The must-know numbers for volatile FTSE 100

Sunday, 27 November - 10:52pm

The market has done everything possible to signal some upward movement - except, of course, actually move up. In the last two weeks, we've witnessed every upward surge throttled, a state of affairs only mitigated by every downward movement also tending to fizzle.

The situation now is of movement below 'red', currently 6,774.985 or so, leading to an initial 6,731 with secondary, if broken, at 6,680. The secondary really bothers us, as it takes the FTSE 100 into the realms of "lower lows", with breakage signalling a further 200-point drop.

The alternate, thankfully, comes from the point at which the market closed last week and anything near-term above 6,852 signals coming growth toward 6,888, with secondary now coming in at 6,985 points, apparently.

However, the law of higher highs would start to apply fairly quickly in such a scenario, as we're looking for force to 7,148 as "top" on such a cycle.

Of course, it's worth exercising caution at 6,903 just because that number keeps causing a problem. Currently, it coincides with 'blue' on the chart.

It's Monday. What could go wrong?

BMR Group

Just because you can doesn't mean you should! In the case of BMR, we'd postulated criteria for reversal to 4.35p and for some reason, the market felt obliged to indulge in a murder. The situation now is of anything below 4.6p pointing at 4.35p next with secondary calculating at 3.85p.

Insanity prevails here, 'cos, as the 'red' line shows, BMR needs to trade below 3.25p currently to utterly trash its chances of future growth.

Unfortunately, this gives the share a movement parameter between 3.25p and 6.9p - essentially a playground for the market - before we dare be certain which longer-term direction is planned.

We'd guess, due to it constantly outperforming initial upper targets, optimism is possible, but one heck of a lot of patience and a supply of underwear may be required! We can hope even movement above 'blue', currently 6.35p, will serve notice of a coming upward surge.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.

Alistair Strang has led high-profile and "top secret" software projects since the late 1970s and won the original John Logie Baird Award for inventors and innovators. After the financial crash, he wanted to know "how it worked" with a view to mimicking existing trading formulas and predicting what was coming next. His results speak for themselves as he continually refines the methodology.