Tech Mahindra Wins Satyam Bid

Tech Mahindra today won the bid for a 31% stake in Satyam Computers. It is estimated that the Tech Mahindra will pay Rs.1757 crores for the 31% stake. L&T was the other major which had participated in the bidding process. Spice Corp and Cognizant Technologies did not participate in the bid while the participation of private equity major Wilbur Ross could not be ascertained. Tech Mahindra won the bid by bidding at Rs.58 per share, a 23% premium to the last closing price of Satyam. Prof. JR Varma, in his blog, said that the acquisition was hugely beneficial to Tech Mahindra but detrimental to the interests of the Satyam shareholders.

As far as the markets are concerned, one must wait for a fall before buying, cautions Devina Mehra of First Global. Mr. Jitendra Sriram, Vice President and Fund Manager - Equities at HSBC, feels that there seem to be more chances of the market coming down than going up. He says that the corporate results will set the course of the markets and that the burden of expectations in stocks may lead to a pullback.

I have talked a lot about dojis in my previous blog posts and this article clarifies the use of a doji as a reversal signal.

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Global Meltdown 'Melts' Nifty

It’s the scenario of a global meltdown today. It’s like a ship, much bigger than Titanic, which is as big as the whole world, and it is going under. Everything seems to be sinking. Let’s have a quick look at the world markets. The Nifty closed with a loss of 215 points for the day while the BSE Sensex tanked 724 points. Asian markets were down quite a bit today (Monday) with the Japanese Nikkei shaving off 4.25%, Hang Seng 4.97%, Chinese markets losing 5.23%, Singapore Straits 5.6% and Jakarta leading the pack with a loss of 10.03%. The situation in the European markets was no better with the London FTSE losing 5.77%, German DAX losing 7.07% while the French CAC lost 9.04%. As far as America is concerned, at the time of writing, Dow Jones was trading 559 points in the red (5.41%), the Nasdaq was losing 139 points (7.13%) while the S&P500 had lost 71 points or 6.43%. On the commodities front, Crude was losing 4.92% today, copper 7.62%, most agricultural commodities losing 6-7% while Gold being the ‘safe haven’ for investors was up 4.13%.

As far as the technical analysis of our charts is concerned, there seems to be no hope for the Nifty, even though there was some good news for the Indian markets. The 40% cap enforced by SEBI in Oct 2007 on Assets Under Custody through Participatory Notes (P-Notes) has now been done away with. So, now there is no restriction on P-Notes. Moreover, the RBI has slashed the CRR by 50 basis points. Both these decisions have been taken with a view to increase increase liquidity in the markets. But one wonders how much will this help when the Nifty has broken the major support level of 3800 and is even below the next support of 3640.

Seen above is the weekly chart of the Nifty showing the movement in the last two years. The portion of the chart from Mar 2007 to May 2008 has been marked with a bearish head and shoulders pattern with the neckline as shown by the green dashed line. The target for this head and shoulders pattern is 2600. It seems that the Nifty today has confirmed another, and larger, head and shoulders pattern formed between June 2007 and today. The neckline for this pattern has been shown as the solid green line. The target for this new pattern is half of the last pattern which roughly works out close to 1300 levels on the Nifty. Though, nothing is ever certain with the markets, I can say with reasonable certainty, and accuracy, that this target would not be achieved. And I sincerely hope, for the good of the nation and so many investors, that the markets do not prove me wrong here. Shown in the bottom portion of the chart is the Relative Strength Index (RSI), which continues on its way down and is not even showing a divergence, which might give us some glimmer of hope.

Some immediate support levels for the Nifty are at 3554 (minor), 3130 (reasonable) and 2600 (strong). The Nifty may go on to achieve one of these levels or can find support somewhere in between. Let us hope that this support level comes as soon as possible. But, if things do not change very soon, I’m afraid to say that we’re going to have a lousy Diwali.

