What are stock indices? You may have already heard of stock indices such as the FTSE 100, the Dow Jones or the Nikkei 225. Numbers often quoted on the news, or in the business section of the newspaper, usually alongside a value saying how much they've moved up or down. But what are they? And what do...

Rising Wedge The Rising Wedge is a bearish pattern that begins wide at the bottom and contracts as prices move higher and the trading range narrows. In contrast to symmetrical triangles, which have no definitive slope and no bullish or bearish bias, rising wedges definitely slope up and have a beari...

Head and Shoulders Bottom The Head and Shoulders Bottom, sometimes referred to as an Inverse Head and Shoulders, is a reversal pattern that shares many common characteristics with the Head and Shoulders Top, but relies more heavily on volume patterns for confirmation. As a major reversal pattern, th...

Rectangle pattern A Rectangle is a continuation pattern that forms as a trading range during a pause in the trend. The pattern is easily identifiable by two comparable highs and two comparable lows. The highs and lows can be connected to form two parallel lines that make up the top and bottom of a r...

Double Top Reversal The Double Top Reversal is a bearish reversal pattern typically found on bar charts, line charts, and candlestick charts. As its name implies, the pattern is made up of two consecutive peaks that are roughly equal, with a moderate trough in-between. Note that a Double Top Reversa...

True Strength Index (TSI) Developed by William Blau and introduced in Stocks & Commodities Magazine, the True Strength Index (TSI) is a momentum oscillator based on a double smoothing of price changes. Even though several steps are needed for calculation, the indicator is actually pretty straigh...

Ultimate Oscillator Interpretation Buying Pressure and its relationship to the True Range forms the base for the Ultimate Oscillator. Williams believes that the best way to measure Buying Pressure is simply subtracting the Close from the Low or the Prior Close, whichever of the two is the lowest. Th...

Vortex Indicator Developed by Etienne Botes and Douglas Siepman, the Vortex Indicator consists of two oscillators that capture positive and negative trend movement. In creating this indicator, Botes and Seipman drew on the work of Welles Wilder and Viktor Schauberger, who is considered the father of...

Introduction of Williams %R Developed by Larry Williams, Williams %R is a momentum indicator that is the inverse of the Fast Stochastic Oscillator. Also referred to as %R, Williams %R reflects the level of the close relative to the highest high for the look-back period. In contrast, the Stochastic O...

Relative Strength Index (RSI) Introduction Developed by J. Welles Wilder, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and change of price movements. RSI oscillates between zero and 100. According to Wilder, RSI is considered overbought when above 70 and oversol...