The first three links on the Main Navigation Bar: Major Indexes, Futures Options, and Stocks/ETFs, all produce Analysis Pages

Analysis Pages are where Stops and Targets' algorithmic magic is converted into human-readable text and graphics.  Individual Analysis Pages are calculated for every tracked Stock, Exchange Traded Fund (ETF), Futures Option, and Major Index...generating more than 4,000 pages of instant analysis and strategy guidance!

The first link on the Main Navigation Bar displays Major Indexes

Clicking the Major Indexes link displays a drop-down menu displaying the four most widely-followed US stock market indexes.

• Dow Jones Industrial Average (ticker: DJI)
• S&P 500 Index (ticker: SPX)
• NASDAQ Composite Index (ticker: COMPX)
• Russell 3000 Index (ticker: RUA)

The second link on the Main Navigation Bar displays Futures Options

The drop down menu shows six futures options choices.

• E-Mini S&P 500 Futures Option (symbol: ES)
• E-Mini NASDAQ 100 Futures Option (symbol: NQ)
• E-Mini DOW Industrials Futures Option (symbol: YM)
• US Dollar Index (symbol: DX)
• E-Mini Crude Oil Futures Option (symbol: QM)
• E-Mini Gold Futures (symbol: YG)
• The final selection on the drop-down menu is a link to The Big Picture Commentary, where you can read regular updates on broad market conditions and major trend changes.  This link provides an excellent example of how an expert human analyst integrates Stops and Targets automated output with more traditional charting methods.

The third link on the Main Navigation Bar displays Stocks/ETFs

Unlike the first two Main Navigation Bar links that provided drop-down menus to select new Analysis Pages, here a Text Entry Box auto-completes as you start to type either a company name or symbol.  Approximately four thousand tracked symbols are accessible here, including the entire Russell 3000 Index (representing 98% of all investable US securities) and hundreds of top Exchange Traded Funds (ETF).

Select the desired choice from the Text Entry Box list to view a new Analysis Page.

The screen capture above shows a typical Analysis Page.

There are five distinct data areas that are generated on every Analysis Page.  Those areas are outlined in red and numbered 1-5 on the example above.

1. Research Hyperlink
2. Data Feed
3. Tabbed Panels
4. Range Envelopes Indicator
5. Head's Up Display Chart

In the next five sections we will take a detailed look at each of the outlined and numbered data areas.

The Symbol Name is shown on the Title Bar of every Analysis Page.

Each symbol name is an active Research Hyperlink to pertinent and very useful data.

• Index symbols link to detailed overviews and index composition data.
• Futures symbols link to contract specifications.
• For stocks and ETF's, the latest Reuters Company Profile Report will open with access to a wealth of useful fundamental data and corporate news/events.

Clicking on Tesla Motors Inc on the Analysis Page Title Bar in the example above opens a new browser window with a detailed Reuters Company Profile Report.

The Data Feed area displays the latest information that has been received by Stops and Targets from the exchanges.

Located at the upper-left-corner on every Analysis Page, the Data Feed area contains four lines of information.

• last:   Shows the most recent price, followed by the change from the previous close and, in parenthesis ( ), the percentage of change since the last close.
• timestamp:  Indicates the date and time of the last data received from the exchange.  All displayed data is slightly delayed (typically 1-5 minutes for Indexes and Futures, and 15-20 minutes for equities).
• range:  This line shows the trading day's low and high prices.
• volume (avg):  Volume is displayed when available.  The average volume, shown in parenthesis ( ), is the moving average of the past 20 days.

There are four Tabbed Panels (highlighted by a red rectangle in the image above).  Each tab opens a dedicated panel (with an associated chart).

There are two types of Tabbed Panels.

• One Multitrend panel.
• Three Timeframe Strategy panels:
• Long-term
• Intermediate
• Short-term

The following Multitrend Panel and Strategy Panels sections will explain the features and information displayed on each.

The Multitrend Panel (which is always pre-selected by default) shows a complete synopsis of the overall Trend conditions, describes the current Trading Tendency, points out the most favorable Strategy panel, and also displays Spotter Signals for the selected security.

The information on this panel is arranged in five data areas (see red rectangles numbered 1-5 on the image above).

1. Trend Table
2. Multitrend Rating
3. Spotter Signals
4. Timeframe In Play
5. Chart Key

Each data area will be described in detail in the following sections.

A trend can be defined as a series of higher highs (HH) and higher lows (HL) in a bullish uptrend—or conversely, a series of lower highs (LH) and lower lows (LL) in a bearish downtrend.

Think of a trending market as a series of stair step moves.  In a bullish market the steps climb higher by building a series of higher lows—and in a bearish market the steps descend by building a series of lower highs.

In a bullish market, the stop/reverse line moves up as each new higher low stair step is built.  We instantly know when the uptrend has ended when the last higher low (stop/reverse line) is broken to the downside.  The same is true in the opposite direction for bearish markets (for short traders) when the last lower high is broken to the upside.

Stops and Targets detects structural pivots (precise price-reversal points, which are used extensively by high-frequency trading algorithms) in three timeframes.

• Short-term trends can change often and are typically the realm of day traders and those who manage highly-leveraged instruments, such as option traders.
• Intermediate trends typically last from weeks to months and are favored by swing traders and can also be used to fine tune long-term trades.
• Long-term trends are the realm of true investors who are looking to hold for extended periods of time.

The table is automatically sorted by stop/reverse line price for the three trends.  It is the position of the last price relative to each stop/reverse line that determines whether a trend is currently up (bullish) or down (bearish).

