Market Timing

Heisenberg_lee

Hello, everyone:
I have a little question about the $SPX. I found that a lot of stocks will go with it up and down. So, that means I should stay out of the trade if the SPX is trading sideway even if I found a good stock to trade? Recently the SPX seems to be in a trading range. So I just can not tell where the trend direction will go.
So, how will you guys deal with this situation?

markd

I'm sure everyone has an answer for this. Here's one possibility:

$SPX is an average, so that means at least some stocks are performing better (and some worse).

To get the better ones, you could run a simple scan:

[SCTR.large >90]

Put the results in a chart list, then view the list in Market Carpet, adjust the time frame you think will work, then click on the greenest ones.

You could do something similar with RRG.

If you want ONLY sp500 stocks, your scan could be:

[group is sp500]
and [SCTR > 90]

If you want to see on the chart how much a stock is outperforming the $SPX add this indicator:

Price-Performance $SYMBOL:$SPX

It will give you the per cent out-performance of the stock versus the index since the first bar of the chart (so you will get a different value on a 3 month vs. a six month chart - but the pattern of the performance line will be the same).

Then it's your choice to buy or sell dips or rallies or breakouts in those stocks, or whatever signals you prefer.