Albemarle Corp (ALB) are being monitored this week as the Schaff Trend Cycle levels have shown a consistent downtrend over the course of the past 5 trading sessions. If the levels breach the key 30 level, a market reversal will be likely, according to this signal.
The Schaff indicator, created by Doug Schaff in 2008, behaves in a way like an oscillator, identifying overbought and oversold conditions in the market. These scenarios are then used to trade price reversals. A modification of the simple overbought or oversold trade setup is the addition of the 100-period exponential moving average, which is used by institutional traders as a very powerful support-resistance tool. The Stochastics oscillator is used to add confirmation to the trade entry.
Oversold values are 0 to 20 and investors might look to buy dips in up trends when the signal line crosses up from below 20 to above 20. Overbought values are 70 to 100 and investors might look to sell rallies in downtrends when the signal line crosses down from above 80 to below 80.
One of the biggest obstacles standing in the way of the individual investor is unrealistic expectations. Many times, investors will have an incorrect vision of what they expect to get from their investments in terms of actual returns. Creating unrealistic expectations can lead to overextending risk in the future. If an investor loses patience and thinks that they should be seeing bigger returns than they are currently generating, this may cause them to enter into a few ill advised trades in order to try to hit that previously determined number. Setting realistic, attainable goals may help the investor immensely, not just in terms of future returns, but in terms of the psyche as well.
Looking at shares from some additional technical standpoints, Albemarle Corp (ALB) presently has a 14-day Commodity Channel Index (CCI) of -62.15. Typically, the CCI oscillates above and below a zero line. Normal oscillations tend to stay in the range of -100 to +100. A CCI reading of +100 may represent overbought conditions, while readings near -100 may indicate oversold territory. Although the CCI indicator was developed for commodities, it has become a popular tool for equity evaluation as well.
We can also do some further technical analysis on the stock. At the time of writing, the 14-day ADX for Albemarle Corp (ALB) is 20.89. Many technical chart analysts believe that an ADX value over 25 would suggest a strong trend. A reading under 20 would indicate no trend, and a reading from 20-25 would suggest that there is no clear trend signal. The ADX is typically plotted along with two other directional movement indicator lines, the Plus Directional Indicator (+DI) and Minus Directional Indicator (-DI). Some analysts believe that the ADX is one of the best trend strength indicators available.
Interested investors may be watching the Williams Percent Range or Williams %R. Williams %R is a popular technical indicator created by Larry Williams to help identify overbought and oversold situations. Investors will commonly use Williams %R in conjunction with other trend indicators to help spot possible stock turning points. Albemarle Corp (ALB)’s Williams Percent Range or 14 day Williams %R currently sits at -85.74. In general, if the indicator goes above -20, the stock may be considered overbought. Alternately, if the indicator goes below -80, this may point to the stock being oversold.
Tracking other technical indicators, the 14-day RSI is presently standing at 39.97, the 7-day sits at 34.51, and the 3-day is resting at 33.09 for Albemarle Corp (ALB). The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is an often employed momentum oscillator that is used to measure the speed and change of stock price movements. When charted, the RSI can serve as a visual means to monitor historical and current strength or weakness in a certain market. This measurement is based on closing prices over a specific period of time. As a momentum oscillator, the RSI operates in a set range. This range falls on a scale between 0 and 100. If the RSI is closer to 100, this may indicate a period of stronger momentum. On the flip side, an RSI near 0 may signal weaker momentum. The RSI was originally created by J. Welles Wilder which was introduced in his 1978 book “New Concepts in Technical Trading Systems”.
For further review, we can take a look at another popular technical indicator. In terms of moving averages, the 200-day is currently at 100.23, the 50-day is 98.65, and the 7-day is resting at 95.75. Moving averages are a popular trading tool among investors. Moving averages can be used to help filter out the day to day noise created by other factors. MA’s may be used to identify uptrends or downtrends, and they can be a prominent indicator for detecting a shift in momentum for a particular stock. Many traders will use moving averages for different periods of time in conjunction with other indicators to help gauge future stock price action.
When watching the day to day movements of the market, investors often have to be careful not to let external factors cloud their judgment. From time to time, there may be certain stocks taking off that look highly tempting to purchase. Getting into a position based on short-term price movements may be a specific strategy for some, but it may be highly costly for others. Even if a stock has been on a big run that the investor might have missed out on, there is no guarantee that the run will continue higher. Although there may be potential in highly publicized stocks, it may be wise for investors to do their own research and then decide if the stock fits with the overall goals.