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Short Term Bullishness, Intermediate Term Bullishness

After the US bailout package was defeated in the House of Representatives on Sep 29 228-205, the Senate approved the same last night with a thumping majority 74-25, says Bloomberg. The package would be sent to the ‘House’ again Friday afternoon for reconsideration. Many republicans who voted against the package last time may reconsider and switch their votes in favour of the bailout package. Despite the Senate’s approval US stocks remain down today with the Dow Jones trading with a loss of 330 points. European markets also remained weak losing between 2 and 3%. Gold has lost a few dollars while crude has slipped to $94 a barrel. The only thing that remains strong in this kind of a market is the dollar, and who can forget our very own Nifty.

Seen above is the daily chart of Nifty. Just like it was seen a few days back, the Nifty again displayed long lower shadows on its candles, which happens to be a short term bullish sign. The 5,3 stochastics oscillator, too, slowed down by 3 days has given a buy signal. The Nifty seems all set for a short rise from here. Possible resistance levels for this short spurt seem to be near the two green trendlines drawn. For tomorrow, one of the resistances lies near 4043 and the other lies at 4075. The Nifty, on Wednesday, after touching a high of 4000.50 dropped and finally closed at 3950.75.

Well, the Nifty is displaying short term bullishness, as the charts suggests, but also, as is evident from the charts, we still happen to be in an intermediate term downtrend with the Nifty clearly showing a pattern of lower highs and lower lows since early August. Now, which of these trends will prevail in the short term is difficult to say. It could be a downtrend since there is bearishness all across the world. But that has been there since quite a few days now, yet our Nifty is displaying strength. The Nifty may decide to go up first, touch one of the trendlines, and then fall back. And finally, the Nifty may even decide to slip from where we currently are. What will be its final decision, will be seen tomorrow. Till then be careful at 4043, 4075 and 4100 on the upperside and 3800-3850 on the downside.

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Food For Thought

I had some meetings today with some different people which finished late, late enough for me to come back home just before midnight. It is too late for me to start doing some analysis on Nifty and give you my opinions. But certainly, I will leave you with some links today which may act as some food for thought. Do let me know if you have any comments on the same and post them in the comments section below.

1. Mr. Sudarshan Sukhani still feels that what we saw today was a bear market rally and I somehow agree with this view of his.
2. Eoin Treacy of Fullermoney.com feels that India is insulated from global woes.
3. A day after the US markets displayed their largest single day fall consequent to the bailout package being rejected by the congress, the US stocks rallied today amid speculation that the bank rescue plan will pass.

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3800 Support on the Nifty May Not Hold

The Nifty on Friday closed at 3985 after giving bearish signals (breaking of the 4000 support). The next support was there at 3800, 185 points away from the previous close. On Sunday night, I chose to upload a webinar for my readers rather than do any analysis on the Nifty, mainly because I had been talking of a target of 3800 since a number of days and secondly, I didn’t feel Nifty could lose 185 points in one single day. And yet, it did. After losing 208 points intraday (from Friday’s close), the Nifty bounced back a little to close at 3850 with a loss of 135 points. The markets were expected to be better after the Federal Reserve’s bailout bill, which plans to induct $700 billion into the global financial system, went to the Congress for voting. But after reports that Wachovia and three other European banks were banking on the Fed rescue, the markets slumped fearing that the $700 billion bailout package may not be enough to ride over the current financial crisis.

Today, the Nifty made a low of 3777, breaking the previous 52 week low of 3790.20 made on 16th July 2008. After making a low at 3777, the Nifty immediately made a recovery, and a good one at that, to end the day at 3850. Today’s closing price became the second lowest close in the last 52 weeks, the lowest being 3816, again on 16th July 2008. Making a new 52 week low is negative for the markets, and even though the market recovered to close above 3800 today, it seems quite possible that 3800 may be broken on the downside.

