DETROIT (AP) -- Ford Motor Co., responding to reports that it's putting its Volvo unit up for sale, said it is not negotiating with anyone to sell the Swedish automaker.
The Sunday Times, citing unnamed sources in London, said the decision to sell Volvo, which is part of Ford's Premier Automotive Group, was made in the past two weeks, but that the timing of the sale had yet to be decided.

The New York Times, in a story posted Sunday on its Web site, said Ford would entertain offers for Volvo following a board meeting last week. The newspaper cited people whom it didn't name who it said had knowledge of the situation.

Ford spokesman Tom Hoyt said in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday that the company wasn't commenting on speculation about Volvo's future. But later in the day, he issued a denial that the automaker was in talks to sell the unit.

Moving averages help measure the direction and strength of existing trends and can help determine when a trend change has taken place. A moving average line is simply an average of an issue's closing prices over a selected time span. The trend is considered up as long as the price of the issue is above the moving average line.

The most popular moving averages are the 10- and 50-day averages. A close below a moving average line is a warning of a potential trend change. A stock is considered to be strong by many technical analysts if it is above its 10- and 50-day moving averages. Think of moving average as a curving trend line. It is viewed by many to serve the same purpose as a trend line by providing support during sell offs in an up trend and resistance to bounces in a downtrend. And the breaking of a moving average line can carry the same meaning as the breaking of a trend line - a change in short-term trend.

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New to Charting and Technical Analysis? Get answers to commonly asked questions from the one of the industry's foremost authorities on technical analysis.

Q: What is Technical Analysis?

A: Technical Analysis is the study and analysis of "hard" data produced by the financial markets - price and volume mainly. The primary tools of Technical Analysis are a chart (of price and volume) and a ruler.

The chart not only shows where the price has been but gives some idea of where it will go. The ruler is used to determine entry and exit points. Prophet charts may easily be substituted for the physical tools.

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The "MACD" is a trend following momentum indicator that shows the relationship between two moving averages of prices. To Calculate the MACD subtract the 26-day EMA from a 12-day EMA. A 9-day dotted EMA of the MACD called the signal line is then plotted on top of the MACD.

There are 3 common methods to interpret the MACD:
1. Crossovers - When the MACD falls below the signal line it is a signal to sell. Vice versa when the MACD rises above the signal line.
2. Divergence - When the security diverges from the MACD it signals the end of the current trend.
3. Overbought/Oversold - When the MACD rises dramatically (shorter moving average pulling away from longer term moving average) it is a signal the security is overbought and will soon return to normal levels.

Most people use the crossover to try an interepet what a stock is going to doing. If I see a MACD crossover I study the

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Dilution

The selling of newly issued shares. The basis in which the entire stock market revolves around is the issuance of shares to acquire the capital to sustain and allow a company to grow. This is arguably the worst of the 4 'thieves', as it is 100% legal, even when done with 'less than good' intentions and done thru mis-representation. The less 'blue chip' a company is, the more likely the dilution will not bear fruit.

Enter the 'lifestyle' stock.

Lifestyle stocks (and they are VERY plenty, especially in Pinksheet issues) are stocks with good/great sounding stories, usually in the form of press releases. First and foremost, they provide CEO's with high salaries, regardless of CEO performance. They also provide the company with capital to support their own lives, using such guises as travel, meals,

Legal vs. Illegal Insider Trading

1. It is perfectly legal for insiders to buy and sell stock in their company. In fact, there are thousands of insider trading reports everyday. As long as the insider is trading on information that is generally available to the public no laws are broken.

2. Illegal insider trading is trading based on nonpublic information and may include "tipping" such information. For example, if the CEO knows the company is not going to get a big contract and sells before telling the world, that's illegal. Yet illegal insider trading is very difficult to prove.

