Market Monitor
Context is everything in swing trading. The **Market Monitor** implements a StockBee-style breadth analysis dashboard, measuring the internal strength of the stock market. By monitoring how many individual stocks are expanding or contracting, you can determine when to scale up your equity exposure and when to sit safely in cash.
Key Breadth Indicators Explained
The monitor tracks breadth across multiple lookback periods by scanning price movements of all liquid stocks in the database daily:
Up 4% / Down 4% Today (`up4_today` / `down4_today`)
The count of stocks that closed up or down by 4% or more in a single session. This is the ultimate measure of short-term momentum. If the Up 4% count spikes (e.g., above 100 stocks), it indicates a strong momentum day where buyers are chasing breakouts.
5-Day & 10-Day Ratios (`five_day_ratio` / `ten_day_ratio`)
Accumulates the Up 4% and Down 4% events over the last 5 or 10 trading sessions, and computes the ratio (Up ÷ Down).
Ratios above 1.5: Bullish momentum.
Ratios below 0.5: Bearish momentum (sellers dominant).
21-Day Momentum (`up25m` / `down25m`, `up50m` / `down50m`)
Counts how many stocks have run by 25% or 50% over the last 21 trading days. This represents "superperformance" stocks. During a healthy bull run, this number expands rapidly as leaders double or triple in price. In a bear market or correction, this number drops close to zero.
Medium & Long-Term Trend (`up13_34d` / `up25q`)
Tracks medium-term trends (up 13% over 34 days) and quarterly trends (up 25% over 65 days). These indicators act as structural filters, confirming if a market rally has broad institutional participation.
How to Adjust Market Exposure
As a swing trader, your exposure (cash vs. positions) should expand and contract in sync with market breadth:
Aggressive Exposure (Green Light)
Conditions: Up 4% count regularly exceeds Down 4%, 5-day ratio is > 1.5, and 21-day momentum count is expanding.
Action: Scale up positions to full risk. Take breakouts confidently, hold winners for larger runs, and utilize your maximum allowed capital.
Defensive Exposure (Red Light)
Conditions: Down 4% count spikes, 5-day ratio falls below 0.5, and 21-day momentum stocks contract.
Action: Move to cash or reduce position sizes (e.g., 0.25R or 0.5R). Tighten stop losses on existing trades. Do not chase new breakouts, as failure rates are high in poor breadth environments.