Many savvy investors seek to enter at or near a new trend change.  To lock in profit, they will move their protective stop behind their trade as the stop/reverse line advances.  It is absolutely critical to know where and when a trend begins and ends, and Stops and Targets instantly provides that precise stop/reverse line for every timeframe on every security we track!

The details for each trend are read by moving across the row, so in the Tesla example above we would say the following to a client for each trend…

• The short-term trend for Tesla turned bullish at 204.59 on April 8, 2015 and has advanced 30.55 % since.  The short-term trend would end, and a new short-term downtrend would begin, if the last price were to cross below 246.01.


• The intermediate trend for Tesla turned bullish at 217.32 on April 22, 2015.  It has advanced 22.90 % since.  The intermediate uptrend would end, and a new downtrend would begin, if the last price were to cross below 217.32.


• The long-term trend for Tesla turned bullish at 31.50 on November 16, 2012.  It has advanced 747.90 % since.  The long-term uptrend would end, and a new long-term downtrend would begin, if the last price were to cross below 181.40.

All three trends are combined to determine the Multitrend Rating, and a paragraph is generated which describes the general tendencies of a security trading in this particular configuration.

Top and Bottom Spotter Signals are displayed below the Multitrend paragraph.  In the example shown above, a Top Spotter was invalidated and there are currently no active signals.

Spotter Signals are a proprietary algorithm developed by Stops and Targets to detect the potential exhaustion of an existing trend–and can identify the start of a significant pullback or trend reversal on the very day it begins.

Stops and Targets automatically determines the Timeframe that is currently In Play.

A blue pointer arrow ► is displayed on the trend table and a red or green directional arrow is shown on the corresponding Strategy Panel for the timeframe that is In Play.

In this example, the short-term timeframe is in play and is currently bullish, so we also see a green up arrow ▲ on the short-term Strategy Panel tab.

The Chart Key describes the elements found on the Multitrend Chart, which is always displayed when the Multitrend Tab is selected.

There are three Strategy Panels, one for each of the three trends: Long-term, Intermediate, and Short-term.  Each panel displays specific trading strategy and risk management details for the selected timeframe.

Strategy Panels are selected by clicking on the desired timeframe tab (highlighted in red on the example above).  The short-term Strategy Panel is selected in the example above.

Each Strategy Panel contains five data blocks (highlighted and numbered in the image above).

1. Strategy Table
2. Strategy Signals
3. Recommended Strategy
4. Trend Description
5. Timeframe Description

The following sections describe each.

The Strategy Table, located at the top of each Long-term, Intermediate, and Short-term Strategy Panel, contains three columns: strategy, stop, and target, which are the three essential pieces of information you absolutely need to know to pursue a disciplined trading strategy.

The first column displays the recommended strategy for the selected timeframe (in this case short-term).

The second column on the Strategy Table shows the initial protective stop (and a trailing profit stop when applicable).

• protective stop

The protective stop for a new trade is automatically calculated to risk exactly 1 unit of potential loss per each 3 units of potential profit for a 1:3 risk to reward ratio, which is considered by many professional traders to be an excellent risk management strategy.  A trader can lose three times for every one win and still preserve precious trading capital.

If you ask any seasoned trader ‘what was the hardest and most painful lesson to learn?’—most will say, without hesitation, 'risk management'.  Stops and Targets makes it easy to determine where to set initial stops by doing all the calculations for you.

The protective stop number is determined by first measuring the potential gain from the last price to the next target, which is 24.33 (291.42 – 267.09 = 24.33).  Stops and Targets then divides the potential gain by three to determine the initial risk, which in the example above is 8.11 (24.33 / 3 = 8.11).  The initial risk is then subtracted from the last price to establish the protective stop at 258.98 (267.09 – 8.11).

ⓘ  A disciplined trader must be very cautious to immediately exit and not hold a failed trade after a protective stop is triggered and the initial strategy thesis has proved to be incorrect! The name of the game is to always stay on the right side of the trends and to preserve trading capital.  It can be very difficult psychologically to consistently exit a trade once a stop is triggered, but failing to exit quickly is how initially small and manageable losses can potentially turn into large losses for undisciplined traders.


• profit stop

As a successful trade moves in your favor and begins to trend, Stops and Targets will generate a trailing profit stop, which will be automatically moved as new trending stair-steps are built to lock in progressively higher levels of profit until the trend eventually ends and reverses.  That is what the second stop at 246.01 is doing in the example above for profitable trades entered at BUY signals generated lower in this current trending move.

The third column displays the next target price, along with the target type (in parenthesis).  The target price is where profit can be taken on a successful trade using the current strategy.  In certain circumstances (for example: after a breakout to a new all-time high) the message ‘no target detected’ will be displayed.

The strategy signals section (outlined in red on the example above) describes the parameters that Stops and Targets is using to generate the current strategy.  It contains three lines of data.

• last detected event:
• ideal entry zone:
• risk/reward ratio:

This line shows the signal type, price, and date of the last signal within the currently-selected timeframe.

The ideal entry zone is the price range where the risk/reward ratio is 1:3 or better for a trade from the last detected event to the next target.

A GOOD signal, along with the initial risk and potential gain for the trade setup, appears on this line when the last price is within the ideal entry zone.  POOR is shown when the last price is outside of the ideal entry zone.  If no target is detected, N/A is displayed.

Different terms are sometimes used interchangeably by traders to describe the same concept.  A risk/reward ratio is the same as gain/risk ratio…except the numbers are reversed.  So, a 1:3 risk-to-reward ratio is the same as a 3:1 gain-to-risk ratio.

