How To Identify A Downtrend
🔹What Is a Downtrend?
A downtrend is a gradual reduction in the price or value of a stock or commodity, or the activity of a financial market. A downtrend can be contrasted with an uptrend. Downtrends are characterized by lower peaks and troughs and mimic changes in the perception of investors. A downtrend is fueled by a change in the supply of stocks investors want to sell compared with the demand for the stock by investors who want to buy. Downtrends are responses to changes that surround the security, whether macroeconomic or those associated with a company's business activity.
🔹Understanding and Identifying Downtrends
As much as it is important to look out for uptrends when trading, it is equally important to understand and identify downtrends. A trader may potentially save money if they decide to sell off a declining stock. If many traders decide to sell a stock at the same time, it will result in a sharp decline in the stock price. The stock market is sentiment-driven, and fear of a further decline may result in even further selloffs of a stock. Some traders that frequently day trade may decide to implement stop-loss orders to protect themselves against a downtrend. A stop-loss order placed with a broker helps a trader sell once the price of the security reaches a certain price. Downtrends can vary from a gradual continuation to a sharp decline. A sharp decline may occur as a result of news-related topics, such as a poor quarterly earnings report or loss of a lawsuit. A downtrend can be identified and understood through various forms of technical analysis. One simple area of technical analysis is the use of trendlines. Trendlines connect a series of high or low points. The reversal of a declining trendline signals an uptrend. Another simple area of technical analysis is the moving average technical indicator. The moving average takes the mean of prices over a period in the past. If the price of a stock tends to stay below the moving average, it signals that the price is on a downtrend.
🔹Trading on a Downtrend
Many traders look to profit from sell offs of a stock. While many traders will sell, taking the view that a price will decrease further in the future, some traders take the opposite view of hoping for a price increase. Downtrends may also lead to attractive valuation and present new opportunities for traders to purchase shares of stock. In another sense, downtrends allow traders to make money by short-selling stocks. In order to short a stock, a trader borrows shares and immediately sells them, in hopes that the price will fall. If the price of the stock goes down, then the individual will repurchase the shares back at the lower price and return the borrowed shares. The difference between the old price and the new price is the profit that a short-selling trader holds.
