A key component of technical analysis and perhaps one of the oldest indicators around, moving averages are time-tested and affective indicators. There are many types of moving averages with varying indicators, but the primary purpose of all types of moving averages remains the same. Their purpose is to reduce or remove noise from the daily price movements and attracted trends of stocks, commodities or any thing you can plot or chart.
Moving Averages: How Do We Use them?
Moving averages identify trends and trend reversals, give a measure of a commodities strength, and help you arrive at support and resistance levels. Essentially, moving averages are indicators with lag, which is to say that they do not identify new trends but are useful in trend following. One of the most useful ways in which you can use moving averages as buy or sell indicators, is to have three moving averages running at the same time on the same chart. The idea is to have a short, an intermediate and a longer term time frame. When the first two move upwards and cross above the longer term one, it indicates an uptrend and one can buy. The reverse happens if the first two move below the third...