Feb
25

NYSE Common Stocks: More New Highs, Fewer New Lows

By on Friday, February 25th, 2011 at 12:53 am

S&P futures posted a third consecutive session with a lower high, low and close, but an expansion of new 52-week highs among NYSE common stocks along with a contraction in new 52-week lows suggests the market is putting in a bottom. I initially ran this test with standard NYSE 52wk highs/lows and the results were good but not great, but switching to the common stock-only database made a significant difference. I only have this data back to 2005, but since that time we’ve seen a distribution day for the S&P that coincided with more new highs and fewer new lows a total of 15 times…

S&P Futures Lower High, Low & Close, New 52wk Highs Increase, 52wk Lows Decrease (Common Stocks Only)
02/24/11… S&P futures ??? one week later
06/30/10… S&P futures +3.9% one week later
02/10/10… S&P futures +4.0% one week later
11/20/09… S&P futures +0.4% one week later
04/28/09… S&P futures +6.1% one week later
10/27/08… S&P futures +16.2% one week later
10/07/08… S&P futures -0.4% one week later
07/14/08… S&P futures +2.7% one week later
05/09/08… S&P futures +2.7% one week later
03/27/08… S&P futures +3.3% one week later
01/16/08… S&P futures -1.7%  one week later (*)
01/07/08… S&P futures -0.1% one week later
12/12/06… S&P futures +0.8% one week later
12/08/05… S&P futures +1.0% one week later
08/30/05… S&P futures +2.2% one week later
08/08/05… S&P futures +0.8% one week later

Note that only one instance led to a drop of more than 0.5% one week later, while the average gain was quite large at 3.7%.

If we further refine the study above by only looking at those instances when new 52-week highs were running ahead of new lows (like Thursday), the number of occurrences drops to 9 but every one led to a higher S&P one week later (average gain 2.4%)…

S&P Futures Lower High, Low & Close, New 52wk Highs Increase, 52wk Lows Decrease, New Highs > New Lows (Common Stocks Only)
02/24/11… S&P futures ??? one week later
02/10/10… S&P futures +4.0% one week later
11/20/09… S&P futures +0.4% one week later
04/28/09… S&P futures +6.1% one week later
05/09/08… S&P futures +2.7% one week later
03/27/08… S&P futures +3.3% one week later
12/12/06… S&P futures +0.8% one week later
12/08/05… S&P futures +1.0% one week later
08/30/05… S&P futures +2.2% one week later
08/08/05… S&P futures +0.8% one week later

Some are pointing to heightened risk from Mideast turmoil as a reason to stay sidelined this weekend, but from a technical perspective I see greater risk in missing the start of a strong rebound.

Copyright Notice

Copyright 2012 Astrikos LLC. This publication is for the benefit of subscribers only and is not to be summarized, reproduced, or rebroadcast in any fashion without our written permission.

Market Tells is on Twitter!


Disclaimer

Comments, data and trading signals herein are for informational purposes only and are not recommendations to buy or sell. All information presented is believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed.