In reference to the markets, volatility stands for how much or how quick stocks move up and down:

• High volatility: Prices are spiking up and down.
• Low volatility: Prices are more steading.

Depending on what type of trader will determine the optimal volatility level for you:

• If you are an active trader, then you will like a higher volaility because it allows for quicker profits and more opportunities.
• Long-term traders prefer periods of low volatility, which could allow for more constant growth.

The most popular volatility index is the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index with a ticker symbol of VIX, $VIX, or .VIX. This index measures the volatility of the S&P 500 index options. A high value corresponds to a more volatile market and therefore more costly options, which can be used to defray risk from this volatility by selling options. Often referred to as the fear index, it represents one measure of the market’s expectation of volatility over the next 30 day period.

How VIX correlates with the S&P 500

In the images below you can see how the VIX correlates with the S&P 500 over a given period.

VIX educational videos (Fact or Fiction)

Below are some videos courtesy of Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) about the VIX.

Ben Londergan, Co-CEO, Group One Trading, discusses the CBOE Volatility Index

Fact or Fiction Part 1 of 5

Fact or Fiction Part 2 of 5

Fact or Fiction Part 3 of 5

Fact or Fiction Part 4 of 5

Fact or Fiction Part 5 of 5

Further Reading
CBOE Research Paper,“VIX – Fact & Fiction,” (PDF) The 5 most common misconceptions about VIX.

Image Credit: CBOE Volatility Index Chart

I reviewed the service when it first came out a while back, but have never really looked at it since, so I thought I would give it another go. You can check out the video review below.

Overall, it is a great resource for TD Ameritrade users and doesn’t cost anything, but I wouldn’t necessarily rush over to sign up just for it. There are other similar applications, such as Finviz.

Today though, many people are quickly starting to avoid the strategy all together. The market in general is not on the same rapid uptrend like it was before, so wouldn’t it make sense to make more money on each individual rise and fall, then a bunch of them combined?

The following video does a good job at showing you why and how the buy and hold strategy is not working in the market anymore. It also offers a solution to try and avoid such pitfalls.

View video - The Game of Buy-and-Hold: It Is Over Forever

Well we’re going to explore this here in just a minute. Lets look at one technique and go over some examples of how these markets behave in those settings.

Before I can talk to you too much about the first example. we need to define a few things for you. First candles… the approach that I use with Japanese candle charts, and that is what you’re looking at here, is not the standard approach. So from my perspective, I don’t focus on patterns, I focus on behavior. If we see a green candle that represents buying, that means that the closing price is higher than the open. If you see a red box that represents selling it means that the closing price is below that opening price. If you see a white line on top that’s called a shadow, I think that represents selling. If you see a white line on the bottom that represents buying. Now with that in mind, the sizes of the bodies and the shadows tell us about the degree of buying or selling.

Now let’s talk about this set-up here…

To get the rest of the tips, please check this video out.

With the help of MarketClub, we were able to get this video analysis of gold together. Who knew that we would actually use this as more of a teaching tool.

This video is packed with some pretty interesting content…

Of course, I have already mentioned energy fields, which equivocates to little consolidation breakout patterns. This video also takes a look at the head and shoulder examples.

Take a second to watch this video and see how a professional breaks down gold and uses technical analysis to do it.

Watch video – Energy Fields

An example, would be Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index (NYBOT_CR). This index is a great indicator of inflation and deflation, and has been around for a little over 50 years. It covers about 19 markets. Some include: basic metals, aluminum, crude oil, gas, cattle, and so on, so it really gets a good grasps of what going on.

The following video covers how to examine this market and accurately use this index to profit off certain market movements.

View video – The Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index – Number One Predictor of Inflation and Deflation

Now you can get market analysis videos for free. Watch as Dan Gramza gives daily analysis, set-ups, and insight into the current market conditions. These videos are updated every morning. Dan’s commentary shows you exactly what’s happening in the most active and volatile markets including Stock Indexes, Forex, Grains, Precious Metals, and more.

For those that don’t know, Dan is the President of Gramza Capital Management, Inc. and DMG Advisors, LLC. He is a trader, consultant to domestic and international clients, and an advisor to the St. Croix hedge funds.

Start following these daily market analysis videos now.

By using multiple indicators while analyzing one stock, a more accurate determination of future price movement can be created.

The video below shows you how to properly use:

• Candlestick
• Parabolic SAR
• Moving Average Convergence/Divergence
• Fibonacci Retracement

Watch the video – Black Monday anniversary

What makes a winning trade?

• Identifying the trend
• Having clear entry and exit points
• Confidence

What seems like three easy solutions can be quite the opposite. The video below shows how one can perform these tasks. Try implementing these in your own trading methods and tools.

Watch the video – What makes a Winning Trade?

A quick summary tells us that we want to use a monthly time frame to find our initial entry and trend identifier and then a weekly time frame to get our exits. By maneuvering though different time frames, we can get a better grasp of reading the market.

Below is a great video that details how to do this.

Watch the video – How to Swing Trade in a bear market