Advance-Decline Line

The Advance-Decline Line is a market breadth indicator and should be compared to the other market indices like the Dow Jones or S&P 500. Daily or weekly NYSE data is used in the calculation. Because the Advance-Decline Line reflects the action of the general market, any divergences are watched closely by market technicians. As long as the Dow and the Advance-Decline Line are moving in the same direction the trend will continue. If the Dow makes a new high which is not confirmed by a high of the Advance-Decline Line, caution is warranted. Vice versa, if the Dow makes a new low and the Advance-Decline Line doesn't you should cover your short sales.

To calculate your own weekly Advance-Decline Line is very simple and you can begin your calculations at any time. Just pick a large enough base number like 100000. Then you calculate each week (or day) the difference between advances and declines by adding the advances and subtracting the declines. If you have 1269 advances and 1457 declines on your first week, the reading of your newly created weekly Advance-Decline Line would be 99812 (example below).

Dow Jones for comparison  |   S&P 500 for comparison  |  Main Menu   |  Updated charts are available on WallStreetCourier.com

Past performance does not guarantee future results!