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When the Timer Goes Off
by kathia

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Making a decision about what kind of position to take on a stock is much like cooking a roast.

For the roast to be cooked perfectly, all the conditions have to be just right. A pan that it will fit in, a hot oven, a timer so you don't overcook--they all work together to produce a succulent meal. If the oven is too hot or the timer isn't set properly, you might be stuck with a hunk of charred meat.

Stocks work the same way. All the conditions, or indicators, need to be used in sync for the best results. When you use the indicators in conjunction with each other, the chances that you'll make a more profitable decision increase.

If MACD is the hot oven, then stochastic is the timer. Stochastic follows the short-term movements of the stock and gives you an idea of when to take action.


Telscape Intl Inc (TSCP)








Stochastic (the bottom graph) is shown by two lines (red and blue) fluctuating between 0 and 100. At the 20 and 80 marks, there are horizontal gray lines.

When the red and blue lines dip together under the 20 line, it means the stock is oversold (everyone is selling). When the lines float together above the 80 mark, the stock is overbought (everyone and his/her mother is buying).

So what does it all mean? Provided the other indicators are healthy, you want to buy when a stock is oversold because the short-term prices are likely to rise. Sell when a stock is overbought, and short-term prices are likely to fall!

How is stochastic handy? In late March, do you see how stochastic was indicating that the stock was overbought? Both the red and blue line are sailing over the 80 mark. The wise option would have been to wait until early April when the lines fell below the 20 mark (meaning the stock was oversold) to buy. If you look at the price graph again, you'll notice that at that point the price had fallen a bit right before it was about to coast up again.


A word of caution: stochastic is an indicator of short-term activity! It shows you when a stock's price is oscillating (moving up and down in a range) rather than trending (moving in one direction continuously). Be careful not to base long-term actions on it.


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