|  APR 1990

A new indicator for the S&P stock index futures by Daniel E. Downing

A new indicator for the S&P stock index futures by Daniel E. Downing Little is new in the field of technical analysis. Even with a staff of seven analysts, my firm can take credit for developing only three entirely new technical tools for the markets. We spend most of our time rearranging existing technical indicators into new combinations. It is a ""new"" combination of ""old"" indicators that has proved to be a reliable indicator during the last six months for determining the intermediate-term trend for the Standard & Poor's stock index futures. For my purposes here, the intermediate-term trend refers to a period of four to six weeks. The indicator, which is called the negative volume index, is constructed thus. First, determine whether the S&P future was up or down for the day. (Unchanged days we ignore.) When the future has a higher close than the previous day, measure from the absolute low of the day being examined to the close of the day. This first measurement is used in several types of technical analysis.

by Daniel E. Downing