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Technical analysis is a measure different from fundamental analysis…and we
qualifying our approach with a specialized subset of technical analysis. How so? We read price and volume behavior, over time, in the form of developing market activity. It is what one sees on a chart, price ranges, close locations, volume, time factor[s], but no more. Below are charts that suggest that the weakness in silver may be coming to an end, sooner now rather than later, but that for now, it is what it is – and what is, is reality.
So says Michael Noonan (edgetraderplus.com) in edited excerpts from his original article* entitled Silver – A Change In Behavior. Enough For A Bottom?
[The following article is presented by Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.munKNEE.com and the FREE Market Intelligence Report newsletter (sample here) and may have been edited ([ ]), abridged (…) and/or reformatted (some sub-titles and bold/italics emphases) for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. This paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.]
Noonan goes on to say in further edited, and in some places paraphrased, excerpts:
My Unique Approach to Technical Analysis
We do not use artificial tools like Relative Strength, Fibonacci, Bollinger Bands, MACD, Elliott Wave, even moving averages. From our view, they are past tense information being imposed upon present tense activity with the expectation of divining the future.
Developing market activity captures all of the KNOWN buy/sell decisions that impact the market. Anything that does not translate into executed prices remains an opinion about the market and has no direct effect on price. What is the difference? An executed price is an opinion that has been converted into an action, and we want to know what the results are from those actions, for they derive from smart, sophisticated players, with the most informed sources, the strong hands, all the way down to the least informed, weak hands, with a variety of skills in between.
It is this collective that makes the market, and they are best seen in the charts, via price ranges and volume, over time. It is the truest form of market reality from which a myriad set of beliefs about that reality follows.
What we endeavor to do is follow the market’s lead through the use of a set of rules for engagement. The first rule is to know the trend because it is the trend that dictates how to position oneself in the market, always with the trend. There is less of a hand-to-eye bias. It is the trend that is reality, whatever one’s belief about that reality may be.
A Specific Look a Silver
With this editorial, we turn to the charts, ignoring the fundamentals, all the news. All we need to know has already been “priced in.” Everything else is an expectation based on news and fundamentals, and they do not always go hand-in-hand with market reality. The best example we can cite is where price expectations are/have been within the precious metals community ($50, $150, $300) and where the reality of price is, by sharp contrast (just under $20)….
What is presented below are charts for the paper futures markets, currently the only price mechanism for silver and gold. That may be coming to an end, sooner now rather than later, but for now, it is what it is, and what is, is reality.
[In this particular article] we are not showing the larger time frame charts – monthly and sometimes quarterly and annually – [as we normally do as in this case] we are specifically looking for change in the present tense. [Below is the weekly chart for silver.]
Silver’s “Stored Energy”
The primary purpose of a trading range, [TR], is to set the stage for the next move that follows from whichever way price leaves the TR. It is a form of “stored energy,” as either buyers absorb sellers prior to a rally higher, or sellers absorb buyers prior to a decline lower. Once price moves directionally, establishing that all-important trend, there should be on- going market activity to confirm market direction. We will not go into what is believed by most to be a purposeful, and artificial attempt to suppress precious metal prices. If that is the case, it will show up in price behavior. The futures markets attract some of the best minds in the world because of the opportunity of phenomenal rewards. Smart money is not fooled for very long, if at all.
There was a large volume break, some would call it a surprise bear raid, on exceptionally high volume. If the stored energy in the trend was distribution, there should be a sizeable and strong move lower. Rather than continue immediately lower, price moved sideways, eventually hugging the 22 level.
When price stays near a price, up or down, it will generally break in the same direction preceding its arrival. 22 did give way and did so on high volume, again. However, a closer inspection does not support lower prices. Keep in mind, as you look at price and volume development, you are seeing, firsthand, how market movers are translating their information into buy/sell decisions, and how those decisions are impacting the market.
- What was the result of all that buying effort? There was none. Price failed to follow through to the upside. This is important market information.
- If price cannot go higher after such an effort from buyers, who is really in control? Sellers.
- What is the trend? Down.
- Who controls in a down trend? Sellers.
- Did sellers just prove they could stop buyers cold? Yes.
- What does that mean for prices? Still lower.
- Did price go lower? Yes.
- Did developing price activity give us confirming information that price would go lower? Yes.
- Did it require guesswork? No, just applied logic in following developing market activity.
As an aside, do you think RSI, Bollinger Bands, moving averages, etc., could have reflected this information, at that point? Absolutely not. They may have already been pointing down, but could not convey the same information just determined by the market itself.
The next two designated volume bars [in the chart above] provide more information. (High volume activity is almost always a sign of smart money activity. The public does not generate this level of volume, they only respond to it, usually on the other side, by smart money intent.) There is another break lower, from weak support at 22, which is what the “hugging” of that level “told us,” as it was happening. We “knew,” in advance, that 22 would likely give way, and it did so, just as price broke the 26 level, but there appears to be a difference, and differences can lead to clues.
Compare the volume on the break from 22 to that of the break from 26. It is much less. Relatively less volume means less relatively less selling effort. Why? This is a great opportunity to keep buyers under duress. Also, the range of the bar breaking 22 is not as large as the bar breaking under 26. Downside momentum is lessening.
What happens next day is opposite to what happened previously [again the same chart is reposted for easy reference]. This time, volume increased sharply over the previous day, and note both the size of the bar and the close location. The bar is smaller on increased volume. (Increased volume equals increased effort.) Logic tells us it is smaller because buyers were not only meeting the effort of sellers, they stopped all sellers efforts cold!
