股票期货突破技术分析(英文原版)-第36章
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Thinking in Technical Analysis。(Bloomberg Press; 2000)。 Tower suggests。that the length of the moving average be measured in columns rather than in days or weeks; allowing moving averages。to be used effectively on point and figure charts。 The purpose of using moving averages。on point and figure charts。is to assist in defining the trend and therefore in accepting or rejecting point and figure buy and sell signals。 Because signals。are more objective on 3…box charts; the use of moving averages。tends。to be easier; although there is。no reason why 1…box charts。can't be used just as effectively。 Trend direction is。best defined by two moving averages。of different lengths。 When the shorter length crosses above the longer length; the chart is。placed on a buy alert。 The buy signal occurs。on the next point and figure double…top signal。
Determining the best lengths。to use is。a trial and error; or optimization process。 A good rule of thumb is。to use lengths。that are half those you use on line charts; because in calculating moving averages。on point and figure; the average of each column is。calculated before the moving average is。calculated。 Average lengths。can be close to one another because a crossover is。not a signal but rather an alert。 Crossovers。have to be reconfirmed by the point and figure signal。
Panel A in Figure 8。9 is。a 2% x 3 log scale chart of the Walt Disney Co。; with 5…and 8…column exponential moving averages。 When the 5 crosses。below the 8;
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Panel B in Figure 8。9 is。the same log scale chart of Walt Disney but with a Wilder parabolic。SAR with an acceleration factor of 。02。 The parabolic is。a stop…and…reverse system; in which the parabolic。line starts away from the price but then accelerates。toward it as。the trend matures。 Its。use with point and figure is。the same as。that for moving averages: The parabolic。switch from long to short places。you on alert; and the next double…bottom sell signal is。taken at point (c)。 The parabolic。switch to long places。you on alert to take the next double…top buy at point (d)。 Notice that immediately after the buy at point (d); the price retraced but did not trigger the parabolic。
Another innovation in point and figure charts。has。been the use of Bollinger bands; because they show a number of things。that are not immediately apparent from the plain point and figure chart。 These are trend strength; overbought and oversold situations; as well as。areas。of low volatility。 The standard Bollinger settings。are 20 days。and 2 standard deviations; but with point and figure charts。it is。suggested that 10 columns。and 2 standard deviations。be used。
Panel C in Figure 8。9 shows。a 0。5% x 3 log scale of DuPont; with a set of 10…column Bollinger bands。 The strength of the uptrend is。indicated by the price remaining above the moving average and continually touching the upper band。 In the same way; the strength of the downtrend is。indicated by the price continually touching the lower band。 Failure to cling to the outer bands。is a signal that the trend is。weakening as seen at the top when the column of Xs。fails。to reach the upper band。 Point and figure shows。accumulation or distribution by congesting sideways。 The Bollinger bands。emphasize this。by converging into what Bollinger calls 〃the squeeze;〃 indicating very low volatility。and the probability of a sharp move。 The width of the bands during the squeeze is。easy to set on a log scale point and figure chart because the number of boxes。between the bands。is。the percentage difference。 In the chart in panel C; you can clearly see the squeeze occurring during the congestion after the uptrend; where the bands converge to four boxes; or 2 percent apart。
Sometimes; however; the squeeze is。difficult to see in 3…box reversal charts; so if you see a potential congestion pattern and you're not sure whether a squeeze is。taking place; it's。worth looking at it in a 1…box reversal chart。 Panel D is。a 1% x 1 chart of Medlmmune; Inc。 The squeeze of three boxes; or 3 percent; before the sharp uptrend is。easy to see。 It's worth noting that 1…box reversal charts。are clearer and easier to analyze if they're drawn using the point method of Xs。only。
Indicators of Point and Figure Charts
One of the traditional disadvantages。of point and figure charts。is。that they can't be used with indicators。such as MACD; stochastic; or OBV; and the like; because they don't have a time scale and consequently won't match up with the indicator。 If; however; the indicator is。calculated based on columns rather than time; any indicator can be used with a point and figure chart。 In fact; the indicator bees。an indicator of the point and figure chart; not of the raw price data。 The difference is that the indicator “period” (length) is。
based not only on the indicator length in columns。but also on the number of columns。in the chart; and that varies。according to the box size and reversal used。 An RSI calculated on a length of 14 columns。can produc
analogy is。to changing the time frame of your bar charts。to produce different RSIs。based on hourly; daily; or weekly。data。
Indicators。do not work。well on fixed box size arith
scale percentage box charts。should; therefore; always。be used。 Figure 8。10 is。a 1% x 3 log scale point and figure chart of Merck。& Co。; with an MACD
buy and sell signalse from the point and figure chart itself; the MACD signals。put you
on alert to look。for the next point and figure signal。 *************** 176;177 ***************
move to the July high。 The price then corrected sharply followed by the OBV。 In December 2005; it rose sharply; but although the OBV followed; it did not have the same impel us。 The price consolidated again and broke out to a new high。 Notice that the OBV did not do so。 Looking at the OBV of a point and figure chart helps。you to accept or reject point and figure signals。because a good signal should have volume behind it。
Remember; when drawing indicators。of point and figure; the box size; the reversal; and the indicator lengths。are all input parameters。 In the examples。above; the standard indicator lengths。have been used and the point and figure chart parameters have varied。 The charts。demonstrate what an important point and figure development this is。 In most cases; the traditional periods。can be translated into columns; although there is a fine balance between the sensitivity of the point and figure chart and the column length of the indicator。
Market Breadth Indicators
Point and figure also has。its。own measures。of market breadth。 The most mon calculates。on a day…to…day basis。the percentage of stocks。in an index for which the last signal was。a point and figure double…top buy signal。 The indicator is。called bullish percent and has。been in use for some fifty years。 But there are other ways。to calculate point and figure…based market breadth indicators; for example; the percentage of stocks。for which the relative strength chart against the index is。on a buy signal; or the last column is。a column of Xs; or the last plotted box is。above a chosen column moving average。 These indicators。are normally plotted as point and figure charts。but can be plotted as。line charts as。well。 They act like overbought/oversold oscillators。and put you in the right frame of mind when assessing whether to accumulate or distribute stocks。in the index。
Flipping Point and Figure Charts
Technical analysts。have been turning printed charts upside down for years。to remove any subconscious。bias; but flipping a point and figure chart wasn't as。effective because the columns。of Xs。and Os。were the wrong way when turned upside down。 puters。can; however; flip the chart and swap the Xs。for Os。and the Os。for Xs。to provide a perfect point and figure chart upside down and “fool〃 the brain into believing the chart is。the right way up。
Most who analyze a chart have a bias。 Some are constantly bullish and can't see tops; others。are bearish and can't see bottoms。 No matter what bias。you have; flipping the chart tends。to remove that bias。even though consciously you know the chart is。upside down。 It's。important that the flipped chart look。as。natural as possible; so maintaining the original price scale—even though the numbers。don't matc