by Chris Blanchet

When it comes to security price momentum, many people will look at the general trend of a security without fully understanding the technical basis of the term. What Momentum really tells us, however, is whether the trend will continue or reverse. Without technical analysis and events like Momentum, many investors would buy high and sell low.

What Is Momentum Similar to the Moving Average Convergence-Divergence (MACD) oscillator, Momentum measures how much a security’s price has changed over a given time. With a understanding of technical analysis and this particular event, investors will understand whether a slight pull back in price is part of the normal fluctuations of stock prices or if it is indeed a bearish signal for the price.

In other words, Momentum allows investors to see the true strength of particular price trend. When relying on multiple technical analysis tools in conjunction with Momentum, investors are …

The SPy is not quite as bullish looking but the short term momentum is clearly higher which is making an excellent long trade environment...for now. Risk management is job #1

Continuing the theme of avoiding the stronger sectors and buying some weaker areas, I had almost bought Canadian Solar (CSIQ) just a few weeks ago in the mid $30s - it ramped to low $50s, and a missed opportunity went by the wayside. [Jun 17: Canadian Solar (CSIQ) Raises Guidance]It has now pulled back 30% from its high of $52 two weeks ago, and this appears to the be the market's current favorite - the only chart I can find in the sector where the stock has not broken the 50 day moving average. This is not my favorite name in the sector fundamentally - a huge amount of their last earnings were nothing more than currency gains - but the market doesn't peek beneath the hood to realize that, so we'll go with the market. And frankly, all that I've gained from buying ...

Followers of Barry Ritzholz's TheBigPicture and Felix Salmon's Conde Nast Portfolio will have noticed the battle between the pro-market-technician and anti-market-technician stance of the respective authors. Unfortunately for Felix, using Jim Cramer as an example of a market technician at work does little to help his cause (Jim Cramer is many things, but market technician he is not). Felix's key point was Whenever you hear words like "overbought" or "oversold" or "momentum" or "support" or "resistance", it means that whatever you're hearing is garbage. But it also means that the person you're listening to has no idea what's about to happen, and is therefore resorting to the financial equivalent of astrology. In such cases, it's worth ignoring the message completely, but it's also worth having some serious thoughts about the messenger, too. Barry responded with a point-by-point blow as to benefits of using technical analysis can bring the ...

Asia Time Corporation, a Chinese timepiece manufacturer, was featured in a trade alert issued today by Beacon Equity. The stock has traded from $4.50 to over $5.00 in just a few sessions, with indicators pointing toward a continuation of momentum.

The company’s first quarter financial results were impressive, showing a marked improvement across the board, as compared to those of a year ago. Revenues hit $36.8 million, with a net income of $2.4 million, greatly superseding last year’s Q1 revenues of $21.1 million, and net loss of $193,000.

With a market cap of a mere $126.8 million, Asia Time Corporation is a subject of intrigue for many investors, and appears to be building strength as a company at an alarming rate. According to the Beacon Equity report, “The company attributes the increases to a portfolio of diversified products with higher selling prices, flexible and extended credit terms, and a targeted

...

For mental health reasons, we hardly ever watch CNBC anymore. But glancing at it this afternoon, at one point we saw three separate live graphics displaying the price of crude oil. So much screen space was taken up by live oil trackers, there wasn’t enough space left to show the chart of whatever alternative energy company they were pumping.

Was oil making a new high today? Did the U.S. unilaterally attack another country?  Did someone accidentally double-park in the Strait of Hormuz?  No.

If you feel like it’s been impossible to get away from oil and oil-related stories for too many years to count, that’s because you’re right. The CXO blog has a nice report up on a momentum-based sector investing strategy, and as they explain, the primary reason the strategy massively outperforms the S&P over the

...

I am really gritting my teeth at this missed opportunity for Trina Solar (TSL) management to finally reward its shareholders... some of which have been sticking with (or around) them since last summer, only to be disappointed time after time. My long term thesis on this name has not changed, and I believe the 2nd half of the year will be explosive. It still trades at a huge discount to the group, which most likely is (a) management discount - a leadership team that loves to surprise us with new adventures that no one else in the group embarks upon - Wall Street however hates surprises and (b) potential dilutive equity offering to fund 2009 operations coming later in the year. While most people would be more concerned with (b), I am more concerned with (a). Last year they surprised the Street with a big annual ...

Due to increase sales in Mexico and new distributors in the North American market, ForeverGreen, a manufacturer and distributor of all natural whole foods, announced today that they are expansion distributions.

While Mexico is still in the pre-launch stage and leadership and distribution continues to be established in the region, the Mexican market is growing monthly and has recently become the company’s fourth largest sales market. To officially launch ForeverGreen in Mexico, the company plans on hosting opening events later this summer as well as introduce the company’s energy drink ElectriFire™.

According to the company, ElectriFire™ is an exclusive combination of safe energy and natural health products that utilizes ForeverGreen’s patent-pending technology to take natural plant concentrates and render them water-soluble, making them instantly absorbed. These proprietary blends contain natural, safe, clean and organic ingredients for instant energy that lasts for hours and is felt throughout your whole body.

The company

...

The point of showing my order book yesterday was to emphasize how my number one focus is always risk management. At the time I entered many of the stocks, I expected them to continue to trend for most of the day. Even with expectations for continued movement higher, I sold partial positions into strength early on. I tend to go in aggressively as momentum builds and then scale out into continued strength. It is never my thought that I am selling at the top, instead, I am trying to reduce risk by realizing some profits and reducing my exposure. There are many times that a stock will continue to go higher without me and I am comfortable with that because, as we saw yesterday, the market can reverse quickly and erase all profits if you do not aggressively manage open positions. Some people say ...

of the SPY show a lower high and some resistance near 49.25 in the Qs. Yesterday's rally has lost momentum and it may signal a need for more sideways action to digest the gains of the last month.