Divergence

When the price of an asset and an indicator, index or other related asset move in opposite directions. In technical analysis, traders make transaction decisions by identifying situations of divergence, where the price of a stock and a set of relevant indicators, such as the money flow index (MFI), are moving in opposite directions.


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In technical analysis divergence is considered either positive or negative, both of which are signals of major shifts in the direction of the price. Positive divergence occurs when the price of a security makes a new low while the indicator starts to climb upward. Negative divergence happens when the price of the security makes a new high, but the indicator fails to do the same and instead closes lower than the previous high.

Read more: Divergence Definition | Investopedia https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/divergence.asp

Divergence trading is both a concept and a trading strategy that is found in almost all markets. It is an age old concept that was developed by Charles Dow and mentioned in his Dow Tenets. Dow noticed that when the Dow Jones Industrials made new highs, the Dow Transportation Index tends to make new highs as well and when the Industrials index made new lows, the transportation index would also follow suit. This is because when industrial production is high, transportation is used more to ship the goods. During times of recession or slowdown, when production dropped, the transportation would also drop.

The most important of all is when Dow found out that when there was a divergence between the two, it presented a possible change in the markets. For example, when the Dow Industrials made new highs and when the transportation index failed to make a high it indicated that there was some discrepancy. This formed the basis of divergence theory which was soon developed into a trading system on its own.

So, in the context of the markets, when price makes a new high, the oscillator, index or other related asset also should make a new high. Or when prices make a new low, the oscillator, index or other related asset should ideally make a new low. When there is a discrepancy between price and the oscillator, index or other related asset a divergence is identified.