The Recommended Strategy paragraph displays details for the suggested trading strategy at the last price.  The strategy is instantly updated when the browser page is refreshed and new data is received.

This paragraph describes the current trend and shows detailed performance metrics for the selected timeframe.

The last paragraph on each Strategy Panel describes the time that a successful trade in the selected timeframe is typically held.

The Range Envelopes Indicator (outlined in red on the screen capture above) is located at the top of every Analysis Page.

The Range Envelopes Indicator displays three columns of data.

1. The first column shows the Multitrend Rating on the top row (BULL 10 in the example above) and the three trends: short-term, intermediate, and long-term on the rows below.  The trends are always sorted by stop/reverse line price from high to low and the stacked order determines the Multitrend Rating.


2. The second column titled range envelopes shows three interesting pieces of information:


2.1  Arrow Symbols on the left side of the range envelope numbers:


     ↑   Green arrow up shows a bullish trend with the rising range low pushing the trailing stops higher.
     ↓   Red arrow down indicates a bearish trend with trailing stops for short trades following the range top lower.
    ↔  Green sideways arrow indicates a rangebound market with price currently on the bullish side of the stop/reverse line.
    ↔  Red sideways arrow indicates a rangebound market with a bearish bias underneath the stop/reverse line.
    ⤴  Green trend change up arrow is shown when a formerly bearish trend reverses on a crossover of the range envelope top.
    ⤵  Red trend change down arrow is displayed on a bearish trend change where prices crosses under the stop/reverse line of a formerly bullish trending market.



2.2  Range envelopes show the lowest low to highest high for the last x number of days for the timeframe look-back period.  The look-back period for the short-term is the last trading week, intermediate is the last trading month, and long-term is the last trading quarter (3 months).



2.3  Range envelopes are color-coded to show the last detected range crossover signal, which indicates the current range envelope trading bias.  Only one number at a time in a timeframe is color-coded.  There are four colors used, two at the high and two at the low:


    Dark green at the range envelope low ( example: 100 to 123 ) indicates a countertrend rally.  The trend is still down, but this is where a counter-trend buy signal just might work out for bottom-feeders.


    Bright green at the range envelope high ( example: 100 to 123 ) indicates a breakout above the old range high and new range expansion.  When you are long a stock this is the color that you like to see.


    Dark red at the range envelope high ( example: 100 to 123 ) indicates a possible pullback and alerts bears to start looking for counter-trend sell setups as confirmation.


    Bright red at the range envelope low ( example: 100 to 123 ) indicates a breakout below the old range low and new range expansion.  When you are short a stock this is the color that you like to see.



3. The last column shows the date of the last range signal generated in each timeframe.  The date corresponds to color-coding on the range envelopes.

There are two types of charts shown in Stops and Targets.

1. One Multitrend Chart—(shown in example above) that shows the Multitrend configuration.
2. Three Strategy Charts—one chart for each timeframe: long-term, intermediate, and short-term.

A Candlestick Price Bar is used on both types of charts to quickly and efficiently show the trading day's high and low price, and the open-to-last price direction.

A candlestick price bar is composed of the body (drawn as either a red or green rectangle), and a shadow (drawn as a thin, black, vertical line).

• The upper and lower extremes of the colored candlestick body illustrate the open and last prices of the security for that trading session.  If the last price of the security is lower than the opening price on the day then the body color will be red; conversely, if the last price is higher, the body color will be green.


• The shadow shows the highest and lowest prices of a security during the current (or most recent, if the market is closed) trading session.

The Multitrend Chart (along with its accompanying Multitrend Panel) is pre-selected by default.

The Multitrend Chart is designed to provide a big picture overview of the selected security–in the minimum possible time.  An experienced Stops and Targets user can assess large amounts of essential information about a security in a quick glance, including:

• The current session’s price direction—by looking at the candlestick price bar’s body color.
• The strength of the daily move—by looking at the length of the candlestick price bar’s body.
• The day’s price range by looking at the candlestick price bar shadow.
• The last price—shown on the right side adjacent to the candlestick price bar.
• The relationship to the previous day’s close—by looking at the dashed blue line relative to the candlestick price bar (which shows open gaps).
• The precise location of the stop/reverse lines for three trends.
• The configuration of the stop/reverse lines, which determines the Multitrend Rating.
• Whether any part of the candlestick price bar has interacted with any of the stop/reverse lines (especially when a trend changes).
• The existence and location of an active Spotter Signal (not shown in the example above but when present is a horizontal line drawn in cyan blue for a Bottom Spotter or magenta for a Top Spotter.
• The ticker symbol for the selected security (TSLA in the example above).
• The date and time of the last data received (June 26, 2015 at 4:42 PM in the example above).

...that would be a lot of information to process by only reading text—but it all takes just a few seconds using a visual chart representation.

All the data on the chart is augmented and enhanced by the accompanying Multitrend Panel.  In the example above, we can quickly see the original start price for the long-term trend was at 31.50.  The current long-term stop/reverse line is now sitting at 181.40 (nice!) so TSLA has been a very good investment for those who entered at the Stops and Targets trend change Strategy Signal back on November 16, 2012 and then advanced the trailing profit stop as the trend progressed.

A matching Strategy Chart is shown when a long-term, intermediate, or short-term Strategy Panel is selected.  The short-term Strategy Chart (with its associated Strategy Panel) is shown in the example above.

Just as with the Multitrend Chart (which was described in the preceding topic), the Strategy Chart has been optimized to display a very large amount of information in the shortest possible amount of time.  However, where the Multitrend Chart was optimized to show trend information—the Strategy Chart is optimized to show the trading strategy for a specific timeframe.

