ChartWatchers

FILTERING THE NOISE

Chip Anderson

Chip Anderson

President, StockCharts.com

September was one of the most volatile months in recent memory. Bar charts and candlestick charts are great, but the wild high-low swings can interfere with basic trend analysis. Moving averages provide a good means to smooth this volatility by cutting through the daily noise. For those who want it all, a combination of high-low-close bars and a short moving average may even be appropriate. This combination shows the high-low range, but also focuses on average prices to discern a trend.

The accompanying chart shows the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) with bars in gray and a 5-day EMA in blue. Even though September has been exceptionally volatile, the 5-day EMA shows a steady downtrend. In fact, the 5-day EMA does not look any more variable than the prior months. Despite Tuesday's big rebound, this EMA hit a new low to affirm the downtrend that began August.

The second chart shows the 5-day EMA without bars or candlesticks. It is a pretty empty chart, but it sure cuts through the clutter. There are four trendlines that denote the swings over the last six months. The current swing is down and the decline even accelerated this week. SPY may be oversold, but it is clearly in the falling knife category as the 5-day EMA dropped over 5% this week. As this trendline now stands, the 5-day EMA needs to move above 119 to reverse this down swing (break the trendline).

There is also a video version of the this analysis available at TDTrader.com - Click Here.

Chip Anderson
About the author: is the founder and president of StockCharts.com. He founded the company after working as a Windows developer and corporate consultant at Microsoft from 1987 to 1997. Since 1999, Chip has guided the growth and development of StockCharts.com into a trusted financial enterprise and highly-valued resource in the industry. In this blog, Chip shares his tips and tricks on how to maximize the tools and resources available at StockCharts.com, and provides updates about new features or additions to the site. Learn More