Look at the location of the close: upper end. If sellers were in control the close would have been on the lower half of the bar. We are being given immediate market information from the best available source, the market itself. The momentum to the downside just came to an end, at least to those of us reading developing market activity, according to the read of 1 and 2 on the chart.
#3 shows a weak rally response, after the fact. This is a reminder of how a trend has to be respected for it takes time to change one. No artificial technical tools could have presented this information, not on these days, and not in such an informative manner.
What needs to be noted is the decline in downward momentum from price level A to B, relative to the next decline from B to C. If momentum is losing its force, it should show up and confirm it in market activity.
There is a series of numbers, 1 through 6, that alerts us to a change in market behavior. It cannot be stressed enough to remember that we are “reading” the decisions and intent of smart money as they execute in real-time in the market. Follow the logic:
- Increased volume, wide range down, low close. Sellers in control. Next bar, higher volume, smaller range, no downside given the increased effort, and the smaller range tells us sellers lost control to buyers, at least on that day. This is a red flag, a warning for shorts/sellers.
- Increased selling effort, again with no downside follow through. Another red flag.
- A rally day on increased volume. There is no upside follow through, but no downside.
- Another increased selling bar, poor close, and again, no downside follow through, and a lost opportunity to cancel the buying effort from 3.
- After two days of marking time, after 4, a strong rally and close on increased volume, with the close above all the selling effort of the past month. This is clearly a change in market behavior by smart money.
- After 3, price failed at 4. After bar 5, it has taken 4 days, three of which are selling efforts, and the last one the highest volume effort, but the 4 day effort did not erase the single rally bar 5. That is a relative sign of strength when price is near its lows after a protracted decline from $50.
We look to the daily chart for more detail and maybe more clarity.
Conclusion
It is too soon to know if this is a bottom. What can be said is that rallies within a down trend are normal, and if a rally ensues from here, that part can be expected without making a determination of a trend change. It takes time to change a trend, and a change starts on the lower time frames, but we do not have enough evidence to call this a bottom, at least in the paper futures market. Let the market lead. It always does.
[Editor’s Note: The author’s views and conclusions in the above article are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original post. Furthermore, the views, conclusions and any recommendations offered in this article are not to be construed as an endorsement of such by the editor.]
*http://edgetraderplus.com/market-commentaries/silver-a-change-in-behavior-enough-for-a-bottom#sthash.jQaqTXlL.dpuf
Related Noonan Articles:
1. Noonan: Window of Opportunity to Buy Physical Gold & Silver Narrowing – Don’t Wait, Buy Now!
July 27, 2013 2 Comments
The window of opportunity to buy physical gold and silver continues to narrow. Like the housing market top was known to be coming, when it came, those who waited too long regretted it. When the bottom for the physical PMs is known as a certainty, those who waited for a “better price” may also regret that decision. It is all about choice. Read More »
2. Noonan: NO Evidence of Change in Downward Trend In Gold & Silver…Yet
July 20, 2013 3 Comments
You will read more and more articles touting how gold and silver have bottomed. They have not, at least according to price behavior as determined by actual buyers and sellers in the market. Read More »
Charts speak the loudest…and they never lie…[because they are] the true record of all buy and sell decisions executed, coming from the most informed to the least informed. Most of the problems lie with those who form an opinion, and how they choose to impose it onto what any given chart “says.” My understanding of what the quarterly monthly, weekly and daily charts are conveying about the price action of silver is, simply,] “Silver stackers, these lower prices are a gift you should keep on taking. Stay tuned.” Read More »
4. Noonan: Charts Suggest NO Ending Price Action In Either Gold or Silver – Take a Look!
June 21, 2013 1 Comment
Not one Precious Metals guru has gotten anything right in the last 18 months. All have been calling for considerably higher prices. Over the past several months none called for sub-$1,300 gold and sub-$20 silver. Crystal balls do not work and never have. When it comes to markets, anything can happen [but the charts convey that] there is no apparent ending action suggesting a selling climax or even a cause for a reaction rally. Take a look. Read More »
5. Charts Provide Certainty – Not Opinion: Here’s What They Say About Gold & Silver
Charts provide certainty, for they are absolute and the final word at the end of day, week, month, etc. There can be no dispute over a bar’s high, low and close, plus the volume, for whatever the time period under consideration. There is a high degree of logic within them and, while there can be differences of opinion over their interpretation, establishing a fixed set of parameters can mitigate most any potential dispute. So just what are the charts saying about the current trend in gold and silver? Let’s take a look. Read More »
6. Gold & Silver Rules of Engagement: IF This Happens, THEN Do That – Here’s Why, Here’s How
Never go against the market. It does not matter what your beliefs are…It does not matter what the fundamentals are either. [What matters] is the TREND! Once you know the trend is up you need a game plan on how to participate from the buy side and when the trend is down, a plan ion how to participate from the short side. If there is no trend, then the odds are not favorable for either game plan.[So exactly what are the charts saying about the trend in gold and silver these days? Read on!] Read More »
7. Gold & Silver: Don’t Wait for the Bottom – “Average Down”. Here’s Why
You cannot control what others do, especially those in power. You can control what you do. Just keep buying, regardless of price, because if/when the price of gold and silver were to go lower, you may not be able to buy. If/when the price of gold and silver were to go higher, it may be at such an accelerated rate that any price in the past few years seem cheap. Words: 550 Read More »
