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THESE RESULTS ARE BASED ON SIMULATED OR HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE RESULTS THAT HAVE CERTAIN INHERENT LIMITATIONS. UNLIKE THE RESULTS SHOWN IN AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE RECORD, THESE RESULTS DO NOT
REPRESENT ACTUAL TRADING. ALSO, BECAUSE THESE TRADES HAVE NOT ACTUALLY BEEN EXECUTED, THESE RESULTS MAY HAVE UNDER-OR OVER-COMPENSATED FOR THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF CERTAIN MARKET FACTORS, SUCH AS
LACK OF LIQUIDITY. SIMULATED OR HYPOTHETICAL TRADING PROGRAMS IN GENERAL ARE ALSO SUBJECT TO THE FACT THAT THEY ARE DESIGNED WITH THE BENEFIT OF HINDSIGHT. NO REPRESENTATION IS BEING MADE THAT ANY
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ACCOUN WILL OR IS LIKELY TO ACHIEVE PROFITS OR LOSSES SIMILAR TO THESE BEING SHOWN. THE TESTIMONIAL MAY NOT BE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE EXPERIENCE OF OTHER CLIENTS AND THE TESTIMONIAL IS NO GUARANTEE
OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE OR SUCCESS. TECHNICAL ANALYSIS OF STOCKS & COMMODITIES LOGO AND AWARD ARE TRADEMARKS OF TECHNICAL ANALYSIS, INC.
Stocks & Commodities V15:8 (353-359): The TD Range Expansion Index (TD REI): by Thomas DeMark

NEW TECHNIQUES

The TD Range from years of research suggest that price comparisons other
than day to day generally produce better indicator perfor-
mance. This could be due to daily news events and other

Expansion short-term factors that tend to influence oscillator behavior,


often creating distortions and therefore invalid conclusions;
one day’s price movement does not necessarily establish a

Index (TD REI) price trend. Ideal overbought and oversold conditions are
often overlooked if you restrict the comparisons to daily
closing prices, rather than other price levels such as daily
highs or lows. Consequently, most of my techniques have the
following characteristics:

Here, the author of The New Science of Technical Analysis 1 Ignoring day-to-day closing price comparisons,
and the brand-new New Market Timing Techniques explains relying instead on intraday highs and lows.
how to use the TD REI and the TD Price Oscillator Qualifier. 2 Comparing the price activity every other trading day
instead of day to day reduces the impact of short-
term market factors that may temporarily influence
by Thomas DeMark price activity.
hroughout my 26-year career in 3 Applying simple arithmetic, as opposed to exponen-
the investment business, I have tial formulas, to arrive at indicator values.
studied and tested many widely
TD RANGE EXPANSION INDEX

T
followed market timing oscilla-
tors. Overall, I have questioned The TD REI, which will be fully detailed shortly, can be
their construction, ambiguous in- applied to market price activity in several different ways.
terpretation and discretionary ap- Some applications are obvious and similar to those com-
plication. Consequently, I have monly used by many market analysts. Other approaches that
developed my own series of indi- were at one time proprietary and that I am now making
cators, and to simplify their appli- available are applicable not only to my set of market timing
cation, I have assigned to them an objective interpretive oscillators, but also to other market timing indicators.
process. In The New Science of Technical Analysis I pre- However, I must caution you: Although the performance
sented the TD Range Expansion Index (TD REI), and now I results that appear in this article may create the impression
have improved upon it, as explained in my latest book, New that all market turns can be identified by following TD REI
Market Timing Techniques. Here, then, is a discussion of and TDPOQ, this is not the case. No market timing technique
salient TD REI components, as well as the trigger mechanism or indicator is infallible. Just about the time you become
referred to as the TD Price Oscillator Qualifier (TDPOQ). The convinced that one is, and you are comfortable with its
TDPOQ is critical to the proper application and execution of application and performance results, it will invariably fail.
the TD REI as well as many other widely followed over- Traders must realize that no technique, indicator or system is
bought/oversold oscillators. infallible. Stop-loss disciplines and money management tech-
niques are important determinants of trading success and
TO START should not be dismissed or minimized.
My frustration with most conventional overbought/oversold The TD REI construction may initially appear compli-
oscillators stems from the steps typically used to calculate cated, but it is much simpler to calculate and follow than most
them. Most often, the method for calculation requires not just other popular market timing oscillators. The TD REI is a ratio,
a comparison of two consecutive daily closing prices, but and the calculation is as follows:
also a series of daily indicator values calculated by using
exponential smoothing. Other than the fact that it has become • Compare the current trading day’s intraday high
market convention to perform these mathematical exercises with the intraday high two trading days earlier.
for most widely followed indicators, there seems to exist no
• If the current trading day’s high is greater than the
other reason to make such daily comparisons or complicated
high two trading days earlier, then a positive value is
calculations.
recorded; otherwise, record a negative value or zero
I am hard-pressed to demonstrate better results by apply-
if equal.
ing formulas that are exponentially derived as opposed to
being arithmetically derived. In addition, there is little to be • Compare the current trading day’s intraday low with
gained by just using closing price comparisons as opposed to the intraday low two trading days earlier.
other price relationships. In fact, the results I have produced

Copyright (c) Technical Analysis Inc.


