How to read this dashboard

This is a screen to decide which charts deserve a look. It is not a buy or sell signal and it is not financial advice. Reading the market cannot be fully reduced to a formula; the charts still deserve a look by eye.

The principles behind it

1. Price is the only thing that pays. Indicators are supplements.
2. Closing prices matter most, especially Friday and month-end closes. During the day the numbers here are provisional.
3. Find the primary trend first: uptrend, downtrend, or no trend. Stay away from ranges.
4. Weekly charts for structure, daily charts for timing.
5. 200-period simple moving average as a trend filter, not as support or resistance.
6. 14-period RSI. Bull markets hold roughly 40 to 80 and reach overbought. Bear markets hold roughly 20 to 60 and reach oversold.
7. Relative strength vs the S&P 500. Price and relative strength breaking out together is a strong signal.
8. Old resistance becomes new support. A breakout level is where risk is managed: stay long while price holds above it.
9. Upside targets come from the 161.8% and 261.8% Fibonacci extensions of the last correction.
10. Weight of the evidence: are there more good charts than bad ones?
11. No called strikes. Wait for the perfect pitch. Buy strength, do not chase, cut losses quickly.

Score (from -100 to +100)

Each item counts +1, 0 or -1. The score is the total divided by the number of items that apply.

• Weekly close above or below the 200-week average.
• 14-week RSI: 55 or more is +1, 45 or less is -1.
• Daily close above or below the 200-day average.
• 200-day average rising or falling over the last 20 sessions.
• RSI range over 3 months: bull range (held 40, reached 70) or bear range (held under 60, reached 30).
• Within 5% of the 52-week closing high (+1) or within 5% of the low (-1).
• Anchored VWAP from the start of the year, the 52-week high and the 52-week low: above all (+1) or below all (-1). Not shown where there is no volume, such as currencies.
• Relative strength vs the S&P 500 for stocks, sectors, industries and global ETFs.

Uptrend is +50 or higher. Downtrend is -50 or lower. Anything between is No trend.

Trending means an Uptrend plus a new 52-week or 18-month closing high in the last 5 sessions, or a 14-day RSI of 70 or more. The downside mirror is used for Downtrends.

Anchored VWAP

The average price everyone has paid since a chosen date, weighted by how many shares traded at each price. Price above it means the typical buyer since that date is making money, so buyers are in control. Price below it means the typical buyer is losing money and may sell into rallies to get out even. The three dots are anchored at the start of the year, the 52-week high and the 52-week low.

Fibonacci targets

Shown for markets breaking out to new 52-week or 18-month closing highs. The dashboard finds the last correction (a swing high, then a swing low, at least about 1.5 months of normal movement deep) and projects 161.8% and 261.8% of that decline up from the low. The swing high is the breakout level: old resistance that should now act as support. A tick mark means the target has already been reached.

Not automated

Chart patterns, other support and resistance levels, and momentum divergences still need a person looking at the chart.

Data

Free public Yahoo Finance data for personal use. Prices update every 5 minutes while markets are open and are fully refreshed after each close. Futures can be delayed by 10 to 20 minutes. Prices are split-adjusted, not dividend-adjusted.