How momentum traders can exploit overconfidence and skepticism in the market. Picture Getty
Hot Money Monday: How momentum investors can exploit overconfidence and skepticism in the market
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The momentum trading strategy is a strategy that seeks to capitalise on momentum to enter a trend as it is picking up steam, or to pick up a stock when it has fallen too much, too fast.
Experts believe momentum exists due to investor overconfidence and skepticism.
On the downside, skeptics often sell too early, giving room for further upside in a stock when positive market developments emerge.
On the upside, experts believe investors tend to discount information that runs counter to their thinking. As a result, momentum may take hold more easily as investors keep on buying shares contrary to what recent news are saying.
A good momentum trader therefore looks for a good entry point to exploit these psychological flaws.
Obviously there’s a bit of risk involved in momentum trading because in essence, you’re making a decision to buy a stock based on recent activities of other traders.
To be a successful momentum trader, one needs to be able to identify the best stocks quickly and accurately.
The goal for momentum traders is basically to enter into trades at key points in the trend in order to maximise profits.
There are several indicators to quantify momentum, and here we look at three main signals used by the market:
- 52-week high
- Simple Moving Average
- Relative Strength Index
10 ASX small caps nearest or at 52-week highs
Traders often view the 52-week highs as entry signals.
This is due what’s called the “52-week high effect” – where if a price has broken out above its 52-week range, there must be some factor that generated enough momentum to further continue the price movement in the same direction.
On the other hand, if a stock is far away from its 52-week high, chartists believe the momentum will continue going that way.
10 ASX small caps at 52-week high
(data from Commsec)
| Code | Name | Price | How far from 52-Week High? | 1 mth return | 6 mth return | 12 mth return |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGI | Ainsworth Game Tech | $1.40 | 0.00% | 7.69% | 39.30% | 35.27% |
| AEF | Australian Ethical Investment | $5.70 | 0.00% | 6.34% | 45.78% | 21.28% |
| MVF | Monash IVF Group | $1.40 | 0.36% | 4.49% | 15.77% | 32.86% |
| VHT | Volpara Health | $1.12 | 0.45% | 1.83% | 25.28% | 35.15% |
| LPI | Lithium Power | $0.56 | 0.89% | 1.83% | 88.14% | 9.90% |
| MIL | Millennium Services | $1.10 | 0.90% | 1.86% | 338.00% | -- |
| NDO | Nido Education | $1.00 | 1.00% | 0.51% | -- | -- |
| NAM | Namoi Cotton | $0.49 | 1.01% | 3.16% | 12.64% | 6.52% |
| QIP | QANTM IP | $1.08 | 1.38% | 13.76% | 23.56% | 14.36% |
| BLY | Boart Longyear | $2.86 | 1.38% | 63.43% | 78.75% | 46.67% |
MVF reported strong FY23 results with revenue growth of 11.1% and underlying NPAT growth of 14.7% to $25.5m.
MVF’s Australian IVF business outperformed the industry, increasing its market share by 2.8% to 23.1% in FY24 October YTD on pcp.
First half FY24 Underlying NPAT is expected to be $14.5m to $15.0m, compared to $12.6m in pcp.
QANTM Intellectual Property (ASX:QIP)
The IP services business recently updated its earnings compared to analyst estimate. The update is provided on that basis that market and industry conditions, the US$ to AU$ exchange rate, and the regulatory environment do not materially change.
For the full year of FY24, QANTM expects Earnings Per Share to be between 20% and 25% higher than the analyst estimate of 8.1 cents per share.
For the FY24, QANTM also expects underlying EBITDA to be between 8% and 10% higher than the analyst estimate of $31 million.
10 ASX small caps with prices above SMA
Simple Moving Averages (or SMA) is another indicator that can be used to gauge momentum.
SMA is often used to determine whether a stock price will continue in the same direction, or if it will reverse a bull or bear trend.
As a general rule, if the current stock price is above the SMA, the price trend is up. If the price is below the SMA, the trend is down.