Stocks & Commodities V15:8 (353-359): The TD Range Expansion Index (TD REI): by Thomas DeMark

• If the current trading day’s low


is greater than the low two trad-
ing days earlier, then a positive
value is produced; otherwise,
record a negative value or zero
if equal.
• These two differences are
summed whether both are
negative or positive, or one is
negative and the other is posi-
tive.
• Each day’s net value is added
over the entire period evalu-
ated, and the summation of this
daily series becomes the value
for the numerator portion.
• Next, calculate the absolute
value of the price difference
between the current trading
day’s high to the high two trad-
ing days earlier, and the abso-
lute value of the price differ-
ence between the current trad-
ing day’s low to the low two
trading days earlier.
• These daily values are added
together over the designated
period and the summation of
these values becomes the de-
nominator for the TD REI. Then
multiply the ratio by 100.

The TD REI value will fluctuate posi-


tive or negative and the range of
movement will vary from 100 to
-100. The concept of absolute value
is designed to measure price move-
ment from one price level to another,
and to ignore whether the price move-
ment is in a positive or negative
direction.
Research studies indicate that ap-
proximately 76-82% of the time,
markets operate within a trading
range. The identification of over-
bought/oversold indicator zones is
usually effective within this envi-
ronment. Of the 18-24% of the time
in which markets trend, typically,
12-16% of the time it is upside and 6-
8% of the time it is downside. The
disparity between these statistics is
likely to be attributable to the fact
MIKE CRESSY

that buying is a cumulative decision-


making process, psychologically re-

Copyright (c) Technical Analysis Inc.


Stocks & Commodities V15:8 (353-359): The TD Range Expansion Index (TD REI): by Thomas DeMark

inforced as prices move higher. However, selling generally stead of buying, a trader would be prudent to either withdraw
constitutes a one-time decision — if a trader does not like a from the market or sell short into the decline. Conversely,
currently held trading position, then usually he liquidates it there are times when markets are justifiably overbought, and
entirely. the prudent action would be to either forgo a trade or go long
Whereas in most trading range markets, oscillators work with the trend.
well, in a trending market, most oscillators suffer from a The difficulty is to distinguish between the various levels or
major deficiency, since they tend to move into overbought or degrees of overbought and oversold. To facilitate this distinc-
oversold states prematurely. TD REI has been designed to tion, I introduced the concept of TD Duration Analysis.
reduce the likelihood of this occurring. When comparing the
high and low every other trading day, at least one of the In most trading range markets,
following conditions must exist as well:
oscillators work well. But in a
A The current trading day’s high must be greater than or trending market, most oscillators
equal to the low of five or six days ago and the current suffer from a major deficiency, since
trading day’s low must be less than or equal to the high they tend to move into overbought or
of five or six trading days ago or
oversold states prematurely. TD REI
B The high of two trading days ago must be greater than has been designed to reduce the
or equal to the close of seven or eight trading days ago likelihood of this occurring.
and the low of two trading days ago must be less than or
equal to the close of seven or eight trading days ago.
Most traditional market analysts apply the concept of
For example, if the current day’s high was greater than the divergence analysis to identify possible market reversal points.
low of five days ago and the current day’s low was greater Price activity at potential price tops and bottoms is related to
than the high of five days ago, then the market is clearly in a oscillator values at comparable points in time for confirma-
strong trend. Condition A would not be met. Then, if the high tion. TD Duration Analysis ignores this comparison and
and low of two days ago were both higher than the close of instead concentrates solely on the amount of time an oscilla-
seven days ago, then condition B would not be met. Failure tor remains in the overbought or the oversold zone. Diver-
of both of these conditions indicate strength. gence analysis can be described as a reflection of the situation
These qualifiers serve to delay or postpone the oscillator from produced by extreme and subsequent mild overbought or
prematurely recording overbought or oversold readings in trend- oversold readings; divergence analysis is the symptom of a
ing market environments, thereby reducing the likelihood of condition and duration analysis is the cause.
selling prematurely into price blowoffs to the upside, or buying
prematurely into price blowouts to the downside. The price TD PRICE OSCILLATOR QUALIFIER
action must demonstrate that the trend is decelerating before a The prescription for fine-tuning low-risk buy or sell entry
trader may entertain thoughts of executing a trade. levels once a mild oversold or overbought TD REI reading is
When both these conditions are absent on a particular recorded is the TD Price Oscillator Qualifier (TDPOQ). To
trading day, the standard TD REI version assigns a value of identify whether a market is likely to advance or decline, the
zero to that day’s oscillator value, whereas the alternate TD following prerequisites must be fulfilled:
REI version assigns a value of zero to both that trading day’s
oscillator as well as the previous trading day’s value. For • For a low-risk buy entry, TD REI currently, or most
purposes of illustration, this entire discussion is devoted to recently, must have been in the oversold zone and not
the standard TD REI, since all oscillator readings reflect an the overbought area.
adjustment caused by allocating zero to only the current • In addition, TD Duration Analysis requires that the
trading day if the required price intersection fails to be amount of time in the oversold zone be less than six
present. trading days. Otherwise, any indication of an advance
Finally, the daily values are summed and averaged over a must be deferred until TD REI moves into the neutral
five–trading day period and the TD REI is plotted beneath the area and retreats once again into the oversold zone and
price action of the underlying security to facilitate price and records a modest oversold reading, thus remaining in
oscillator comparisons (see sidebar, “TD REI”). the oversold area for less than six trading days.
Trading experience indicates the market is oversold when
• Once that condition is met, the first trading day in
TD REI declines below -43 and is overbought when TD REI
which the market closes greater than the prior trading
advances above 43. My research suggests that most markets
day’s close is identified, and the intraday price high
present buying opportunities when TD REI is oversold and
recorded that trading day serves as a low-risk entry
selling opportunities when it is overbought. In some in-
reference level.
stances, however, markets are justifiably oversold and in-