At a glance, a user can quickly discern the following information from a Strategy Chart.

• The ticker symbol for the selected security (TSLA in the example above).
• The currently-recommended trading strategy is shown just below the ticker symbol (short-term BUY in the example above).
• The current session’s price direction—by looking at the candlestick price bar’s body color.
• The strength of the daily move—by looking at the length of the candlestick price bar’s body.
• The day’s price range by looking at the candlestick price bar shadow.
• The last price is displayed on the right side, adjacent to the candlestick price bar.
• The last detected event line is always color-coded.  The green line at 265.54 in the example indicates a bullish strategy.  A red line is shown when a bearish strategy is presented.
• The target line—shows the goal for a trade initiated from within the ideal buy zone.



Target lines are also color-coded, but can appear as either broken or solid depending on the target type and the trend direction.

• A red broken line shows resistance in a bullish market.
• A green broken line shows support in a bearish market.




In a trending market, those broken lines will eventually be overtaken on a breakout.

• When price breaks out above resistance in a bullish market, old 'resistance' becomes new confirmed support and the broken red line will change to a solid green line.
• In a bearish market when price breaks out below 'support' it creates new confirmed resistance, which changes the broken green line to a solid red line.




A solid target line signifies that the odds for a significant pullback (or reversal) are increased when touched by price.

• A touch of confirmed resistance (solid red) in a bullish market is usually a partial sell area to lock in profit and can delineate the start of a momentum reversal—especially in range bound markets.
• The opposite is true on a touch of confirmed support (solid green) in a bearish market, which can often lead to a bounce in price and is often a great place to buy-to-cover short sale partials.




Eventually, price will breakout through confirmed support or confirmed resistance.

• If confirmed resistance is broken to the upside and held in a bullish market, it is a strong continuation buy signal.
• If confirmed support is broken to the downside and held in a bearish market, it becomes a strong continuation sell signal.
• If confirmed support is broken to the downside in a bullish market, a countertrend sell signal is generated.
• If confirmed resistance is broken to the upside in a bearish market, a countertrend buy signal is generated.





In the Tesla example above, the solid red target line indicates confirmed resistance is located at 291.42.

• The ideal entry zone is the shaded (green is bullish and red is bearish) price area near the last detected event line where the risk to reward ratio is 1:3 or better, and is considered by many pros (and automated trading platforms) to be the optimum place to enter a new trade for risk management purposes.  (In the Tesla example above the ideal entry zone is shaded green between the last detected event line at 265.54 and the top edge of the ideal entry zone at 272.01).


Think of the ideal entry zone as being like a gun sight on a fighter pilot's Head's Up Display.  If last price is within the shaded zone, then consider pulling the trigger.  Otherwise, if last price is outside of the shaded zone then it is probably best to let the trade go and wait for a better risk-to-reward ratio opportunity.
• Whether any part of the candlestick price bar has interacted with either the last detected event line, the ideal entry zone, or the target line.
• The percentage difference between the last price and the last event line (-0.58% in the example above).


ⓘ  Event Risk is different from the Initial Stop Risk, which in the Tesla example would be at 258.98 (-3.04%) for the current trade setup.  The initial stop risk allows for some wiggle room around the last detected event line (265.54 in example above), while also setting a predetermined failed trade exit price if a 1:3 risk-to-reward ratio is exceeded, which is excellent Risk Management discipline.
• The percentage difference between the next target and the last price (+9.11% is displayed just above the target line in the example above).
• The date and time of the last data received (June 26, 2015 at 4:42 PM in the example above).

The Strategy Chart provides an at-a-glance visualization—and the accompanying Strategy Panel supplies the specific details needed to help you make well-considered investment strategy decisions.

The second grouping of three links on the Main Navigation Bar are dedicated to displaying End of Day Signals and Rankings

The reports located in each link will be described in the next three sections.

• Signals Matrix
• Spotters
• Watchlist

Selecting the fourth option on the Main Navigation Bar (highlighted in green on the screen capture above) opens the Signals Matrix drop-down menu.

The Signals Matrix drop-down menu contains links to six End of Day Reports.

• Summary
• Buy/Sell Signals
• Trend Rank 3000
• Trend Rank ETF
• Single Day Stats
• Preferred Picks

Each End-of-Day Report is described in the sections that follow.

Selecting Summary from the Signals Matrix dropdown list opens the Signals Matrix Summary report.

Signals Matrix Summary

The Signals Matrix Summary report provides an overview of the complete trading day, with concise summaries and direct links to all other End-Of-Day Reportsem.

The Signals Matrix Summary report is the first place to visit after receiving the End of Day E-Mail (which notifies you that the Signals Matrix has been updated shortly after the market close) .

As your eyes move across the page, from top-left to bottom-right, you will see ten blocks of related data that can be grouped into four types.

1. End of Day Summary
2. Spotter Alerts
3. Top/Bottom Five Industry Groups
4. Russell 3000 and ETF Trend Metrics

Let's take a closer look at each block of information.

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1. End of Day Summary

   
   
   At the top left corner of the Signals Matrix Summary is an End of Day Summary of the Single Day Stats reports.

   For more details on any of the five displayed metrics click on the blue linked report titles.





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2. Spotter Alerts

   
   Moving to the right, across the top of the Signals Matrix Summary page, the next data block provides a synopsis of new Spotter Alerts and Spotter Confirmations.

   Index and Futures Spotters are added to the bottom of the list (underneath Confirmed Bottom Spotters) when detected (note: there are no Index or Futures Spotter Signals in the example above).

