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  • 📋ChartSchool
  • Table of Contents
    • Overview
      • Why Analyze Securities?
      • Technical Analysis
      • Fundamental Analysis
      • Random Walk vs. Non-Random Walk
      • Asset Allocation and Diversification
      • John Murphy's 10 Laws of Technical Trading
      • John Murphy's "Charting Made Easy" eBook
      • Technical Analysis 101
        • TA 101 – Part 1
        • TA 101 – Part 2
        • TA 101 – Part 3
        • TA 101 – Part 4
        • TA 101 – Part 5
        • TA 101 – Part 6
        • TA 101 – Part 7
        • TA 101 – Part 8
        • TA 101 – Part 9
        • TA 101 – Part 10
        • TA 101 – Part 11
        • TA 101 – Part 12
        • TA 101 – Part 13
        • TA 101 – Part 14
        • TA 101 – Part 15
        • TA 101 – Part 16
        • TA 101 – Part 17
      • Irrational Exuberance
      • Cognitive Biases
      • Arthur Hill on Goals, Style and Strategy
      • Arthur Hill on Moving Average Crossovers
      • Multicollinearity
      • "The Trader's Journal" by Gatis Roze
        • Stage 1: Money Management
        • Stage 2: Business of Investing
        • Stage 3: The Investor Self
        • Stage 4: Market Analysis
        • Stage 5: Routines
        • Stage 6: Stalking Your Trade
        • Stage 7: Buying
        • Stage 8: Monitoring Your Investments
        • Stage 9: Selling
        • Stage 10: Re-Examine, Refine, Re-Enhance
        • Additional Reading
      • Bob Farrell's 10 Rules
      • Richard Rhodes' Trading Rules
      • Donchian Trading Guidelines
      • Why and How To Use Correlation
    • Chart Analysis
      • What Are Charts?
      • Support & Resistance
      • Trend Lines
      • Gaps and Gap Analysis
      • Introduction to Chart Patterns
      • Chart Patterns
        • Broadening Top or Megaphone Top
        • Double Top Reversal
        • Double Bottom Reversal
        • Head and Shoulders Top
        • Head and Shoulders Bottom
        • Falling Wedge
        • Rising Wedge
        • Rounding Bottom
        • Triple Top Reversal
        • Triple Bottom Reversal
        • Bump and Run Reversal
        • Flag, Pennant
        • Symmetrical Triangle
        • Ascending Triangle
        • Descending Triangle
        • Rectangle
        • Price Channel
        • Measured Move—Bullish
        • Measured Move—Bearish
        • Cup With Handle
      • Chart Types
        • Arms CandleVolume
        • CandleVolume
        • Elder Impulse System
        • EquiVolume
        • Heikin-Ashi Candlesticks
        • Kagi Charts
        • Renko Charts
        • Three Line Break Charts
        • MarketCarpets
        • Relative Rotation Graphs (RRG Charts)
        • Seasonality Charts
        • Yield Curve
      • Candlestick Charts
        • Introduction to Candlesticks
        • Candlesticks and Traditional Chart Analysis
        • Candlesticks and Support
        • Candlesticks and Resistance
        • Candlestick Bullish Reversal Patterns
        • Candlestick Bearish Reversal Patterns
        • Candlestick Pattern Dictionary
      • Point and Figure Charts
        • Point and Figure Basics
          • Introduction to Point & Figure Charts
          • Point & Figure Scaling and Timeframes
          • P&F Trend Lines
        • Classic Patterns
          • P&F Bullish Breakouts
          • P&F Bearish Breakdowns
          • P&F Signal Reversed
          • P&F Catapults
          • P&F Triangles
          • P&F Bull & Bear Traps
        • P&F Price Objectives
          • P&F Price Objectives: Breakout and Reversal Method
          • P&F Price Objectives: Horizontal Counts
          • P&F Price Objectives: Vertical Counts
        • Point & Figure Indicators
        • P&F Scans and Alerts
          • P&F Pattern Alerts
      • Chart Annotation Tools
        • Andrews' Pitchfork
        • Stock Market Cycles
        • Fibonacci Retracements
        • Fibonacci Arcs
        • Fibonacci Fans
        • Fibonacci Time Zones
        • Quadrant Lines
        • Raff Regression Channel
        • Speed Resistance Lines
    • Technical Indicators & Overlays
      • Introduction to Technical Indicators and Oscillators
      • Technical Indicators
        • Accumulation/Distribution Line
        • Alligator Indicator
        • Aroon
        • Aroon Oscillator
        • ATR Bands
        • ATR Trailing Stops
        • Average Directional Index (ADX)
        • Average True Range (ATR) and Average True Range Percent (ATRP)
        • Balance of Power (BOP)
        • Bollinger BandWidth
        • %B Indicator
        • Chaikin Money Flow (CMF)
        • Chaikin Oscillator
        • Chande Trend Meter (CTM)
        • CMB Composite Index
        • Commodity Channel Index (CCI)
        • ConnorsRSI
        • Coppock Curve
        • Correlation Coefficient
        • DecisionPoint Price Momentum Oscillator (PMO)
        • Detrended Price Oscillator (DPO)
        • Distance From Highs
        • Distance From Lows
        • Distance To Highs
        • Distance To Lows
        • Distance From Moving Average
        • Ease of Movement (EMV)
        • Force Index
        • Gopalakrishnan Range Index
        • High Low Bands
        • High Minus Low
        • Highest High Value
        • Linear Regression R2
        • Lowest Low Value
        • Mass Index
        • MACD (Moving Average Convergence/Divergence) Oscillator
        • MACD-Histogram
        • MACD-V
        • MACD-V Histogram
        • Median Price
        • Money Flow Index (MFI)
        • Negative Volume Index (NVI)
        • On Balance Volume (OBV)
        • Percentage Price Oscillator (PPO)
        • Percentage Volume Oscillator (PVO)
        • Performance Spread
        • Price Relative/Relative Strength
        • Pring's Know Sure Thing (KST)
        • Pring's Special K
        • Rate of Change (ROC)
        • Relative Strength Index (RSI)
        • Relative Volume (RVOL)
        • RRG Relative Strength
        • StockCharts Technical Rank
        • Slope
        • Standard Deviation (Volatility)
        • Stochastic Oscillator (Fast, Slow, and Full)
        • StochRSI
        • Traffic Light
        • TRIX
        • True Range
        • True Strength Index
        • TTM Squeeze
        • Typical Price
        • Ulcer Index
        • Ultimate Oscillator
        • Vortex Indicator
        • Weighted Close
        • Williams %R
      • Technical Overlays
        • Anchored VWAP
        • Bollinger Bands
        • Chandelier Exit
        • Double Exponential Moving Average (DEMA)
        • Hull Moving Average (HMA)
        • Ichimoku Cloud
        • Kaufman's Adaptive Moving Average (KAMA)
        • Keltner Channels
        • Linear Regression Forecast
        • Linear Regression Intercept
        • Moving Averages—Simple and Exponential
        • Moving Average Ribbon
        • Moving Average Envelopes
        • Parabolic SAR
        • Pivot Points
        • Price Channels
        • Triple Exponential Moving Average (TEMA)
        • Volume-by-Price
        • Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP)
        • ZigZag
    • Market Indicators
      • Introduction to Market Indicators
        • Market Indicator Dictionary
      • Advance-Decline Line
      • Advance-Decline Percent
      • Advance-Decline Volume Line
      • Advance-Decline Volume Percent
      • Arms Index (TRIN)
      • Bullish Percent Index (BPI)
      • DecisionPoint Intermediate-Term Breadth Momentum Oscillator (ITBM)
      • DecisionPoint Intermediate-Term Volume Momentum Oscillator (ITVM)
      • DecisionPoint Swenlin Trading Oscillator (STO)
      • High-Low Index
      • High-Low Percent
      • McClellan Oscillator
      • McClellan Summation Index
      • Net New 52-Week Highs
      • Percent Above Moving Average
      • Pring's Bottom Fisher
      • Pring's Diffusion Indicators
      • Pring's Inflation and Deflation Indexes
      • Pring's Net New High Indicators
      • Put/Call Ratio
      • Record High Percent
      • Volatility Indices
    • Market Analysis
      • Dow Theory
      • Sector Rotation Analysis
      • Intermarket Analysis
      • The DecisionPoint Chart Gallery
      • DecisionPoint Rydex Asset Analysis
      • Wyckoff Analysis Articles
        • Wyckoff Market Analysis
        • Wyckoff Stock Analysis
