There is another group of technical analysis tools designed to help you gauge changes in all securities within a specific market. For example, the number of stocks that made new highs for the day, the number of stocks that increased in price, the volume associated with the stocks that increased in price, etc. Market indicators cannot be calculated for an individual security because the required data is not available. Market indicators add significant depth to technical analysis, because they contain much more information than price and volume.
Monetary indicators concentrate on economic data such as interest rates.
They help you determine the economic environment in which businesses operate. These external forces directly affect a business' profitability and share price. Examples of monetary indicators are interest rates, the money supply, consumer and corporate debt, and inflation. Due to the vast quantity of monetary indicators, I only discuss a few of the basic monetary indicators in this book. With an individual security, the price is often the only measure of investor sentiment available.