   Click the blue title links for more details on that particular Spotter Signal type.




Screen Capture of a Major Market Turn




In the example above, there were unanimous Index and Index Futures Options Alerts (DOW, SPX, NASDAQ, RUA, ES, NQ, YM) that were confirmed by a whopping 1123 Russell 3000 Bottom Spotters, which helped to sniff out a particularly tricky (double-bottom) broad market turn in early 2016.

Savvy traders watch the Spotter Alerts looking for large numbers of Index and Index Futures Options Alerts (on the last line under Spotter Alerts) along with large numbers of correlating Russell 3000 Spotters (the top four lines) to detect impending major market turns.





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3. Top/Bottom Five Industry Groups

   
   The day's top five and bottom five Industry Groups performance is shown at the upper right corner of the page.

   The blue Industry Groups link opens a detailed Industry Groups sub-report.





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4. Russell 3000 Trend Metrics

   
   The screen capture above shows Long-Term, Intermediate, and Short-Term Trend Metrics for the Russell 3000.

   There are four sections in each timeframe block.  The top two sections show the distribution between bullish and bearish trends and the bottom two sections show the top five bullish and top five bearish trend leaders.  The block layout is identical in the Intermediate and Short-term timeframes.

   
   

   In the above example, we can see at a glance that the Long-Term Trend for the Russell 3000 is currently 70% bullish (2,060 symbols) and 28% bearish (813 symbols).  There were 6 new Long-term Bullish Trend Changes and 2 new Long-term Bearish Trend Changes (symbols: ATHX, and LKQ).  The bullish trend leader in the long-term timeframe is FIZZ, up 10,838% since the trend change was signaled.  The bearish trend leader is ADPT, down 99% since the last long-term trend change signal.

   
   
   If you hover your mouse over a symbol, a tooltip shows the full company name (see Hecla Mining HL in the example above).  In addition, each blue-colored symbol links to its' own Analysis Page, and the Bullish/Bearish Trend Leaders titles link to a detailed sub-report that includes ranking for ALL symbols.
   
   

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   Exchange Traded Funds Trend Metrics

   
   The layout for the three timeframe blocks dedicated to Exchange Traded Funds Trend Metrics is identical to Russell 3000 Trend Metrics.

   See the Russell 3000 Trend Metrics explanation just above.

Selecting Buy/Sell Signals from the Signals Matrix dropdown list opens the Buy/Sell Signals report.

The Buy/Sell Signals report shows the overall trending character of the broad market—and is an extremely useful tool for finding very specific types of trading opportunities.

To produce this report, approximately 4,000 tracked symbols (see list: here:) have been meticulously analyzed in three timeframes (requiring millions of calculations).  The results are presented here in a clever hierarchical organization so that you can quickly drill down from a broad but extremely precise overview to very specific trade setup details.  No matter what your particular trading style and preferences are—this resource will enable you to find exactly what you want in just three mouse clicks!

The Buy/Sell Signals report (see screenshot above) displays seven columns of information.

1. Rating
2. Subtotal
3. Distribution
4. Buy & Sell Signals
5. Countertrend Signals
6. Dominant Trend
7. Description

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1. Rating

   The first column displays the Multitrend Rating type.  This table is sorted from a fully-trending bull market rating of Bull 10 at the top to fully-trending bear market rating of Bear 10 at the bottom.  To learn more about Multitrend Ratings please click here.

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2. Subtotal

   The Subtotal column shows the number of securities classified by each Multitrend Rating type.  In the example above, there are 1254 individual securities rated Bull 10 and 329 securities rated Bear 10.

   At the bottom of the Subtotal column are Totals for all symbols with Bullish: 2104, and Bearish: 1464 Multitrend Ratings.

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3. Distribution

   The Distribution column shows the percentage of securities currently in each Multitrend Rating type.  This information is useful to quickly see the 'lump in the snake'–or where large groups of securities are currently clustered.  That visualization helps to better understand the overall broad market trend configuration.

   In the example above, the broad market was 59% Bullish and 41% Bearish and the 'lump in the snake' is located in the Bull 10 (35%) and Bear 1 (15%) ratings, which describes a short-term pullback in a long-term bull market (see the Description column).

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4. Buy & Sell Signals

   Securities whose last price is currently inside of an Ideal Entry Zone are sorted and listed by Multitrend Rating type.  This column is a great place to find potential trend-following trading opportunities.

   Clicking on the blue numbers in the Buy & Sell Signals column will open a very useful Sub-Report with specific types of trade setups (see Trending Signals below).

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5. Countertrend Signals

   Symbols showing Countertrend buy/sell signals are listed in this column.  These are higher-risk trading setups that are opposite to the present trend direction and should therefore be used with caution.  Large numbers of Countertrend Signals can sometimes foreshadow a broad market reversal.

   Clicking on the blue numbers in this column will open a very useful Sub-Report with specific types of countertrend trade setups (see Countertrend Signals below).

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6. Dominant Trend

   Each Multitrend Rating type tends to favor trades placed in a particular timeframe.  The Dominant Trend column shows which timeframe is favored for each Multitrend Rating type.  This is useful information to know because sophisticated high-frequency trading algorithms and professional traders tend to seek out and exploit higher-odds trades depending upon the current market configuration (Multitrend Rating).

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7. Description

   The last column provides a short description of the characteristics associated with each of the twenty Multitrend Ratings.

Clicking on any blue number in the Buy & Sell Signals column will open a detailed sub-report showing all signals currently inside of the Ideal Entry Zone for the selected Multitrend Rating.

