Q: Check out the difference between the SOX chart Mitch uses to illustrate his article on that sector, and the regular P&F SOX chart!

Also, I've noticed that your sector P&F charts are often nearly useless compared with your stock or fund P&F charts. Why?!

A: Our P&F Charts are interactive. You have the power to change them to reflect whatever parameter you want. When they first appear, they are set to use so-called "Traditional" box sizing. While that box-sizing method works for stocks in the $20-$100 range, it often doesn't work well for indices where values can be well above 100 points. Mitch often changes the box size and reversal settings for indices he discusses.

Take Mitch's current article. Notice that on Mitch's $SOX chart we have "User-Defined" highlighted. You can change this yourself on any chart by clicking on "User-Defined" and moving the highlight from "Traditional" to "User-Defined". Next, notice that Mitch has selected a box-size of 20 and a reversal amount of 3. Once you've selected "User-Defined" you can use the sliders on the right side of the chart to set the box size and reversal amount to anything you want. Finally, notice that Mitch has selected a date range of 4 January thru 5 July. You can use the slider at the bottom of the chart to change the date range - simply drag the left (and optionally the right) edge of the slider to change the starting (and ending) dates.

For more information, check out our article on Using the Point and Figure Applet.

Hope this helps!
Chip Anderson

Q: I was looking at a chart and noted that the Chaikin Money Flow oscillator was negative. The price is still in an uptrend and the other indicators suggested likewise. Is this an example of a "false signal"?

A: Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) is not based on the price change from day to day, but rather on the level of the close relative to the high-low range for a given day (or week as may be the case). Although I don't see this often, CMF can diverge from the price, which makes it important to use other technical indicators as well. I would use CMF as a secondary indicator with a momentum indicator as the primary. For some stocks, such as GM, I don't even bother with CMF.

Cheers,
Arthur Hill