BOLLINGER BANDS STRATEGY FOR SHARE MARKET TRENDS

BOLLINGER BANDS STRATEGY FOR SHARE MARKET TRENDS

Bollinger Bands are a type of chart indicator for technical analysis and have become widely used by traders in many markets, including stocks, futures, and currencies. Created by John Bollinger in the 1980s, the bands offer unique insights into price and volatility. In fact, there are a number of uses for Bollinger Bands, such as determining overbought and oversold levels, as a trend following tool, and for monitoring for breakouts.

Calculation of Bollinger Bands

 

Bollinger Bands are composed of three lines. One of the more common calculations uses a 20-day simple moving average (SMA) for the middle band. The upper band is calculated by taking the middle band and adding twice the daily standard deviation to that amount. The lower band is calculated by taking the middle band minus two times the daily standard deviation.

Overbought and Oversold Strategy

 

A common approach when using Bollinger Bands is to identify overbought or oversold market conditions. When the price of the asset breaks below the lower band of the Bollinger Bands®, prices have perhaps fallen too much and are due to bounce. On the other hand, when price breaks above the upper band, the market is perhaps overbought and due for a pullback.

Using the bands as overbought/oversold indicators relies on the concept of mean reversion of the price. Mean reversion assumes that, if the price deviates substantially from the mean or average, it eventually reverts back to the mean price.

In range-bound markets, mean reversion strategies can work well, as prices travel between the two bands like a bouncing ball. However, Bollinger Bands® don't always give accurate buy and sell signals. During a strong trend, for example, the trader runs the risk of placing trades on the wrong side of the move because the indicator can flash overbought or oversold signals too soon.

To help remedy this, a trader can look at the overall direction of price and then only take trade signals that align the trader with the trend. For example, if the trend is down, only take short positions when the upper band is tagged. The lower band can still be used as an exit if desired, but a new long position is not opened since that would mean going against the trend. 

Bollinger Bands Squeeze Strategy

Another strategy to use with Bollinger Bands® is called a squeeze strategy. A squeeze occurs when the price has been moving aggressively then starts moving sideways in a tight consolidation. 

A trader can visually identify when the price of an asset is consolidating because the upper and lower bands get closer together. This means the volatility of the asset has decreased. After a period of consolidation, the price often makes a larger move in either direction, ideally on high volume. Expanding volume on a breakout is a sign that traders are voting with their money that the price will continue to move in the breakout direction.

When the price breaks through the upper or lower band, the trader buys or sells the asset, respectively. A stop-loss order is traditionally placed outside the consolidation on the opposite side of the breakout.

The Bottom Line

There are multiple uses for Bollinger Bands®, including using them for overbought and oversold trade signals. Traders can also add multiple bands, which helps highlight the strength of price moves. Another way to use the bands is to look for volatility contractions. These contractions are typically followed by significant price breakouts, ideally on large volume. Bollinger Bands should not be confused with Keltner Channels. While the two indicators are similar, they are not exactly alike.