There are twenty possible reports that can be generated from this column.  These signals will always be in the direction of the trend—in other words, only Buy signals for Bull 1 through Bull 10 ratings and only Sell signals for Bear 1 through Bear 10 ratings.

Bull 4 Buy Signals


The Bull 4 Buy Signals report shown in the example above would be of particular interest for an investor who is looking to find a new stock pick idea near the start of a long-term bull market.

This report is fully-sortable by any column header and includes includes multiple Signal Types (see Last Event column).

The Bull 4 Buy Signals example above is organized into twelve columns.

• Rank
• Symbol
• Description
• Industry
• Timeframe
• Last Event
• Close
• Stop
• Target
• Gain %
• Risk %
• G/R Ratio

The bold headings in the column list above are discussed in the sections that follow.

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• Rank

  This report is initially sorted and ranked in descending order by the gain-to-risk-ratio (see last column titled G/R Ratio).

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• Symbol

  Ticker Symbols in the second column link directly to that symbol's Analysis Page.

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• Last Event

  The sixth column from the left shows abbreviations for the type of signal that was generated at the most recent price interaction with any support or resistance lines.

  Hovering your mouse pointer over any Last Event abbreviation will launch a popup tooltip describing the setup type in detail.  A tooltip describing a confirmed support buy (abbreviation: CS) is shown in the screen shot above.

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• Stop

  The Stop location may be either protective (full position exit if crossed) or partial (partial position exit to lock in profits) depending upon the trending characteristics of the equity.  See the Analysis Page (by clicking on the blue symbol name in the first column) for more details on suggested trading stop placement–which can be different than the system stop under certain circumstances.

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• Target

  If a target is detected that value is displayed in this column.  Targets are the next trading objective where at least partial profits may be taken on a successful trade.

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• Gain %

  When a target has been detected this column displays the potential gain, expressed as a percentage, between the Close price and the next Target.

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• Risk %

  When a target has been detected this column displays the potential risk, expressed as a percentage, between the Close price and the Stop price.

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• G/R Ratio

  The Gain to Risk Ratio is determined by dividing the potential gain by the initial stop risk.

  ⓘ  A very high Gain to Risk Ratio indicates that the Close price was near the Last Event line—and therefore very close to a change in trade bias.  Please see the Analysis Page (by clicking on the blue symbol link in the first column) for more details on maintaining a 1:3 initial risk-to-reward-ratio using trading stops.

Clicking on any blue number in the Countertrend Signals column will open a detailed sub-report showing all signals currently inside of the Countertrend Ideal Entry Zone for the selected Multitrend Rating.

There are twenty possible reports that can be generated from this column.  These signals will always be in the OPPOSITE direction of the trend—in other words, only CT Sell signals for Bull 1 through Bull 10 ratings and only CT Buy signals for Bear 1 through Bear 10 ratings.

The Bull 10 CT Sell Signals report shown in the screenshot above would be of particular interest to a speculator who is looking to find a new stock pick idea that is Countertrend (opposite to the current trend direction).

In this example, the report has returned all short-term countertrend trade setups in a fully-trending Bull 10 Multitrend rated market.  This report is fully-sortable by any column header and includes includes multiple Signal Types (see Last Event column).

The column layout on this report is identical to the Trending Signals report.

Hover your mouse pointer over any signal abbreviation in the Last Event column for a detailed explanation of the trading setup.  The Countertrend Sell (CT-) setup is explained in the example above.

Selecting Trend Rank R3000 from the Signals Matrix dropdown list opens the Russell 3000 Long-term Trend Rankings report.

Clicking on Trend Rank R3000 from the Signals Matrix dropdown menu launches the Russell 3000 Long-term Trend Rankings page.

There are also complete rankings for; Long-term Bearish, Intermediate Bullish and Bearish, and Short-term Bullish and Bearish trends.  The table format is the same for each timeframe.  Click on any of the other five links at the top of the page (highlighted by a red rectangle) to navigate to another timeframe/trend ranking.

Each report has an identical layout consisting of:

• Total Count (shown on the title bar)

…and ten columns of fully-sortable information (by clicking on the column header).

• Rank
• Symbol
• Description
• Industry
• MT Rating
• Spotter
• Close
• Trend Start
• Trend Start Date
• Net

In the Long-term Bullish Trend Rankings example above, the title bar indicates there are currently 2,079 securities in a long-term bullish uptrend.

Securities are ranked by Net% Gain and sorted in descending order.  The top-ranked security for the long-term in the example above was Synergy Resources, which was up 11,320% (Net%) at 11.42 (Close).  The long-term buy signal was generated at .10 (Trend Start Price).

The ticker symbol of each ranked security is displayed in the first column.  When any blue-colored symbol is clicked, a separate browser window will open with that symbol’s Analysis Page.

The name of the company is displayed in this column.

The Industry Group classification for each symbol is displayed in the third column.

The current Multitrend Rating is shown in the fifth column.

All active Spotter Signals are shown.  A blue exclamation point next to a colored Spotter Signal indicates that a new signal was generated at the most recent close.

The most recent day’s closing price is shown.

The price where the original entry signal for the selected timeframe was generated is displayed.

Shows the date of the original entry signal for the selected timeframe.

The current net percentage of change, since the original entry price, is shown in the last column.  The table is sorted by this percentage change number in descending order (highest to lowest).

Selecting Trend Rank ETF from the Signals Matrix dropdown list opens the Exchange Traded Funds Long-term Trend Rankings report.

