"Breadth indicators" refer to measurements or statistics used to gauge the overall health or strength of a market or a particular sector. These indicators provide a broad overview by analyzing the number of companies or stocks that are advancing or declining, the volume of stocks being traded, or the overall level of market participation. They help investors or analysts assess the breadth or extent of market movements, indicating whether the market trends are broad and widespread or if they are concentrated in just a few stocks.
Full definition
While it doesn't stand alone as a negative force, market pundits like John Hussman — a former economics professor who is president of the Hussman Investment Trust — have used it in tandem with
other breadth indicators to make bearish proclamations.
When stocks are making new highs, it's important to look
at breadth indicators because indices can pull a nasty trick of masking what is actually happening to the majority of stocks....
The 50 - day moving
average breadth indicator for the 70 countries we monitor has fallen to levels last seen in the wake of the 2015/16 corrections.
An observer of U.S. stocks can see the transition from indiscriminate risk - taking to guarded skepticism
via breadth indicators.
A
market breadth indicator that is based on the difference between the number of advancing and declining issues on the NYSE.
On the methodology
the breadth indicator simply measures the percentage of the 70 countries whose main stockmarket benchmark is trading above its respective 50 - day moving average.
Developed in 1967 by Richard Arms, this volume - based
breadth indicator can be applied over various time periods.
Almost all market indicators are also
breadth indicators, calculated by using the relative strength of rising stocks compared to declining stocks within a specific index.
Contrarian investors may use this market
breadth indicator to buy or sell stocks when it gives extreme readings, i.e., below 30 % or above 70 %.
The NYSE's cumulative Advance - Decline line (
breadth indicator) has made a new all time high even though the stock market hasn't.
3)
This breadth indicator which I monitor closely, caught my eye as I see the possibility of a repeating pattern here in the % of stocks above their 40DMA.