How To Recognize Great Performing Stocks >>

How To Recognize Great Performing Stocks >>

Your guide to spot the double bottom chart pattern.

#2 in a Series of 5

How to Recognize Great Performing Stocks

In this 16-page booklet, you will continue your education on becoming a better investor and achieving financial freedom. Investor's Business Daily is designed to make sure you've got the right stocks on your radar. Chart reading is all about making sure you are buying those stocks at the right time.

You've heard the saying, "timing is everything." That's especially true in the stock market. Buying at the right time, is the first step in how you handle your stock. If you don't buy it right, chances are your holding and sell decisions won't be right either.

So, how do charts help you? By looking at the price and volume, you get insight into the psychology of investors. After careful study, you will find the same patterns appear over and over throughout time. In fact, our database has examples of stocks from the 1890s that formed patterns similar to those in the last few years. The reason for the similarity is simple, human nature rarely changes.

Although we focus on chart patterns in this series of pamphlets, remember it's only one part of the equation. You must also have strong fundamentals behind any stock you're thinking of buying... Stocks with significant percentage increases in their recent quarterly earnings per share and sales growth and a high return on equity. These strong fundamentals will usually be due to a new product or service, or an important change in industry conditions. The point is, you have to know a good deal about the company and its prospects before committing your money to it as an investment.

The Double Bottom Pattern

Old high

Buy point occurs when the stock clears the middle of the "W" on heavier than normal volume, usually at least a 50% increase above average.

30%

least

a t

o f

uptrend

Prior price Depth % -

The base correction tends to be more severe but still usually corrects no more than 40% from the peak (left side).

-

Second bottom should slightly undercut the first bottom.

Base Length - base should occur over at least 7 weeks, but can last longer.

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After the Cup-With-Handle, the second most common highly successful chart pattern is named the Double Bottom. It is easy to identify as it simply looks like the letter "W." The only difference is the second leg of the W should go a little lower than the first. This acts as a shakeout of weaker investors. The pivot, or buy point of the double bottom is just as the stock surpasses the middle of the "W" as it's coming up from its second bottom. In some cases, a double bottom may form a handle area, in which case the buy point will be 10 cents above the high of the handle, just like the cup-with-handle. You should use this pamphlet to get a solid idea of what past double bottom patterns looked like, so you can recognize this pattern in stocks during future market uptrends. It's also important to remember that 90% of the time these patterns form when the general market is in a correction, when you are least likely to be thinking of what your next investment should be. As always, you can see more educational examples in Investor's Corner in IBD. Plus, visit our web site, to view more samples in the education section and video examples in the Daily Stock Analysis. The chart on the next page gives you definitions of key features included in IBD chart examples. You can use it as an additional reference as you go through this booklet. We look forward to helping you become a more successful investor.

William J. O'Neil

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Novell Increased 373% in 61 Weeks

Double bottom description: Point A = beginning of base pattern Point B = bottom of first leg Point C = middle of "W" which sets the buy point Point D = bottom of second leg Point E = buy point

Weekly Chart S&P 500 correction

10-week moving average line

Thick black line means stock closed at a higher price than prior week's close

High

Close Low

Thin gray line means stock

closed at a lower price than Base formed during

prior week's close

market correction.

E

A C

B D

16-week double bottom Stock splits

200-day moving average line

Relative Price Strength Line vs. S&P 500. Uptrending line means stock is outperforming S&P 500.

All chart prices are adjusted for stock splits shown just above the weekly volume bars. So, the actual price of this stock at buy point E would have been $28 at the time, not $14.

Weekly volume bars

Average weekly volume line

Copyright ? 2008 Investor's Business Daily, Inc. All rights reserved

Delta Air Lines Increased 966% in 197 Weeks

Entire airline group became a market leading sector in early 1960s due to introduction of jets which reduced travel time. This was one of the first stocks making new price highs when the new bull market began after the Cuban Missile Crisis ended.

Market correction

Note 2nd bottom at point D undercuts 1st bottom at point B of the double bottom pattern but stock closes relatively unchanged for week on increased volume.

E Buy point

A Prior uptrend

C

3 weeks tight closing prices form the handle area.

BD

10-week double bottom with handle

Copyright ? 2008 Investor's Business Daily, Inc. All rights reserved

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