I receive some useful trading tips from Stockscores, I will only post the ones I feel are truly important and helpful.

This one is an easy way to determine market trend - right now as we know, is extremely BULLISH. When you are certain the buyers are in control - it should be much easier to ride the price fluctuations...I think we are all in pretty good shape, hopefully you all still have your shares....here is to a better week ahead.

GS40

A simple trading rule is to only buy in a bull market and only short in a bear market. The overall market direction is the most important factor in determining how a stock will move. Yes, a stock can go against the overall market trend just as a person can paddle a canoe against a rivers current. However, it is certainly easier to go with the market trend.

For that reason, every trader should, at least weekly, do an overall index analysis to determine who is in control of the market. The answer to this question will determine the strategy to be applied in the search for trading opportunities in individual stocks.

I like to look at the major North American indexes through the ETFs that represent them.

Dow Jones Industrial Average - DIA
Nasdaq 100 - QQQQ
S&P 500 - SPY
TSX 60 - T.XIU

It is also helpful to consider the subindexes to see what areas are leading or lagging the overall market:

For the US
Consumer Discretionary - XLY
Consumer Staples - XLP
Energy - XLE
Financial - XLF
Health Care - XLV
Industrials - XLI
Materials - XLB
Technology - XLK
Utilities - XLU

For Canada
Energy - T.XEG
Gold - T.XGD
Financial - T.XFN
Materials - T.XMA
Real Estate - T.XRE
Income Trusts - T.XTR
Technology - T.XIT

Use the Stockscores Watchlist Creator to build a group of these sectors so that you can go through their charts quickly with the Gallery Viewer.

You should attempt to answer a simple question, Who is in control, buyers or sellers
This is determined by whether there are rising bottoms on the chart or falling tops. A chart of the Financials (XLF or T.XFN) quickly shows that the buyers are in control. Until that changes, only buy orders should be placed on this group of stocks.

If you go through all of the groups listed above you will find that they are all in buyer control right now. We are in a bull market.

That will change eventually but a common mistake is for traders to be too aggressive in picking a trend reversal. It is important to be patient and wait for a break of the long term trend line. Look at a two year chart to help you see that better.

Realize that you may still be wrong when gauging the overall market trend. The markets broke their upward trend lines back in early July, indicating that it was time to go short. However, that negative single was ultimately reversed a week later when the upward trend resumed.

For this reason, traders need to have a risk management plan for all of their trades. You will be wrong some of the time; be ready to admit it and get out of a losing trade when the market tells you so.

You will find it easier to make money as the trend line gets steeper. It has been pretty easy trading over the past six months and an inspection of a five year chart of the S&P 500 shows that the upward trend over that time has been steeper than normal.

There is a tendency for traders to try and argue with the market, to look to short stocks when they are climbing higher because it seems to make little sense that they can continue to go up. Remember, however, that the market has traded without an apparent base in logic many times. Never ever argue with the market, it will crush you.