        • The Wyckoff Method: A Tutorial
      • Elliott Wave Analysis Articles
        • Introduction to Elliott Wave Theory
        • Identifying Elliott Wave Patterns
        • Guidelines for Applying Elliott Wave Theory
    • Trading Strategies & Models
      • DecisionPoint Trend Model
      • Trading Strategies
        • Bollinger Band Squeeze
        • CCI Correction
        • CVR3 VIX Market Timing
        • Faber's Sector Rotation Trading Strategy
        • Gap Trading Strategies
        • Harmonic Patterns
        • Hindenburg Omen
        • Ichimoku Cloud Trading Strategies
        • The 'Last' Stochastic Technique
        • MACD Zero-Line Crosses With Swing Points
        • Moving Average Trading Strategies
          • Finding Support and Resistance in Moving Averages
          • Guppy Multiple Moving Average: An MA Ribbon Designed to Tip the Market’s Hand
          • How To Trade Price-to-Moving Average Crossovers
          • Trading the Bounce: Finding Support and Resistance in Moving Averages
          • Trading the Death Cross
          • Trading Using the Golden Cross
          • Using the 5-8-13 EMA Crossover for Short-Term Trades
        • Moving Momentum
        • Narrow Range Day NR7
        • Percent Above 50-day SMA
        • Percent B Money Flow
        • The Pre-Holiday Effect
        • RSI(2)
        • Six-Month Cycle MACD
        • Slope Performance Trend
        • Stochastic Pop and Drop
        • Swing Charting
        • Trend Quantification and Asset Allocation
    • Index & Market Indicator Catalog
      • Advance-Decline Indicators
      • Cboe Indices and Indicators
      • CME Futures and Spot Prices
      • DecisionPoint Sentiment Indicators
      • Dow Jones Breadth Indicators
      • Dow Jones Global Indices
      • Dow Jones Select Indices
      • Dow Jones Titans Indices
      • Dow Jones US Indices
      • Economic Indicators
      • ICE Futures and Spot Prices
      • Intellidex Indices
      • MSCI Indices
      • New 52-week Highs and Lows for Exchanges
      • NYSE Arca Equity Indices
      • NYSE Equity Indices
      • Philadelphia Indices
      • S&P 500 Sector and Industry Groups
      • S&P GSCI Indices
      • StockCharts AD Percent
      • StockCharts AD Volume Percent
      • StockCharts Bullish Percent Index
      • StockCharts High-Low Index
      • StockCharts High-Low Percent
      • StockCharts Percent Above Moving Average
      • StockCharts Pseudo Symbols
      • StockCharts Record High Percent
      • StockCharts Theoretical Indices
      • US Treasury Yields
    • 📖Glossary
      • 📖Glossary - A
      • 📖Glossary - B
      • 📖Glossary - C
      • 📖Glossary - D
      • 📖Glossary - E
      • 📖Glossary - F
      • 📖Glossary - G
      • 📖Glossary - H
      • 📖Glossary - I
      • 📖Glossary - J
      • 📖Glossary - K
      • 📖Glossary - L
      • 📖Glossary - M
      • 📖Glossary - N
      • 📖Glossary - O
      • 📖Glossary - P
      • 📖Glossary - Q
      • 📖Glossary - R
      • 📖Glossary - S
      • 📖Glossary - T
      • 📖Glossary - U
      • 📖Glossary - V
      • 📖Glossary - W
      • 📖Glossary - X, Y, Z
    • Options Glossary
    • Educational Resources
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On this page
  • Abandoned Baby
  • Above the Market
  • Absolute Breadth Index (ABI)
  • Absolute Price Oscillator (APO)
  • Accrued Interest
  • Accumulation
  • Accumulation Distribution Line
  • Advance Decline Line (AD Line)
  • Advance Decline Ratio
  • Advancing
  • Advancing Declining Issues
  • Adverse Excursion
  • ADX
  • After Hours
  • Against Actuals
  • Agricultural Commodities Index ($GKX)
  • All or None
  • Alpha
  • American Depository Receipt (ADR)
  • AMEX
  • AMEX Composite Index ($XAX)
  • Amex Index Options
  • Amortization
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Analyst
  • Anchored VWAP
  • Andrews' Pitchfork
  • Announcement Date
  • Annual Report
  • Annualized
  • Area Pattern
  • Arithmetic (Linear) Scaling
  • Arms Index (TRIN)
  • Aroon
  • Aroon Oscillator
  • Ascending Trend Channel
  • Ask
  • Assets
  • At the Money
  • Average Directional Index (ADX)
  • Average True Range (ATR)