Copyright (c) Technical Analysis Inc.


Stocks & Commodities V15:8 (353-359): The TD Range Expansion Index (TD REI): by Thomas DeMark

• TDPOQ, one variation of TD Trap from the TD series


of breakout patterns, requires both the open of the
next trading day be less than or equal to the previous C
uptrading day’s high and that day’s high be greater
B
than the upclose day’s high (Figure 1). A

Although there are exceptions, these price patterns


indicate market strength expressed by the upclose as well
as a degree of skepticism the following trading day, since
the open is less than the upclose day’s high. On the other
hand, if the open of the trading day after the upclose day
is greater than both the upclose day’s high and the prior
day’s high, the short-term urgency to buy as expressed by
the aggressive buying at the opening suggests the possibil-
ity of a short-term price high — not a buying opportunity.
For a low-risk sell entry, the conditions are reversed: FIGURE 1: TDPOQ BREAKOUT PATTERN. TDPOQ requires both the open of the
next trading day (A) be less than or equal to the previous uptrading day’s high (B)
and that day’s high be greater than the upclose day’s high (C).
• TD REI currently, or most recently, must have been
in the overbought zone and not the oversold area.
• In addition, TD Duration Analysis requires that the A
amount of time in overbought zone be less than six
trading days. Otherwise, any indication of a decline B C
must be deferred until TD REI moves into the neutral
area and advances once again into the overbought
zone and records a modest overbought reading, thus
remaining in overbought for less than six trading
days.
• Once that condition is met, the first trading day in
which the market closes less than the prior trading
day’s close is identified and serves as a low-risk
entry reference level.
• TDPOQ requires both the open of the next trading day
be both greater than or equal to the downclose day’s
low and that same trading day’s low be less than the FIGURE 2: BREAKOUT PATTERN. TDPOQ requires both the open of the next
trading day (A) be both greater than or equal to the downclose day’s low (B) and
downclose day’s low (Figure 2). that same trading day’s low (C) be less than the downclose day’s low.

