Trading With The Stock Market TrendsProvided By Ultimate Trading Systems News & Sympathy Plays For Stock Market TrendsNews, good or bad, trumps all other stock market trends. Good news about a company, or about another company in the same sector if the sector is a hot one, can trigger sharp rises in stock prices. The key to taking advantage of price runs started by news is to get in early, before everyone else has. Obviously, if you're the last one in, you'll buy at the highest price and then watch the stock price go down. Likewise, bad news can cause negative stock market trends. And, like everything else in the market, what matters is not whether the news is really good or bad, but what the stock market trends perceive it to be. You might not think the stock market trends reaction to a piece of news makes any sense, but should not affect your trading. Always go with the market. Remember, news overrides all other stock market trends. Let's say you're holding a company heading into its upcoming split. The stock is in a hot sector, and its a one to four split. The stock is rising nicely, and the ex-date is three days away. The next morning, you see unexpected news that business in the companys sector has dropped off sharply in the last quarter and that this slowdown is projected to continue for at least the next six months. What's going to happen to the split run? This news will take precedence over the split stock market trends. Unless the market decides it doesn't care about this news, which is not likely, the companys run is over. You will have to get out of the stock. When important news comes out, all successful traders abandon trades based on other stock market trends. Unexpected news is one of the main reasons why you must set stops on every trade to protect your capital. In the same way, if you've sold short to ride stock market trends in which stocks usually go down, significant good news about the stock should send the stock market trends back up. Now that we're on the subject of news, let's look at related stock market trends: sympathy plays. When a stock in a hot sector has good news and begins to move up, the stocks of the other companies in the same sector will often start to run up as well - in sympathy with the original mover. Likewise, when a stock has bad news and begins to fall, others in the sector will often start to trend down as well. It may seem strange, but there is a reason for stock market trends to act that way. You would think that good news for one company would be bad news for its competitors and would logically drive their prices down instead of up. This isnt how stock market trends work. As long as the news reflects well on the prospects of the industry or business the news-making company is in, it will generate a sense of possibility in the minds of market traders. If one company in the sector is doing well, it's possible that demand for the whole sector's business is growing or that the whole sector will develop its products or market so that all the companies in the sector will do well. It's possible, isn't it? The sector now has potential. And that's how stock market trends tend to work. A great way to evaluate sympathy plays is to look at all the stocks in the sector to see whether others have started running with the newsmaker. If so, look for stocks that havent moved as much, for stocks that should also start running but haven't yet. By buying slower movers, you'll get in at a good price and the stock will have most of its run left. But make sure there's no other factor keeping that particular stock from rising, such as bad news of its own that will keep it from following the sympathy stock market trends. Remember, news overrides other stock market trends. Sectors go through hot and cold phases. Knowing which sectors are hot is especially useful in uncertain markets. Whenever there's a sudden general market rally, only the stocks in the hottest sectors will participate in the rally. Stock market trends in cold or dying sectors will remain flat or neutral. Always be aware of which stock market trends are hot or "in play" so that you're ready to trade into the right stocks when the market rallies. At the same time, be aware of which stock market trends are overvalued so that you'll know what to sell short when the market makes a downturn. As a trader, your goal is to be positioned in the strongest stock market trends and sectors when you buy, and in the weakest when you sell short.
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