Seen above is the monthly chart of the Nifty. The chart shows the Fibonacci retracement levels of the rise from the much remembered low of 920 in April 2003 to the much much remembered high of 6357 made in January this year. The 38.2% retracement level support was at 4300 which was broken through, a few months ago. Since 3800 now seems to be under danger, it is important to know what the next support levels are. What provides support now is the 50% retracement level which is at 3640. Just below the 50% retracement level, is a black trendline which may act as another support if the 50% retracement level is breached. This trendline connects a few closes, a few opens and a low in the candles formed in the last couple of years. This trendline stands at 3558 and below this there is the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level at 3000, which provides support and then the final support comes at 2600.

Of course, supports are just supports and are important only to identify where the market may stop its downmove. But the markets have a mind of their own and can decide to stop the downmove anywhere, no matter whether a support is there or not. Knowing a support level in advance helps us a bit because if the markets do decide to find support near a support level identified by us, we are better prepared to convert our ideas into an actionable long trade. I have mentioned above that it does not seem likely that the 3800 support will hold. Though, the markets suggest otherwise, I would be happy, and I’m sure a lot of other people will be happy too, if the markets prove us wrong this time and keep respecting the 3800 support.

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Webinar on MACD

This is the third of the series of my webinars. The first webinar was about moving averages and trendlines, the second was about Fibonacci numbers and Fibonacci ratios and this one is about the MACD. To view the old webinars, just go below this post and under the section "Other Posts That May Interest You", click on the posts given under the subsection webinars. In case you have any questions about the topic after you see the webinar, feel free to post your questions under the comments section below and I'll make it a point to come back to you as soon as possible.



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Stochastics Too Gives Sell Signal

After flat American and Asian markets, nothing much was expected from the Indian markets too. And, as expected, the opening was nothing to talk about. Today was F&O expiry day and on F&O expiry days markets generally remain volatile. That was not the case this expiry. The Nifty, after a week opening, started going down and it wasn’t until 1:45pm that the fall stopped. But by that time, the NSE index had already shed about 80 points. A little bit of recovery came about post 2 but as the market neared closing, the movement too stopped and the Nifty slipped into a 10-15 points range after that. Today, Thursday, was a good day for the European markets and so does it look for the American markets. The London FTSE and the German DAX closed with gains of 2% while the French CAC was up 3%. The Dow Jones, at the time of writing, was trading with gains of almost 3%. Crude had increased to $108.65 intra day but had come back to $106.90.

Attached above is the daily chart of Nifty along with two moving averages and a stochastics oscillator. The chart has been zoomed in to show only 3 months data so that we get a closer look at the moving averages. The thick green line at the bottom is the support that the Nifty respected twice at 3800. Among the moving averages, the green one is the 21 day moving average while the brown one is the 10 day moving average. Both moving averages are important and provide good signals in their respective time frames. Here, as discussed in one of my previous newsletters, the prices had come below the 21 day exponential moving average and had given a sell signal on 11th Sep 2008. The 10 day moving average also gives similar signals, except that it gives a quicker response than a 21 day moving average. Here, the prices are below both the moving averages and both of them should provide resistance to the Nifty. The 10 day moving average provides resistance near 4170 while 4229 happens to be the level for the 21 day moving average. As regards stochastics, the 5,3 day stochastics slowed to 3 days has given us a sell signal yesterday.

With the American and European markets good today, chances are that we might open strong too. In case we don’t, or if we do and then come down then support comes in near the green line (the thinner one) near 4073-4075. A move below this level should, rather could, bring us to levels of 4000, 3950 and possibly 3800. With the new F&O series taking over tomorrow, let us see how it makes the Nifty behave.

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Nifty Inside Contracting Triangle, Wait For Breakout

The Nifty remained range bound today. After opening with a slight positive gap it went up a little further but shortly before 1pm, it started its downward journey. Around 3pm, after it recorded its low of the day, a little bit of recovery came about, especially in the last 30 minutes, which helped the Nifty close with a gain of about 34 points. International cues too do not suggest anything. Asian markets closed flat with a slight positive bias while European markets had a slight negative bias in them. American markets, at the moment stand completely unchanged and the Dow Jones, till now today, has had a small intraday movement of about 100 points. Crude is flat too and is currently trading near $105.