Once again was the opening price of the trading day follow-
ing the downclose day less than either the downclose day’s for less than six trading days records a mild reading.
low or the prior day’s low. The short-term urgency to sell as Traders should avoid anticipating trend changes when
expressed by the aggressive selling at the opening implies the severe or extreme readings are recorded. By introducing a
possibility of a short-term low — again, not a selling oppor- count variable that appears on the chart, traders are made
tunity. aware of this condition; nevertheless, disqualified TDPOQ
trades appear to work, whether an extreme or mild over-
EXAMPLES bought or oversold reading exists.
The US Treasury bond chart seen in Figure 3 demonstrates Although a trader can often take advantage of overbought
the application and the interpretation of TD REI and TDPOQ. or oversold opportunities that occur over a shorter time
Alternating periods of overbought and oversold oscillator interval, there is a specified series of events that must unfold
readings are displayed and identified on the chart by solid sequentially to define and refine low-risk entry levels. The
horizontal lines positioned at levels -43 and 43. The instances asterisks on the chart coincide with those instances in which
in which the oscillator remains overbought or oversold for the following prerequisites are fulfilled:
more than six trading days can be classified as extreme are
identified on the chart with a TD Duration count of 6. Those 1 Five or fewer trading days in the oversold or over-
times in which the oscillator remains overbought or oversold bought zone have occurred.

Copyright (c) Technical Analysis Inc.


Stocks & Commodities V15:8 (353-359): The TD Range Expansion Index (TD REI): by Thomas DeMark

* *

- -
* -
-

* * -
* -
* *
-
*
* *
CQG FOR WINDOWS

FIGURE 3: T-BONDS. The US Treasury bond chart seen here demonstrates the FIGURE 4: IBM. Figure 4 illustrates a similar series of TD REI low-risk buy and sell
application and the interpretation of TD REI and TDPOQ. Alternating periods of indications. Asterisks and hyphens display more TD REI opportunities that either
overbought and oversold oscillator readings are displayed and identified on the fulfill TDPOQ (*) or fail to fulfill TDPOQ (-).
chart by solid horizontal lines positioned at levels -43 and 43. The instances in which
the oscillator remains overbought or oversold for more than six trading days can be
classified as extreme are identified on the chart with a TD Duration count of 6. Those
times in which the oscillator remains overbought or oversold for less than six trading
days records a mild reading.

2 TD REI has currently, or most recently, recorded same day exceeded the reference price level low. presenting
either: a mild oversold TD REI reading (below -43) a low-risk selling opportunity.
and subsequently an upclose for an upside move; or A few trading days later, TD REI moved into an oversold
conversely, both a mild overbought TD REI reading state and the first subsequent upclose occurred shortly after-
(above 43) and subsequently, a downclose for a ward. However, the opening price of the next trading day
downside move. exceeded the previous trading day’s intraday high (reference
3 A TD Trap breakout is either recorded by opening price as well as the prior day’s high), thereby failing to fulfill
within the previous trading day’s range (the upclose TDPOQ and disqualifying a low-risk entry at that time. In fact,
day) and exceeding that trading day’s high upside for a short-term overbought condition appeared shortly after the
an upside move or for a downside move, a TD Trap opening, since the open was above the reference day’s high
breakout is recorded by opening within the previous and price was under pressure all day. Additional asterisks and
trading day’s range (the downclose day) and typi- hyphens display more TD REI opportunities that either fulfill
cally exceeding that trading day’s low downside. TDPOQ (*) or fail to fulfill TDPOQ (-). If TD REI is either
oversold or overbought for more than five trading days, no
activity is presented; however, the failures (-) could have
Condition 1 conforms to TD Duration requirements and been displayed.
conditions 2 and 3 fulfill the specifications of TDPOQ. Those Figure 4 is the daily chart of IBM and illustrates a similar
instances in which TD Duration of five or fewer trading days series of TD REI low-risk buy and sell indications. In addi-
are fulfilled, but the opening price occurs above the reference tion, various potential TD REI low-risk opportunities failed to
day’s intraday high and the prior day’s high for an upside fulfill TDPOQ by not opening within the previous trading
move or below the reference day’s intraday low and the prior day’s price range and exceeding the high for an upside move
day’s low for a downside move are marked on the accompa- or the low for a downside move. The same series of codes —
nying charts with a hyphenated designation (-). asterisks and hyphens — serve to define the various opportunities.
Trading that day should fail to follow through in the
direction of the opening breakout, since the short-term price CONCLUSION
move is too aggressive. Exceptions to the latter proposition Other qualifiers can be introduced to perfect this process,
do exist but will not be discussed within the boundaries of such as expanding or contracting the oversold and over-
this article. bought oscillator band, allowing more than one opportunity
As you can see in Figure 3, TD REI was mildly overbought (additional up- or downcloses) to reset entry possibilities,
in December 1996. After making the price high, the follow- applying the alternate TD REI calculation when intersection
ing trading day’s closing price was less than the prior trading fails to appear, and making three- or four-day TD REI com-
day’s close. The next trading day’s opening price was above parisons rather than two-day comparisons.
the downclose day’s low (reference price) and the low that As you can readily observe by reviewing these charts, TD

Copyright (c) Technical Analysis Inc.


