Intraday Trend

Technical analysis apply equally to very short-term movements and are just as valid.

Computers and real-time trading have enabled traders to identify hourly and even tick-by-tick movements. The principles of technical analysis apply equally to these very short-term movements and are just as valid.

There are two main differences. First, reversals in the intraday charts have only a very short term implication and are not significant for longer-term price reversals. Second, extremely short-term price movements are much more influenced by psychology and instant reactions to news events than are longer-term ones.

Decisions therefore have a tendency to be emotional, knee-jerk reactions. Intraday price action is also more susceptible to manipulation. As a consequence, price data used in very short-term charts are much more erratic and generally less reliable than those that appear in the longer-term charts.

Secular Trend

Secular trend constructed from a number of primary trends to form a very long term trend or long wave usually last as long as 25 years.

The primary trend consists of several intermediate cycles, but the secular, or very long-term, trend is constructed from a number of primary trends. This super cycle, or long wave, extends over a substantially greater period, usually lasting well over 10 years, and often as long as 25 years.

It is certainly very helpful to understand the direction of the secular trend. Just as the primary trend influences the magnitude of the intermediate-term rally relative to the countercyclical reaction, so the secular trend influences the magnitude and duration of a primary trend rally or reaction. For example, in a rising secular trend, primary bull markets will be of greater magnitude than primary bear markets. In a secular downtrend, bear markets will be more powerful and will take longer to unfold than bull markets.