Clicking on Trend Rank ETF from the Signals Matrix dropdown menu launches the Exchange Traded Funds Long-term Trend Rankings page, with links (highlighted in red) to five additional ETF timeframe/trend ranking reports.

The layout here is identical to the Russell 3000 Long-term Trend Rankings described above, except the rankings here are for all tracked Exchange Traded Funds.  Use the links at the top of the page (highlighted by a red rectangle) to view other ETF Timeframe/Trend reports.

Selecting Single Day Stats from the Signals Matrix dropdown list opens the Advancing Issues report.

There are six links across the top of every Single Days Stats page: Advancers, Decliners, Unusual Volume, New Highs, New Lows, and Industry Groups..  The following screenshots show each linked report.

Advancers


On the Advancers page, all tracked securities that finished the most recent trading session higher than the previous day’s close are listed and sorted in descending order by percentage gain.

The total number of advancing issues is shown on the title bar.  In the example above there were a total of 775.

Decliners


All tracked securities that finished the most recent trading day lower than the previous day’s close are sorted in ascending order by percentage loss on the Decliners page.

The total number of declining issues is shown on the title bar.  In the example above there were a total of 2657 (compared to 775 advancers on an overall bearish day in the market).

Unusual Volume


All symbols trading greater than 150% of their 20-day average volume are shown in the Unusual Volume report.

This report is initially sorted using volume percentage by default–but like all reports it may be sorted by clicking on any column header.  For example, sorting using the Industry column header can give clues about where volume activity was concentrated on the day.

New Highs


All tracked securities registering a quarterly (3-month) New High in the most recently concluded trading day are shown.

New Lows


All tracked securities registering a quarterly (3-month) New Low in the most recently concluded trading day are shown.

Industry Groups


This report shows Industry Group sub-sector performance with an initial default sort of strongest to weakest (by Change Today % column) for the most recently concluded trading day.

Industry Groups are a Classification Method for grouping individual stocks or companies based on common lines of business.  It is very useful to know which sub-industry groups are leaders and laggards and this chart allows sorting by any of the ten columns.

Selecting Preferred Picks! from the Signals Matrix dropdown list opens the Preferred Picks: Aggressive Countertrend Buys report.  To navigate between the two Preferred Picks reports, use the 'Aggressive Countertrend Buys | Aggressive Countertrend Sells' links at the top left of the page.

Each day at the market close, Stops and Targets generates a new list of very aggressive counter-trend buy and sell setups for the next trading session.

Combining a new unconfirmed Spotter signal with break of first support (in an uptrend) or resistance (in a downtrend) these signals can generate spectacular very short-term moves after a strongly trending stock reaches momentum exhaustion and then retreats in the opposite direction of the trend due to profit-taking.

Preferred picks are designed to be quick-hitters for nimble counter-trend traders and will almost always powerfully rebound in the direction of the trend after the first counter-trend profit target is reached. Savvy traders can often initiate excellent trend-following entries in the strongest stocks by entering new trades at the counter-trend profit target and then riding the squeeze of the counter-trend traders who missed the exit.

Those stocks that do not resume the previous trend after the target is hit can morph into excellent home-run picks when a new trend change occurs in conjunction with a confirmed spotter signal.

Preferred Picks are always selected from among the strongest trending stocks in the market and when large numbers reverse without recovery it can be an excellent harbinger of a potential major trend reversal for the broad market.

Rarely do these stocks disappoint for volatility and explosive moves. Have fun!

Selecting Spotters from the Main Navigation Bar opens the Spotter Signals report, which is double-sorted by Spotter Classification across the column headers and Multitrend Rating down the rows.

Spotter Signals are a proprietary algorithm developed by Stops and Targets to detect the potential exhaustion of an existing trend–and can identify the start of a significant countertrend pullback or major trend reversal on the very day it begins.  Mature Spotter Signals (Reversal Buy and Reversal Sell) can also be used as trend continuation signals to re-enter in the direction of the trend.

There are eight possible Spotter Classifications, represented by the eight columns in the table above; four are bearish (Top Spotter, Top Spotter Confirmed, Reversal Sell, and Bottom Spotter Invalidated) and four are bullish (Bottom Spotter, Bottom Spotter Confirmed, Reversal Buy, and Top Spotter Invalidated).

A Spotter Signal transitions through four phases during its life cycle.

• Spotter Alert
• Confirmation
• Reversal/Trend Continuation
• Invalidation

The following sections explain each phase.

There were 44 new Top Spotters and 25 new Bottom Spotters generated at the close of the trading day on the example above.  There are currently 167 active Top Spotters and 112 active Bottom Spotters.

A Spotter Alert can detect the start of a countertrend pullback or the potential for a reversal of the current trend on the very day it happens.  There are two types of Spotter Alerts.

• Top Spotters are bearish and can detect the start of a countertrend pullback or potential for a reversal of an existing bullish uptrend.
• Bottom Spotters are bullish and can often detect the start of a countertrend bounce or potential for reversal of an existing bearish downtrend.

Spotter Alerts have two parts—the initial detection signal and then a Confirmation on a subsequent day to validate the Spotter Alert setup.  Not all Spotter Alerts are followed by a valid confirmation–and a signal will be immediately invalidated if price trades above a Top Spotter Alert or below a Bottom Spotter Alert on any subsequent day.

In the screen capture above there are 5 new Top Spotter Confirmations and 32 new Bottom Spotter Confirmations. There are active totals of 761 and 525, respectively.

There are two parts to generating a Confirmed Spotter signal—the initial Spotter Alert setup and then a follow-through Confirmation.

