Q: I'm trying to find a chart that shows the 50-Day and 200-Day Moving Average Spread -- the percent above or below the moving average. The horizontal line (x axis?) is set at zero and the vertical line measures the percent above or below the moving average. The last time I had access to this charting was with a Bloomberg terminal.

This is particularly useful in measuring market extremes; recently the Nasdaq was at about 19% below its 50-day MA, an extreme that was way out of line with historical trading levels and signaled that an oversold bounce was near.

A: Yes, there is a way to plot this indicator. The Percentage Price Oscillator (PPO), which measures the percentage difference between two moving averages, can be modified to perform this function. The PPO is similar to MACD, and the typical settings are 12,26,9. To see the percentage difference between the Nasdaq and its 50-day or 200-day moving average, set the PPO to 1,50,1 or 1,200,1 : The first 1 would be a 1-day moving average of the Nasdaq, which would just be the current closing price ; 50 would be the 50-day moving average of the Nasdaq ; 1 would be a 1-day moving average of the percentage difference between the Nasdaq and 50-day moving average. The last 1 is a moving average of the actual indicator and can be adjusted to use as a trigger line -- crosses above and below generating signals. See the chart below of the Nasdaq with PPO(1,50,1) and PPO(1,200,1).

(Current Chart for $COMPQ)

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A: We have a variety of programs to allow you to do this, for free if you qualify, or for pay. The details of our Affiliate Program have been recently updated.

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Chip Anderson

Q: What happened to the sine wave depicting the economic cycle?
Q: In the old version of StockCharts you had a Sector bar chart. Where do I find that chart now?

A: You can find the bar chart, and Chip's Sector Rotation model, on the AMEX Sector SPDRs Perf Chart page. You can get to it either by clicking on the PerfChart link in the left nav of the homepage and then on the AMEX Sector SPDR link, or you could bookmark the page.

Hope this helps!
Anita Rowland