Seen above is the 30 minutes chart of the Nifty. As can be seen, the Nifty is making a pattern of a right angled triangle with a straight bottom. The prices, for the last four days have been contracting within this triangle. Such straight bottom triangles are essentially bearish patterns but my experience tells me that with them the direction cannot be predicted. The best way would be to wait to let the prices break out of the triangle and we then take a position in the direction of the triangle. For tomorrow, the levels are between 4115 and 4200. Buy above 4200 or sell below 4115. If the pattern is broken on the downside, then we could have a target of 3990 on the charts.

At the moment, the MACD is hovering around zero and the MACD line is moving so close to its signal line that it suggests a lot of confusion and indecision in the markets. And obviously, a contracting triangle and trend channels, in themselves, are signs of confusion.

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Nifty Falls, Ignores Island Reversal Pattern

The Nifty opened weak today, as was expected, because of the weak American and Asian markets. The Dow Jones was down 372 points overnight while all Asian markets, except Nikkei, were trading in the red with Hang Seng leading the pack, which finally closed with a loss of 759 points, down 3.87%. Followed by a weak opening, the Nifty did try to recover but the happiness lasting only about an hour or so, after which the index started its decline. Another attempt at recovery came shortly after noon but that too didn’t last long and from there it was a steady decline for the Nifty through the day. The island reversal pattern seen on the Nifty two days back was completely ignored today.

Seen above is the tick by tick chart of the Nifty. As seen from the chart, the Nifty, early in the morning, after going to 4150 started going up, made a top near 4190, and came down to 4171.35. Then a small recovery took it past its highs of the day, went up to 4224.60 came down to 4171.35 again, climbed to 4203.30 and finally broke through 4171.35, thus completing a bearish head and shoulders pattern. With the top of the head at 4224.60 and the neckline at 4171.35, the target was 53.25 points (4224.60-4171.35) below 4171.35. This gave us a target level of 4118.10 (4171.35-53.25) on the Nifty. So, we saw a bearish head and shoulders pattern being formed, being confirmed and the target achieved, all in one day. And we can see that after this head and shoulders pattern target was achieved, there was an immediate bounce in the price from that level. This case was more like a case of a perfect head and shoulders pattern. In most cases, either the neckline is not straight, or the shoulders are not perfect or the target is not achieved or the price overshoots the target. But then, life is never perfect. One has to live it the way it is offered to us and make the best of it.

Well, that was the intra day chart for today only, but what is the forecast for tomorrow or the days after that? To try and forecast what the market would do is like trying and forecasting whether the next toss of a coin would be a heads or a tail. The market remains as unpredictable as ever and most of the times move against our wishes/forecast. But we also know that when it does move in our favour, most of the times we get a move big enough to wipe off most of our losses. That is where technical analysis comes in handy, where 7 trades out of 10 turn out to be loss making trades, but the remaining three trades are big enough to wipe the 7 losses and giving us a net profit. Technical Analysis only helps us increase the probability of making a profit. One of my previous posts title “The Probability of Profitability” very well explains this. Well, and to do that we have to analyse to see what our analysis says.