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  1. Table of Contents
  2. Glossary

Glossary - A

PreviousGlossaryNextGlossary - B

Last updated 11 months ago

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Abandoned Baby

A rare reversal pattern consisting of a gap followed by a that is then followed by another gap in the opposite direction. The shadows on the Doji must completely gap below or above the shadows of the first and third day.

Above the Market

A limit order to buy or sell a security for a specified price that is higher than the current market price. If the market does not reach the specified price, the order will go unfilled.

Absolute Breadth Index (ABI)

The absolute value of the difference between the advancing issues and the declining issues. Developed by Norman Fosback, ABI shows how much activity and volatility is taking place on the New York Stock Exchange while totally ignoring the price direction.

Absolute Price Oscillator (APO)

Accrued Interest

The amount of interest that has been earned since the last interest payment date. When a bond trades, the buyer pays the seller the accrued interest - a pro rata portion of the next interest payment, which will be paid to the buyer of the bond.

Accumulation

The act of buying more shares of a security without causing the price to increase significantly. After a decline, a stock may start to base and trade sideways for an extended period. While this base builds, well-informed traders and investors may seek to establish or increase existing long positions. In that case, the stock is said to have come under accumulation.

Accumulation Distribution Line

Advance Decline Line (AD Line)

Advance Decline Ratio

The ratio of advancing issues over declining issues. Taking the moving average of the AD ratio will smooth it so it can be used as an overbought and oversold indicator.

Advancing

A market stage of a stock that is characterized by an uptrend with subsequently higher highs and higher lows.

Advancing Declining Issues

A market momentum indicator using the advancing issues and the declining issues. It subtracts the declining issues from the advancing ones and is usually smoothed to make it a good overbought/oversold indicator.

Adverse Excursion

The loss attributable to price movement against the position in any single trade.

ADX

After Hours

Any trade posting, adjusting, or changes made by specialists or member firm after the official close of the market.

Against Actuals

A transaction generally used by two hedgers who want to exchange futures or cash positions.

Agricultural Commodities Index ($GKX)

All or None

A type of order issued to a broker by a buyer or seller to fill the order completely or not at all. There are no partial transactions.

Alpha

A measure of the residual risk that an investor takes for investing in a fund rather than a market index. It represents the difference between a mutual fund's actual performance and the performance that would be expected based on the level of risk taken by the fund's manager. If a fund produced the expected return for the level of risk assumed, the fund would have an Alpha of zero. A positive Alpha indicates the manager produced a return greater than expected for the risk taken. A negative Alpha indicates the manager has not adequately rewarded investors for the risks taken.

American Depository Receipt (ADR)

Securities issued by commercial banks that represent the shares of a foreign company. ADRs trade just like normal stocks on various US stock exchanges. Their performance usually parallels that of the parent company on its domestic exchange. StockCharts.com does not have access to ADR data.

AMEX

The term used for the American Stock Exchange.

AMEX Composite Index ($XAX)

Amex Index Options

The American Stock Exchange trades put and call options based on a number of sector, industry and international indices. These indices cannot be bought or sold like stocks, their price movements are simply used for trading options.

Amortization

The paying off of debt in regular installments over a period of time.

Analysis of Variance

A technique used to improve the analysis over regression techniques. It can be used for identifying relationships between predictor and criterion variables, whether the predictor variables are quantitative or qualitative in nature.

Analyst

A person with expertise in evaluating financial instruments; he or she performs investment research and makes recommendations to institutional and retail investors to buy, sell or hold. Most analysts specialize in a single industry or business sector.

Anchored VWAP

Andrews' Pitchfork

Developed by Alan Andrews, this concept uses three parallel lines drawn from three points that you select. The points selected to begin the pitchfork are usually three consecutive major peaks or troughs. The three parallel lines extending out to the right are used as normal support and resistance points.

Announcement Date

The date on which a company first publicly announces an impending stock split.