For a Spotter to be Confirmed there must be a closing price on a subsequent day that is:

• Lower than the lowest price on the day that the original initial Top Spotter alert was generated.
• Higher than the highest price on the day that the original initial Bottom Spotter alert was generated.

Once a Spotter signal is Confirmed, the odds increase greatly for a countertrend pullback to at least the closest stop/reverse line, which is shown on the Multitrend Panel and Multitrend Chart.

The example above shows 4 bullish Trend Reversal Buys and 3 bearish Trend Reversal Sells.

A Reversal/Trend Continuation signal is generated when a recent countertrend Spotter Signal has been invalidated and a preexisting Spotter Signal from the opposite direction reasserts control.  Spotter Reversals are always trend-following signals and can be an excellent way to enter in the direction of the dominant Multitrend rating.

• A Reversal Buy signal is generated when a recent Top Spotter has been invalidated and a preexisting and currently valid Bottom Spotter reasserts control.  On the Strategy Panel for the symbol, the existing Bottom Spotter value has replaced the now-invalidated Top Spotter.

  A Reversal Buy signal can be a powerful momentum buying opportunity, where bearish countertrend speculators who sold-short near what may have appeared to be a high are now forced to cover those short positions, which can exacerbate buying pressure.

• The opposite is true for a Reversal Sell signal, which is generated when a recent Bottom Spotter has been invalidated and a preexisting and currently valid Top Spotter reasserts control.  On the Strategy Panel for the symbol, the preexisting Top Spotter value has replaced the now-invalidated Bottom Spotter.

  A Reversal Sell signal can be a powerful momentum short-selling opportunity, where bullish countertrend speculators who bought near what may have appeared to be a low are now forced to liquidate those long positions, which can exacerbate selling pressure.

In the example above there are 15 Top Spotter Invalidations and 15 Bottom Spotter Invalidations.

Spotter Alert signals represent an absolute stop value, which means that a valid Spotter Alert will be the exact top or the exact bottom of a reversal.  If price exceeds the Spotter Alert value on any subsequent trading day–that alert is immediately and permanently Invalidated.

• If a Top Spotter signal is Invalidated (by price exceeding the signal bar high) and there is no existing valid Bottom Spotter, then all Spotter references are removed from the Multitrend Panel for that symbol.

• If a Bottom Spotter signal is Invalidated (by price exceeding the signal bar low) and there is no existing valid Top Spotter, then all Spotter references are removed from the Multitrend Panel for that symbol.

Clicking the Watchlist link on the Main Navigation Bar opens your Personalized Watchlist.

You can add any combination of symbols to your Personalized Watchlist by entering a symbol or company name in the symbol entry box in the upper left corner.  It is also quick and easy to remove symbols from your watchlist by using the gear icon to the left of each symbol.

All trends and signal events are updated at the end of each trading day–and all data on the table is fully-sortable by clicking on any column heading.  Informative tool tips are available by simply hovering the mouse over any area of interest.  In the example above, hovering the mouse over a CS1 abbreviation in the Last Events column displays a tool tip with details about that particular setup.

Each day after the close of the cash markets, an automated End of Day Email Alert is generated and sent to the e-mail address that you entered in your Customer Profile (unless you have opted-out by checking the Unsubscribed from all e-mail messages box on Your Membership Information Page).

The End of Day Email Alert provides a convenient snapshot view of the day's net change, Multitrend Rating, Strategy Signals, and Spotter Alerts for the three major broad market indexes (Dow Jones Industrials, S&P 500 Index, and the NASDAQ Composite Index).

The End of Day Email Alert also includes new Strategy and Spotter alerts for all symbols in your Personalized Watchlist.

A great thing about the End of Day Email Alert is that you don’t have to log in every day to Stops and Targets to check on your portfolio if you don’t want to.  Stops and Targets will keep an eye on your holdings and let you know if there are any significant changes that need to be investigated.  When an alert signal is generated, simply click on the blue ticker symbol link to go right to the Analysis Page from your email.

The User Guide link on the Main Navigation Bar brings you to the current document from any page within the Stops and Targets site.

This User Guide is also accessible by non-members, so you can share a direct link with friends and colleagues.

The screen capture above shows the Membership Information Page, which is accessible from the Settings link on the Main Navigation Bar.

Your Membership Information page shows:

• Buttons at the top that link to three additional Settings pages: Add/Renew Subscription, Edit Profile, and Helpdesk (each are described in following sections).
• Active Subscriptions with the next rebill date and a link to easily cancel (or suspend) a subscription.
• Unsubscribe from all email messages.  Check this box to stop receiving the automated End of Day Email with your Personal Watchlist Alerts.  We strongly recommend leaving this box unchecked.
• Useful links:
• Logout
• Change Password/Edit Profile (see entry below)
• Payments History
• Update Credit Card Info

This page is displayed when you click on the Payments History link from Your Membership Information page.

On the Payments History Page you can see a complete record of all past payments and the next billing date for an active subscription.

This page is displayed when you click on the Update Credit Card Info link from Your Membership Information page.  

On the Payment Information Page you can change any credit card details.

Clicking on the Add/Renew Subscription button (red in the screen capture above) opens the Member Signup Form.

The Add/Renew Subscription page enables members who previously cancelled or suspended a subscription to easily restart.  Existing members can also switch to a different subscription option (for example: from a monthly to an annual subscription).

You can make changes to your Customer Profile here including: Name, Address, E-mail, and Password.

The Helpdesk page is where you can send messages and comments to us by submitting a new Help Ticket.

You can also see a record here of any previous Helpdesk queries and responses.