Momentum Is Alive and Well

If you think momentum trading faded in the late '90s, it didn't. Momentum manifests itself in myriad futures markets and stocks -- either up or down -- every day. Profiting from momentum, contrary to what most financial advisers tell you, is a matter of market timing and identifying what phase in the momentum cycle a market is in.

A continuum exists in momentum trading. There is a nascent phase, a continuation phase and a reversal phase. Trades can be taken at any point along this continuum. The charts illustrate each of these phases as they unfold in today's markets.

Since logging a pair of limit-down days early last month, July pork bellies (PBN3:CME) have displayed signs of nascent momentum. As I've pointed out before, nascent momentum -- the early phase of a major market move -- occurs when five or more gaps, laps or expansion bars take place in the direction of the underlying momentum within a calendar month. Bellies have registered six of these signals since bottoming in April.