Attached above is the 30 minutes chart of the Nifty, which gives us a slightly longer term view than what the intra day chart gives us. Notice that in this chart, the bearish head and shoulders pattern, which was so clear in the tick by tick chart, is not visible here. Last week we had seen the Nifty slip into a narrow range between 3950 and 4100. This range has been marked by a trend channel/rectangle. Notice that the upper end of the rectangle lies somewhere between 4090 and 4100 and not exactly 4100. Also shown in this chart is the Moving Averages Convergence Divergence (MACD) and the upper line of the rectangle extended till date. This extended line tells us that there is support available between 4090 and 4100. The MACD, which had given a sell signal yesterday, reaffirmed it today by going below the equilibrium line at 0. Notice that there is a blue coloured trendline here too which shows that there maybe support available for the MACD at current levels, which, if broken, would have bearish implications. There are also Fibonacci retracement levels drawn on the chart for the two day rise from 3800 to 4300. These Fibonacci levels tell us that the 38.2% level is still intact may (or may not) provide support at 4112. If this is breached, the next Fibonacci levels of support are at 4050 and 3995, being the 50% and the 61.8% retracement levels, respectively. For now, we can just wait and watch, which of these levels does the Nifty feel worthy enough to respect.

As far as the international markets are concerned, the London FTSE and French CAC closed with a loss of about 2% while the German DAX lost 1% of its value. American markets are more or less flat at the moment while the crude has come off its yesterday's highs and was today in the vicinity of $106 a barrel.

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Outlook Good for the Nifty After Island Reversal

After a fascinating run up in the Nifty in the last two days, it sure had some breath catching to do. Markets are half human, which means that if we get exhausted after a brisk run, so do the markets. And the run up seen in the last two days was much more than what we can call a ‘brisk run’. So, obviously, the markets needed some rest and they got it today. The Nifty managed to go about 50 points up in the first 30 minutes of the day and made a high of 4303 (as compared to my analysis yesterday that it had resistance at 4300). Soon enough, it started coming down and finally ended the day with a loss of 22 points while the BSE Sensex closed 47 points down. As of now, European markets closed in the red with prices paring upto 1.5% while the Dow Jones is more than 2% down. Crude has shot up to almost $128, a jump of $25 in a day. So, all international cues, at the time of writing this post, are negative.

Seen above is the 30 minutes chart of the Nifty. We shall discuss island reversal techniques here. The Nifty on Monday last (15th Sep 2008) opened with a huge negative gap when Delhi was rocked by serial bomb blasts on Saturday, 13th Sep 2008, and Lehman Brothers in the USA declared bankruptcy. Three days later, on 18th Sep 2008, the markets opened with another big downward gap but soon recovered and the very next day it opened with a big positive gap after the US government bailed out insurance giant AIG by granting them a loan of $85 billion in return for 80% stake in the company. These gaps created a pattern known as an island reversal pattern. In such a pattern the prices open with a downward/upward gap, trade in a narrow range for sometime, and then open with another gap on the opposite side thus creating a candle or a cluster of candles to be separated from the rest of the candles. A cluster at the bottom is a bullish sign while a cluster on the top is a bearish sign. It is usually said that in case of an island reversal, chances are reasonably high that prices would return to the point from where the previous trend started. In this case the last downtrend started from 4540, so the charts suggest a rally to that level. More on island reversals can be read on Bedford and Associates and Incredible Charts. There are lot of other sites with information on island reversals. The chart above has today’s price candles inside a square which has been zoomed into and that shows another candle today which is separated from the rest of the prices, another short term bullish sign. Needless to say that an island cluster holds more significance and is more reliable than a single candle formed as an island.

Seen above is the same 30 minutes chart of Nifty but with another set of information. We are trying to use some Fibonacci rules on this chart. The prices started coming down from a high of 4538 on 8th Sep 2008 and touched a low of 3800 on 18th Sep 2008. Then the trend reversed and the prices rallied and retraced almost 61.8% in a matter of two days as shown by the Fibonacci retracement levels in dark green and in large brown numbers. A small rest is being taken by the Nifty currently. There are two possibilities. If we are in a bear market, we could see all these gains wiped out and should see prices coming below 3800. But if we are in a bull market then the most reasonable ‘rest’ that we can expect is a retracement of 23.6% or 38.2% of the rise seen in the last two days. As seen by the Fibonacci retracement levels in light green, a 23.6% retracement should see prices down to 4190 levels while a 38.2% retracement would bring us down to 4115. As already mentioned, international cues are all negative at the moment.

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