionPoint.com

This week let's take a look at bonds because rising rates are capturing broad attention.

We use the 20+ Year T-Bonds ETF (TLT) as the surrogate for long bond timing. As of 5/20/2013 TLT is on a Trend Model NEUTRAL signal, which means that the model has been out of bonds but not short. The LT Trend Model, which informs our long-term outlook, is on a Sell signal as of 5/29/2013, so our long-term posture is  bearish.

The weekly chart shows a support zone between 105 and 106, and TLT has violated that zone in a move that is becoming decisive. Note also that the PMO (Price Momentum Oscillator), which is used to estimate when prices have become overbought or oversold, has dropped below the bottom of the five-year PMO range. That range was established during a long-term rising price trend, and it will become irrelevant as the long-term trend turns down. In fact, if a down trend persists, over the next five years or more, the PMO range will shift downward from +7 to -1 to something like +1 to -5.

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For the time being we are ignoring the possibility of a large head and shoulders pattern forming (the right shoulder being the only element remaining to complete the pattern); however, an extended bounce is not out of the question once the bears are fully committed.

Carl Swenlin
About the author: is a veteran technical analyst who has been actively engaged in market analysis since 1981. A pioneer in the creation of online technical resources, he was president and founder of DecisionPoint.com, one of the premier market timing and technical analysis websites on the web. DecisionPoint specializes in stock market indicators and charting. Since DecisionPoint merged with StockCharts.com in 2013, Carl has served a consulting technical analyst and blog contributor. Learn More