How Traders Actually Use Barchart's Technical Opinion (Strength vs Direction)

Why It Matters

The unified strength‑and‑direction view gives traders a quick, quantitative gauge of trend and momentum, enabling faster, more disciplined decisions and better risk management.

Key Takeaways

• Barchart Technical Opinion aggregates 13 indicators into buy/sell signals.
• Strength reflects long‑term trend speed; direction measures short‑term momentum.
• Signals shift by ~8% each time an indicator flips.
• Weak signals indicate potential pauses, offering correction or reversal opportunities.
• Traders use strength/direction to time entries, exits, and risk management.

Summary

The webinar introduces Barchart’s Technical Opinion tool, a consolidated dashboard that blends thirteen distinct technical indicators into a single buy‑or‑sell rating for stocks, ETFs, futures, and forex. John Roland likens the interface to a race‑car instrument panel, providing traders an instant read‑out of a market’s “engine” – its trend speed (strength) and gear‑shift (direction).

Strength represents the long‑term trend, calculated over 200‑day (or 100‑day for futures) averages, while direction captures short‑term momentum over the past three days. Each indicator contributes a point, multiplied by a factor so that a signal flip adjusts the overall rating by roughly eight percent. The rating scale runs from a minimum (weakest historical signal) to a maximum (strongest), with stronger signals being less volatile.

Roland demonstrates the tool on real symbols: Alcoa shows a 100% buy rating with strengthening momentum, while Microsoft registers a 100% sell rating despite occasional short‑term bullish cues. He emphasizes that a weakening signal often signals a pause, presenting potential correction or reversal trades, whereas strengthening signals suggest the trend is accelerating. The discussion also covers how to drill into individual indicator scores and combine the panel with other Barchart templates, such as moving‑average overlays and S&P comparisons.

For traders, the Technical Opinion offers a rapid, data‑driven snapshot that can streamline entry and exit decisions, improve risk assessment, and complement deeper chart analysis. By quantifying both trend speed and short‑term drive, the tool helps users align their strategies with the market’s current momentum, potentially enhancing trade timing and portfolio performance.

Original Description

Barchart’s Technical Opinion is one of the most powerful but misunderstood tools on the Barchart platform.

In this 50-minute, step-by-step webinar, John Rowland, CMT, Barchart’s Senior Market Strategist, breaks down how traders and investors actually use the Barchart Opinion, with a sharp focus on Strength and Direction, to analyze stocks, ETFs, futures, and forex without relying on guesswork.

Momentum and trend traders look for markets that are moving with purpose, but how can you quickly tell whether a trend is accelerating, stalling, or starting to turn? Barchart’s proprietary Technical Opinion runs price data through 13 technical strategies across multiple timeframes, delivering a Buy, Hold, or Sell signal paired with Strength (long-term momentum) and Direction (short-term thrust).

Think of it like a race car dashboard: Strength tells you how powerful the engine is, while Direction shows whether the driver is pressing the gas or tapping the brakes. In this session, you’ll learn what the Opinion is and isn’t, how it’s calculated, how tools like TrendSeeker®, moving averages, and MACD work together, and how Snapshot Opinion and historical performance help you stress-test trends before putting capital at risk.

Join us to test-drive Barchart’s Ferrari of technical tools, and learn how to use it with confidence, clarity, and consistency.

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