Annual Report

Popular term for the yearly report made by a company to its stockholders. Federal law requires all registered corporations to make such reports. They usually contain a balance sheet, an income statement, a list of changes in retained earnings, and how the income of the corporation was used.

Annualized

The translation of periods of less than a year into an annual rate for comparative purposes. To annualize quarterly figures, you multiply them by four.

Arbitrage

The simultaneous buying and selling of securities to take advantage of price discrepancies. Arbitrage opportunities usually surface after a takeover offer.

Area Pattern

A pattern of sideways price movement that follows a stalled uptrend or downtrend of a stock or commodity. Some of these patterns (triangles, flags, wedges etc.) have good predictive value.

Arithmetic (Linear) Scaling

Arms Index (TRIN)

Aroon

Aroon Oscillator

Ascending Trend Channel

Ascending Triangle

Ask

Assets

Any possessions that have value in an exchange.

At the Money

An option whose strike price is equal to the price of the underlying security.

Average Directional Index (ADX)

Average True Range (ATR)

An indicator based on the difference between two , expressed in absolute terms. Also known as the , the APO is calculated by subtracting the longer EMA from the shorter EMA. See our ChartSchool article on .

A momentum indicator that relates price changes with volume, comparing the closing price to the range of prices (High-Low). The closer the close is to the high, the more volume is added to the cumulative total. See our ChartSchool article on .

A widely used indicator that measures the breadth of a stock market advance or decline. The AD line tracks the net difference between advancing and declining issues. It is usually compared to a market average where divergence from that average would be an early indication of a possible trend reversal. See our ChartSchool article on the .

See .

A weighted average of the important agricultural commodity contracts as compiled by Goldman Sachs. Commodities used include Wheat, Red Wheat, Corn, Soybeans, Cotton, Sugar, Coffee, Cocoa and Orange Juice.

A weighted index of the stocks listed on the American Stock Exchange. The market capitalization of each company is used to construct the index.

A version of the Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) indicator that allows the chartist to define the starting bar for calculations. A bar that reflects a change in market psychology is typically chosen (a significant high or low, earnings announcement, etc.). See our ChartSchool article on .

On an Arithmetic (Linear) scale chart, the spacing between each point on the vertical scale is identical. Thus, the vertical distance between 10 and 20 is the same as the vertical distance between 90 and 100. While this kind of scaling is intuitive and easy to recreate by hand, linear scaling should not be used on charts with large vertical ranges. A move from 10 to 20 is much better than a move from 90 to 100, but they both appear the same on a linear scale. Read for more information on price scaling.

A market indicator showing the ratio between the average volume of declining stocks and the average volume of advancing stocks. Generally, a rising TRading INdex is bearish and a falling TRIN is bullish. See our ChartSchool article on .

An indicator system that can be used to determine whether or not a stock is trending and the strength of its trend. The Aroon Oscillator signals an upward trend when it rises above zero and a downward trend when it falls below zero. The farther away the oscillator is from the zero line, the stronger the trend. See our ChartSchool article on .

An indicator called the Aroon Oscillator can be constructed by subtracting Aroon(down) from Aroon(up). Since Aroon(up) and Aroon(down) oscillate between 0 and +100, the Aroon Oscillator oscillates between -100 and +100 with zero as the center crossover line. See our ChartSchool article on .

An ascending line that connects the bottoms of the down waves and is parallel to a trend line. The ascending channel line and the form borders on an uptrend.

A sideways price pattern between two converging trend lines in which the lower line is rising while the upper line is flat. This is generally a bullish pattern. See our ChartSchool article on .

Also known as the “offer”, the price that the market maker guarantees to fill a buy order. A buy order placed at the market will usually be filled at the current asking (offer) price. The ask price is usually greater than the price.

Part of the Directional Movement System developed by J. Welles Wilder, the ADX line is based on the spread between the +DI and -DI lines from that same system. See our ChartSchool article on .

An indicator that measures a security's volatility. High ATR values indicate high volatility and may be an indication of panic selling or panic buying. Low ATR readings indicate sideways movement by the stock. See our ChartSchool article on .

Accumulation Distribution Line
Advance-Decline Line
Chart $GKX in GalleryView.
Chart $XAX in GalleryView.
Anchored VWAP
Arms Index
Aroon
Aroon Oscillator
Ascending Triangle (Continuation)
Average Directional Index
Average True Range
Average Directional Index (ADX)
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