I'm a visual person, so I've always liked charts... But back in the late 1960s, my branch manager at Shearson, Hamill wouldn't let us have them on our desks.

Editor's note: The Power Gauge didn't just appear out of thin air... Chaikin Analytics founder Marc Chaikin came out of retirement to create it in 2011. And he continues to fine-tune our proprietary system to this day. Plus, as you'll see today, the idea behind the Power Gauge was decades in the making... This essay first appeared in the Chaikin PowerFeed on February 15, 2022. In it, Marc explains that one key piece of the Power Gauge goes back to his early days in the industry... The Thing I Was Banned From Made Me Famous By Marc Chaikin, founder, Chaikin Analytics I'm a visual person, so I've always liked charts... But back in the late 1960s, my branch manager at Shearson, Hamill wouldn't let us have them on our desks. You see, investment-banking clients would come through our area. And he didn't want anyone outside the firm thinking we relied on charts – or the "technicals" – in our analysis. It's crazy to think about now. But that was the reality of the investment world I grew up in. Despite that, I learned quickly that I needed charts and technicals to do my job as a broker on Wall Street. I knew that combining those tools with fundamental analysis would be the key to long-term success in the investment business. And now, more than five decades later, the thing I was banned from using at my first Wall Street job is one of the foundational categories of the Power Gauge system... Recommended Links: Something extraordinary just happened, and we're celebrating... Even in this topsy-turvy market, Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig's readers have had the opportunity to accumulate a string of 184 straight wins in the last 3.5 years – along with a 94% total win rate over more than 13 years. This week, he's celebrating with a holiday "gift" for you: ALL the details of his No. 1 favorite strategy of all time... a $2,500 bonus... a special, expanded credit policy... and the cheapest offer in 13 years. This could set you up for the best year of your investing life in 2024. But you must click here THIS WEEK. Regime Change at Federal Reserve? The Fed just began the rollout of a new technology that'll "shake the U.S. financial system." It'll likely go down in history as the biggest change to money since Western Union launched its "lightning lines" in the early days of the telegraph. Here's everything you need to know (including three steps to take to profit). Since those early days, I've spent a lot of time building tools (like technical aids) to help investors know when to buy and sell stocks. Of course, these tools include quantitative approaches to figure out which companies are in strong positions (and which aren't). In short, the Power Gauge is the culmination of my life's work... Regular PowerFeed readers know the Power Gauge is a model that looks at 20 different factors behind every stock. This system allows us to read any stock in the market and learn instantly if we should invest or if we should walk away. Almost no one used one specific group of these factors when I started on Wall Street in the 1960s – the technicals. They're a lot more common these days. But you still need to know how to use them. The following graphic shows the five factors in the Power Gauge's Technicals category... The first Technicals factor is one of the most important we track overall... It's called the Chaikin Money Flow. I developed this proprietary factor many years ago. And today, it's a built-in feature in the world-famous Bloomberg Terminal. In short, it measures the buying and selling pressures in the market. Specifically, the Chaikin Money Flow looks at how a stock has traded over the past four weeks. When a stock consistently closes above the midpoint of that day's trading range, it's a positive sign. The Chaikin Money Flow builds a calculation from -1 to 1 for each day. We want to see the number above zero. When it's in that range, that's a positive sign for the stock. The second factor in the Technicals category is "price trend versus rate of change ('ROC')." When a stock gets too far ahead of its long-term trend, just like a pendulum, it tends to swing back for a bit. So this factor helps us zero in on the right time to buy a stock. The third Technicals factor is "volume trend." It's our way of comparing the recent volume of trading with longer volume trends. Specifically, we want to see recent volume increasing compared with history. That tells us prices are moving higher in a healthy way, with more activity in the stock. The fourth factor in this category is "price strength." This factor compares a stock's price with its average price over the past nine months. We call this long-term average the Chaikin Trend. The further a stock trades above its long-term trend, the better – up to a point. That's why we also look at the price trend ROC. These two factors essentially work together. Finally, the fifth factor in the Technicals category is "relative strength versus the market." This factor shows how a company is performing compared with the overall stock market. Before you invest in a company, it's good to see its stock price moving higher. It's also good to see shares outperforming the overall market. For example, if the broader market were up 10%, seeing a specific company up 20% over the same period would represent noteworthy outperformance. That kind of outperformance is a strong Technicals factor. And it's one thing I look for before investing.  In the end, these five factors paint the technical picture for a company. They're crucial for timing investments. It still amazes me that Wall Street didn't even want to acknowledge this style of analysis when I started out in the late 1960s. But here we are, more than 50 years later, and technical analysis is a foundational part of finance. What's more, the thing I was banned from using is forever attached to my name through the Chaikin Money Flow. And today, the technicals are a key part of investing success. Good investing, Marc Chaikin Market View Major Indexes and Notable Sectors     # Hld:     Bullish     Neutral     Bearish Dow 30 +0.320% 11 18 1 S&P 500 +0.180% 164 277 56 Nasdaq +0.200% 44 47 7 Small Caps +0.300% 781 943 199 Bonds +1.770% — According to the Chaikin Power Bar, Small Cap stocks and Large Cap stocks remain Bullish. Major indexes are mixed. *  *  *  * Sector Tracker Sector movement over the last 5 days Real Estate +2.57% Materials +2.41% Industrials +2.39% Health Care +2.38% Staples +2.37% Financial +1.84% Information Technology +1.67% Discretionary +1.55% Communication +1.40% Energy +1.10% Utilities +1.06% *  *  *  * Industry Focus Regional Banking Services 115 23 0 Over the past 6 months, the Regional Banking subsector (KRE) has outperformed the S&P 500 by +22.54%. Its Power Bar ratio, which measures future potential, is Very Strong, with more Bullish than Bearish stocks. It is currently ranked #1 of 21 subsectors. Top Stocks OSBC Old Second Bancorp, THFF First Financial Corp IBCP Independent Bank Cor *  *  *  * Top Movers Gainers MRNA +3.49% REGN +2.92% KMX +2.39% UBER +2.10% LLY +1.90% Losers ALB -2.02% ABNB -1.56% MPC -1.45% JKHY -1.40% ENPH -1.25% *  *  *  * Earnings Report Reporting Today Rating Before Open After Close No earnings reporting today. Earnings Surprises No significant Earnings Surprises in the Russell 3000. *  *  *  * You have received this e-mail as part of your subscription to PowerFeed. If you no longer want to receive e-mails from PowerFeed, click here. You're receiving this e-mail at edwardlorilla1986.paxforex@blogger.com. For questions about your account or to speak with customer service, call +1 (877) 697-6783 (U.S.), 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Eastern time or e-mail info@chaikinanalytics.com. 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