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2. When the 9-period moving average based on price is below its respective 45-period moving average, and the 9-period moving average based on the RSI is below the 45-period on RSI, the trend is DOWN (at points f and prior to point a in Figure 16-15).
3. When the 9-period moving average based on price is above its respective 45-period moving average, and the 9-period moving average based on the RSI is below the 45-period on RSI, the trend is SIDEWAYS TO UP (at points a and c in Figure 16-5).
4. When the 9-period moving average based on price is below its respective 45-period moving average, and the 9-period moving average based on the RSI is above the 45-period on RSI, the trend is SIDEWAYS TO DOWN (at points c and e in Figure 16-5).
Since the RSI is a momentum-derived oscillator and since momentum often leads price, the 9-period moving average on the RSI will cross its respective 45-period moving average, before the 9-period on price will cross its respective 45-period moving average. I place more emphasis on the moving averages based on price. By staying aware of how the moving averages are behaving, you will remain focused on the overall trend. When I talk to another trader, I often say that the moving average on price is positive, the implication being that the short-term (9) moving average is above the long-term (45) moving average. The largest moves come when both moving averages head in the same direction, as can be seen in Figure 16-5 at points b to c and d to e.
One last thought on moving averages. The 45-period moving average will often prove to be support or resistance for the price, or the RSI. For example, a bullish market may retrace to its respective 45-period moving average (price and/or RSI), and then bounce off it, as can be seen in Figure 16-5. This is another sign of what the trend actually is, and in this case it indicates that the bulls are using the 45-period moving average as a support level to get long.
When I am determining what the trend is, I ask myself the following questions:
1. What is the RSI range? Has there been a range shift?
2. Is the market respecting the support and resistance areas of the dominant force, or is the market violating them and reversing their roles?
3. Have we broken an important trend line in the price or RSI chart?
4. What types of divergences are present?
5. What are the moving averages attempting to tell us?

 
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