When it comes to security price momentum, many people will look at the general trend of a security without fully understanding the technical basis of the term. What Momentum really tells us, however, is whether the trend will continue or reverse. Without technical analysis and events like Momentum, many investors would buy high and sell low.

Understanding Momentum In some ways, Momentum is very similar to the MACD oscillator as it measures how much change a security’s price has seen over a predetermined period of time. Understanding how technical analysis works on an unbiased, statistical level as well as using Momentum will allow investors to determine whether a systemic change in price is part of the normal up-and-down of the market, or if it is instead a strong bearish or bullish signal. Essentially, Momentum tells us whether a given price trend will continue or reverse.

Put another way, Momentum gives investors insight into the underlying price trend. When using technical analysis tools in this manner, investors should be able to better identify whether a particular security is overbought or oversold and make changes to their positions accordingly. Decisions like these are impossible to make when based entirely on security prices.

Calculating Momentum One of the downfalls with technical analysis is that there is a heavy mathematical component to many of the events. While this not entirely true for Momentum, investors will need to understand the basic formula required to obtain a Momentum reading. Simply, Momentum is calculated by dividing the Closing Price by the Closing price ten periods ago, and multiplying it by 100. [Close/(Close 10 time-periods ago) * 100].

Using Momentum To Make Trade Decisions For help deciding on a Momentum-based trade, the investor must simply determine whether the Momentum value is greater than or less than zero. For amounts higher than zero, the a bullish signal is triggered and for amounts less than zero, a bearish signal is triggered. As a caveat, investors also need to understand that progressively higher low values might suggest a continuation of an existing trend and not a reversal. In most instances, investors should only execute a trade if the price itself turns around (e.g. on a sell, don’t sell based on Momentum, but sell when the price begins to fall).

As with most technical analysis, investors should never base entry or exit points solely on Momentum. In many cases, Momentum can serve as confirmation of other technical events or even underlying security fundamentals.

Since Momentum and many other events triggered by technical analysis rely heavily on mathematical calculations, trading software is recommended for the individual investor. Such software can monitor many different technical trends and some of the more advanced system will make buy and sell recommendations.