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Here's another little tool that I use to monitor what's leading and what's lagging. Although I could easily expand the Indices watchlist to include some of my favorite ETFs, this abbreviated list tells me at a glance how the markets are moving in relationship to one another.
In conjunction with the 5 indicators in my trading toolbox that I profiled yesterday these 2 dynamic lists that update on a tick by tick basis help me determine likely momentum.
The Indices list includes the NYAD, VIX and TICK and in the blink of a eye I can see the relative strength or weakness of the whole market.
The DJI, SPX NDX, and IWM % Change values tell me if the markets are moving in or out of sync. The % Change is really the only number I'm interested in. . . the other values tell me little of the market component relationships.
When the DJI % change is 2 and the NDX % change is .5 at the open, the odds of a leveling of the 2 indices is extremely high at some point in the day.
I also closely watch the Qs 3 Fingers list as, per the 3 Finger lead and Reverse systems that I've discussed in many previous posts and, as with the Indices list, the % Change values are what really catch my attention, especially AAPL, GOOG and RIMM. It's perhaps surprising how the on-going % Change in these 3 stocks provides a highly reliable indicator for Qs behavior, but from my perspective of watching this list for years, it works.