Profiting from Market Trends: Simple Tools and Techniques for Mastering Trend Analysis

CHAPTER 11

Current Bull Market—Case Study

This chapter provides in-depth analysis of the most recent bull market that began in March 2009, and is still in force at the time of this writing. This may be the most extensive market review you'll ever experience in one sitting. But I sure wish someone had taken me through such an exercise very early in my trading career—it would have shaved a lot of time off my learning curve.

Reviewing this detailed case study is a very important exercise. All of the concepts described in the prior chapters will be put to work here. You'll take a walk with me through the up, down, and sideways movements that have occurred on the chart of the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the past few years, looking at those technical events through my eyes.

All of the specific intermediate-length uptrends and corrections that have occurred during this bull market will be dissected using the daily chart. It should actually start to feel fairly repetitive by the time you reach the last page. If so, that tells me you are absorbing the concepts and can move on to analyze market trends on your own with confidence.

After completing this review, I strongly encourage you to continue the analysis on your own as this bull market goes on to complete its life cycle, and eventually gives way to another bear market. After reviewing this chapter, for additional practice I suggest using your charting platform to perform your own analysis of the current bull market on other indices, ...