Stocks & Commodities V15:8 (353-359): The TD Range Expansion Index (TD REI): by Thomas DeMark

THE TD REI (THE TD RANGE EXPANSION INDEX)


The TD Range Expansion Index (TD REI) is an oscillator cell H11, enter the following formula and copy down:
that uses unique steps in the calculation. The basis of the
oscillator is a comparison of every other trading day’s =AND(OR(C11>D6,C11=D6,C11>D5,C11=D5),
intraday highs and lows to remove any one day’s random (OR(D11<C6,D11=C6,D11<C5,D11=C5)))
impact. In addition, there is an additional set of comparisons
to reduce the likelihood of the oscillator reaching an over- The second test compares the trading bar two days ago to
bought or oversold state prematurely when the market is the trading bars seven or eight trading days ago. The high
trending. There are seven steps to calculating the TD REI, two trading days ago must be greater than or equal to the
which are detailed below for an Excel spreadsheet (Figure close seven or eight trading days ago and the low two
1). The TD REI calculations are shown as applied to daily trading days ago must be less than or equal to the close
data for IBM beginning with January 2, 1997. seven or eight trading days ago. A true statement will be
The first five columns are date, open, high, low and close. returned if these criteria are met. In cell I11, enter the
The first set of instructions will begin on row 11, due to the following formula and copy down:
lookback periods employed in the calculation. The first
step, column F, calculates the difference between today’s =AND(OR(C9>E4,C9=E4,C9>E3,C9=E3),
high and the high two days ago. Enter into cell F11 the (OR(D9<E4,D9=E4,D9<E3,D9=E3)))
following formula and copy down:
If either of the above qualifications are true, the differ-
=C11-C9 ence between the current day’s high and the high two
trading days ago is added to the difference between the low
Column G calculates the difference between today’s low today and the low two trading days ago. If both of the
and the low two days ago. Enter into cell G11 the following statements are false, indicating that the market is not over-
formula and copy down: lapping the trading bars and is trending, then that requires
the recording of a zero. This step is calculated in column J.
=D11-D9 This column is also the one day’s value for the numerator
portion of the formula. In cell J11, enter the following
Next, the test for price overlap or intersection is per- formula and copy down:
formed. This test checks for the current bar’s relationship to
the trading bars five or six trading days ago. The current =IF(OR(H11=TRUE,I11=TRUE),(F11+G11),0)
day’s high must be greater than or equal to the low five or
six trading days earlier and the current day’s low must be The one day’s value for the denominator is the absolute
less than or equal to the high five or six trading days ago. A value of the difference between today’s high and the high
true statement will be returned if these criteria are met. In two trading days ago and the absolute value of difference
between the low today and the low two
trading days ago. Enter into cell K11 the
following formula and copy down:

=ABS(F11)+ABS(G11)

Finally, the five-day TD REI is the


ratio of the sum of the last five days of
column J divided by the sum of the last
five days of columns J and K. This ratio
is then multiplied by 100 for scaling
purposes. Enter the following formula
into cell L11 and copy down:

=100*(SUM(J7:J11)/SUM(K7:K11))

You can also choose other lookback


periods for each of the calculations.
SIDEBAR FIGURE 1: IBM AND TD REI. After the differences are calculated in columns F and G, columns —Thom Hartle, Editor
H and I check for overlapping bars.

Copyright (c) Technical Analysis Inc.


Stocks & Commodities V15:8 (353-359): The TD Range Expansion Index (TD REI): by Thomas DeMark

REI and TDPOQ do not speak often, but when they do, it pays Tom DeMark is author of The New Science of Technical
to listen. Not only does TD REI introduce numerous poten- Analysis, as well as New Market Timing Techniques. TD
tial trading opportunities, but many times, the rigorous Range Expansion Index (TD REI), TDPOQ, TD Duration
requirements of TDPOQ will serve to prevent premature Analysis, and TD Trap are registered trademarks.
entry into a market as well as maintain a trader’s commit-
ment to a prevailing market trend. The highlight of applying REFERENCES
this disciplined approach is its ability to eliminate or at least DeMark, Thomas R. [1997]. New Market Timing Tech-
reduce the trader’s tendency to be subjective or discretion- niques, John Wiley & Sons.
ary when applying conventional market timing oscillators _____ [1994]. The New Science of Technical Analysis, John
to market price behavior. Wiley & Sons.
†See Traders’ Glossary for definition S&C

Copyright (c) Technical Analysis Inc.


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