Short term trading can be done profitably, but it does require a commitment of time and effort not only to learn how, but to monitor your watch list while waiting for a buying opportunity and of course, monitoring your portfolio once you execute a buy. It has been my experiance that the rewards come in lumps, so anyone that is interested must also have the wherewithal to survive thru the lean times.
My experiances have shown me that moving averages are an excellant tool to use when analyzing an index to get a feel for the movement of the greater market. For more specific buy and sell signals I prefer to use trend lines, support/resistance lines, and chart patterns to signal the specific point at which a buy or sell may be wise. Moving averages just are not specific enough to give a reliable short term signal. Moving averages can be used succesfully by a buy to hold investor that simply wants to know if they are operating in a bear or bull market or if a particular sector is in or out of favor.
jmho
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