As of 12/20/2024
Indus: 42,840 +498.02 +1.2%
Trans: 15,892 +32.54 +0.2%
Utils: 986 +14.76 +1.5%
Nasdaq: 19,573 +199.83 +1.0%
S&P 500: 5,931 +63.77 +1.1%
|
YTD
+13.7%
0.0%
+11.9%
+30.4%
+24.3%
|
 44,200 or 41,750 by 01/01/2025 16,100 or 17,700 by 01/01/20251,050 or 975 by 01/01/202520,500 or 19,300 by 01/01/20256,100 or 5,775 by 01/01/2025 |
As of 12/20/2024
Indus: 42,840 +498.02 +1.2%
Trans: 15,892 +32.54 +0.2%
Utils: 986 +14.76 +1.5%
Nasdaq: 19,573 +199.83 +1.0%
S&P 500: 5,931 +63.77 +1.1%
|
YTD
+13.7%
0.0%
+11.9%
+30.4%
+24.3%
| |
|
44,200 or 41,750 by 01/01/202516,100 or 17,700 by 01/01/20251,050 or 975 by 01/01/202520,500 or 19,300 by 01/01/20256,100 or 5,775 by 01/01/2025 | ||
This article discusses noise in stocks and ETFs, how to detect it, what it means, and how it can help swing traders.
Tests show that noise occurs about 47% of the time in nearly 600 stocks, and 40% of the time in 100 exchange traded funds (ETFs). The lower noise in ETFs may be due to frequent gapping, forcing price bars "clear" of any congestion region and appearing to trend more often.
Stocks and ETFs with low noise trend the most, suggesting that they represent the best trading vehicles for swing traders.
Just because a stock or ETF has low noise does not mean it trends upward or downward consistently. Frequently, you see tall swings up and down in straight-line runs.
I also found the following to be true.
Ron Black wrote an article in Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities magazine, October 2010 titled, "Using Noise." In an earlier article (September 2010, "Getting clear with short-term swings") he discussed his "Clear Method" to determine when a short-term trend changes. In the October article, he uses the Clear Method to detect noise.
The Clear Method uses the lowest high and highest low to determine when two price bars do not overlap. When they no longer overlap, they are "clear" of one another, and the trend changes from up to down, or down to up.
It's easiest to understand the Clear Method using an example. The figure above shows price moving lower in a downtrend. It bottoms in the middle of the left panel, but what's key is the high on that day. That high price is below the prior highs that formed the downtrend. It's the lowest high.
When price climbs enough so that the low is above the lowest high, then the trend has changed from down to up. In other words, the highest low is above (clears) the lowest high. I show that with a green line.
The right panel is similar only it applies to up trends. When the lowest high clears the highest low, the trend is said to change from up to down. Again, the green line shows this.
The "Clear Method" is used to determine when noise occurs. If, in an uptrend, price makes higher lows, it is trending upward. When it stops making higher lows and before a "clear" trend change occurs, noise takes the place of the trend.
In a downtrend, price makes lower highs. When that stops happening and before a trend change from down to up occurs, noise sets in.
In the above figure, the three bars on each panel with a green line drawn through them are the noise bars. I show them in magenta.
On the left panel, the three magenta bars have highs above the clear bar, but they are not yet clear of the lowest high, so they are noise. When the highest low happens, the trend changes from down to up and noise ends.
On the right panel, the three magenta bars have lower lows than the clear bar, but they are not clear of the lowest high. They are noise bars. When the lowest high occurs, a new trend begins and noise ends.
I tested the Clear Method as if each clear bar was a buy or sell signal following these guidelines.
For the noise test, I used the following.
Ron Black did not claim that his Clear Method could be used as a stand-alone trading system. However, I tested it anyway. The following table shows the results for the Clear Method.
| Description | Average Gain/Loss | Average Max Drawdown | Average Max Hold Time Loss | Win/Loss | Average Hold Time | S&P 500 Index |
| 88 long ETFs, daily | -0.2% | 2.6% | 2.8% | 39% | 10 | -1.9% |
| 554 stocks, daily | -0.1% | 4.6% | 4.6% | 37% | 13 | -1.8% |
| 554 stocks, weekly | 1.6% | 10.4% | 10.1% | 40% | 69 | -2.1% |
| 88 long ETFs, weekly | 2.0% | 6.6% | 6.7% | 46% | 73 | -1.5% |
| Short Sales Below | ||||||
| 554 stocks, weekly | -1.1% | 32% | 55 | -1.8% | ||
| 554 stocks, daily | -0.3% | 35% | 11 | -1.6% | ||
| 88 long ETFs, daily | -0.2% | 36% | 8 | -1.6% | ||
| 88 long ETFs, weekly | -0.1% | 30% | 49 | -2.2% | ||
Notes:
The Clear Method works best on the weekly scale. The win/loss ratio is 46% for ETFs and 40% for stocks. Tests on daily data show ETFs winning 39% of the time and stocks winning 37% of the time (long trades only). Short sales win less often, 36% for ETFs and 35% for stocks, both using the daily scale.
The average gain for long only trades is best on the weekly scale: 1.6% per trade for stocks and 2.0% for ETFs. None of the short positions (daily or weekly, stocks or ETFs) were profitable. The table shows the drawdown and hold time loss except for short sales, which were not calculated.
The following table shows how often noise occurs in stocks and ETFs.
| Noise | Stocks | ETFs |
| Daily data | 47% | 40% |
| Weekly data | 48% | 45% |
ETFs have less noise than stocks, but that could be due to excessive gaps that occur in many ETFs. Price bars that gap have a tendency to "clear" sooner than those that do not gap.
Additional tests splitting the duration into bull and bear markets shows that:
-- Thomas Bulkowski
Support this site! Clicking any of the books (below) takes you to
Amazon.com If you buy ANYTHING while there, they pay for the referral.
Legal notice for paid links: "As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases."
|
My Stock Market Books
|
My Novels
|
Youth is when you blame all your troubles on your parents. Maturity is when you learn that everything is the fault of the younger generation.
on