10 ASX small caps at prices above SMA
(data from Commsec)
| Code | Name | Last Price Value | Price vs. Simple Moving Average | Price vs. 20 day SMA | Price vs. 50 day SMA | Price vs. 200 day SMA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACR | Acrux | $0.07 | >5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA |
| ADY | Admiralty Resources | $0.01 | >5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA | -1 to -5% Below SMA |
| ANG | Austin Engineering | $0.39 | >5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA |
| AUZ | Australian Mines | $0.01 | >5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA | 1 to 5% Above SMA | < -5% Below SMA |
| BCM | Brazilian Critical Minerals | $0.03 | >5% Above SMA | 1 to 5% Above SMA | 1 to 5% Above SMA | < -5% Below SMA |
| BOL | Boom Logistics | $0.13 | >5% Above SMA | 1 to 5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA | 1 to 5% Above SMA |
| MLX | Metals X | $0.29 | >5% Above SMA | 1 to 5% Above SMA | 1 to 5% Above SMA | 0 to 1% Above SMA |
| CTE | Cryosite | $0.75 | >5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA | >5% Above SMA | 1 to 5% Above SMA |
| TFL | TasFoods | $0.03 | >5% Above SMA | 1 to 5% Above SMA | 1 to 5% Above SMA | -1 to -5% Below SMA |
| EQX | Equatorial Resources | $0.15 | >5% Above SMA | 1 to 5% Above SMA | -1 to -5% Below SMA | < -5% Below SMA |
The labour services company has been rising since announcing that it has secured new debt and lease financing facilities with the National Australia Bank (ASX:NAB) and JA Mitsui Leasing.
The new facilities with NAB will be used to refinance the company’s existing debt and lease facilities with Scottish Pacific Business Finance, and on average, will reduce its debt costs by around $600k per annum over three years. The new NAB facilities are for a total of $65 million.
Meanwhile the facility with Mitsui is a $15 million facility, which will be used to refinance its debt with Mitsui.
The metals miner recently provided an update of its Ore Reserve estimate and Life of Mine Plan for the Renison Tin Operations in Tasmania. Renison is 50%-owned by Metals X through the Bluestone Mines Tasmania Joint Venture.
Total Renison Bell Proved and Probable Reserve is now 8.225 Mt at 1.48% Sn for 121,700 tonnes of contained tin (taking into account depletion for mining over the past 12 months).
Mine life is 10+ years, with the bulk of ore mined from the high-grade Area 5 and Leatherwood ore bodies.
10 ASX small caps with low RSI (Oversold)
Here’s another momentum signal used by the market – the Relative Strength Index (RSI).
RSI is a measure of the strength of a stock’s momentum, either in the upward or the downward direction, and is used to indicate whether a stock is oversold or undersold.
Generally speaking, an RSI above 70 means a stock is overbought; and an RSI below 30 indicates that it’s oversold.
An RSI above 80 meanwhile is strongly overbought, and an RSI below 20 is strongly oversold.
10 ASX small caps at prices with RSI Oversold signal
(data from Commsec)
| Code | Name | 2 Day RSI | 9 Day RSI | 14 Day RSI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANX | Anax Metals | Oversold | Oversold | -- |
| BUY | Bounty Oil & Gas NL | -- | Oversold | -- |
| EXR | Elixir Energy | Oversold | Oversold | -- |
| GCR | Golden Cross Resources | Oversold | Oversold | Oversold |
| BUB | Bubs Australia | -- | Oversold | -- |
| IRI | Integrated Research | -- | Oversold | -- |
| POS | Poseidon Nickel | -- | Oversold | -- |
| PTR | Petratherm | -- | Oversold | -- |
| WBE | Whitebark Energy | Oversold | Oversold | -- |
| EDU | EDU Holdings | -- | Oversold | -- |
EXR recently provided an update on the next stages of its Daydream-2 appraisal well in its 100% owned Grandis Gas Project, located in the Taroom Trough of the Bowen Basin, Queensland.
The company said there were very positive log results for recently discovered deep permeable zone.
EXR also said the extent of this new play could be significant, and stimulation and testing phase is now due to commence imminently.
Poseidon recently entered into a farm-in agreement with Mantis Resources to earn-in up to a 100% interest in exploration licences 63/2244 and 63/2256, which are located in close proximity to Poseidon’s Lake Johnston Project.
The Mantis tenements include outcropping lithium bearing pegmatites with historical composite sampling returning high grades from 2.80% up to 3.85% Li2O1.
Separately, Poseidon signed a deal with Mt Morgans, a wholly owned subsidiary of Genesis Minerals (ASX:GMD), for Mt Morgans to undertake a trial processing of up to 100,000 tonnes of Lancefield gold tailings through their Laverton processing facility, and to have access to 2.5GL per annum of water from the South Windarra pit.
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