New Forex Trading Strategy

Friday, December 4, 2009

Knowing What Makes Up Good ETF Trading Strategies

By Patrick Deaton

Nowadays, many traders are looking to exchange traded funds and are trying to take advantage of these funds because they do, in fact, make for great investment vehicles that can actually deliver a very nice income in many cases. Knowing what makes a good ETF trading strategies, then, will be necessary in order to take advantage. It's also a good idea to know a few things about ETFs first of all.

In a way, an ETF is similar to a mutual fund in the way it is constituted and run by a fund manager. Usually, though, almost every exchange traded fund limits its membership to what are known as institutional investors. This means large investors capable of buying and selling big blocks of stocks known as creation units. There are ways, though, for small investors to get in on the action through a trading system.

Think of ETFs as similar to corporate stocks, also, because of the way they are bought or sold or traded and you'll be well on the way to understanding the general principles that underlie these funds. Just about every one of these funds also tracks one of the major market indexes such as the S&P 500, so following trends or tracking trends can be one good way to set up a trading strategy.

There are more strategies out there that can probably be counted, though they usually fall into a couple of major categories; fundamental and technical. For those with the savvy, or patience, to sit down and learn technical strategies, the rewards can be quite lucrative. Most traders using technical indices believe they can discern patterns or shapes in a stock chart, basically.

For those with the ability to pick out shapes and patterns in market movements -- by analyzing a stock chart -- the possibility of good income is very real. These movements can signal upward and downward movement in markets that can be timed through technical analysis, with the correct buy and sell orders put in at the right times.

One of the most common of technical strategies that exists today is to utilize what professional and amateur traders call the "moving average cross." With it, traders look at short-term movements in the market -- or a stock or fund -- and then overlay that short-term movement on a long-term trendline. Usually, most short-term movements are from-- to 25 days in duration to create a moving average line.

After that moving average line has been created, most traders will superimpose that over an analysis of the short-term movements in an attempt to discern the actual movement the price of the stock or stock held in the ETF will take once it crosses the moving average line. Long-term trendline analysis, which is the second element, takes a 50 day moving average, which can damp the short-term trend.

In this manner, ETF traders can look at the long-term trends and create a moving support line. Usually, traders using this technical strategy will look at purchasing a stock as it begins its upward movement or once it goes back up after it has touched or slightly penetrated the 50 day moving average. Opposite, a trader could sell the stock short. Either way can work effectively. - 23305

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