Why Is Insider Trading Important

1. "Insiders might sell their shares for any number of reasons, but they buy them for only one: they think the price will rise" (Peter Lynch, one of the greatest investors of all time)

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The RSI ranges from 0 to 100, but a stock is considered overbought if it reaches the 70 level, meaning that you should consider selling. When it is a true bull market, an RSI of 80 might be a better level since stocks often trade at higher valuations. Likewise, if the RSI approaches 30, it is a strong buying indicator (20 in a strong bear market).

The RSI is a big tool in momentum trading. The RSI can help you make some serious money, but be forewarned, it isn't a decision maker. Big surges and drops in stocks will effect the RSI, but it could just be a false buy or sell. The RSI is best used as a valuable compliment to your other stock picking tools.

Another method of analyzing the RSI is to look for a divergence. If the security is making a new highs and yet the RSI

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The price action of a security over a period of time will create strength at certain price levels. These levels are known as "resistance" at the top end of the range of trading, and "support" at the bottom end of the trading range. This trading range may develop over just a couple of months, or sometimes it can take a year or more to develop. This usually depends on the range the technician is examining.

For our example, we'll look at Air Canada stock. In the later part of the 1990s, Air Canada stock traded in a very narrow range of $5 on the low side and $7 on the high side, creating what we call support at $5 and resistance at $7. There was enormous support at the lower range because, over a long period of time, hundreds of thousands of shares had changed hands at or about the five dollar point, thus creating a very strong support level or "floor". Simply put, it would've required an extraordinary increase in selling activity for the price to fall below the $5 mark.

Conversely, trading activity at the higher price over the several years was at $7 - the stock price could not seem to break through this number. For whatever reason, the sellers would outnumber the buyers every time the stock price of

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Whether you're new to the world of investing, or have years of experience and success, there's always room for you to grow as an investor. One of the best ways to expand your knowledge is by reading great books. If you feel like adding one or a number of these investing classics to your personal library, you can order them from Amazon.com by clicking on the headline or download as it will be available soon for our community registered users.

1) The Intelligent Investor

This is perhaps the most important and influential book ever written about value investing. Originally published in 1934 by Ben Graham, this work has been heralded by such notable investors as Warren Buffett as "the best investing book ever written". In it, Graham presents two types of investing styles - one for every day people who don't want to think about their portfolios ("defensive") and the business man or woman who wants to enjoy maximum returns ("enterprising").

Williams %R

In technical analysis, this is a momentum indicator measuring overbought and oversold levels, similar to a stochastic oscillator. It was developed by Larry Williams and compares a stock's close to the high-low range over a certain period of time, usually 14 days.

It is used to determine market entry and exit points. The Williams %R produces values from 0 to -100, a reading over 80 usually indicates a stock is oversold, while readings below 20 suggests a stock is overbought.

As with all overbought/oversold indicators, it is best to wait for the security's price to change direction before making any trades. It is not unusual for overbought/oversold indicators to remain in that condition for a long time as the security's price continues to climb/fall. Selling on the first indication of an overbought signal may reduce yields as it could be some time before the price shows signs of deterioration.

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Commodity Channel Index - CCI

An oscillator used in technical analysis to help determine when an investment vehicle has been overbought and oversold. The Commodity Channel Index, first developed by Donald Lambert, quantifies the relationship between the asset's price, a moving average (MA) of the asset's price, and normal deviations (D) from that average. It is computed with the following formula:

The CCI has seen substantial growth in popularity amongst technical investors; today's traders often use the indicator to determine cyclical trends in not only commodities, but also equities and currencies.

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Aroon Indicator

he Aroon Indicator was developed by Tushar Chande. Its comprised of two plots one measuring the number of periods since the most recent x-period high (Aroon Up) and the other measuring the number of periods since the most recent x-period low (Aroon Down). The plotted value is on a "stochastic" like scale ranging from 0 to 100. So, for example, if in a time-period of 14 days a security makes a new 14-day high, the Aroon Up = 100. When the security makes a new 14-day low, the Aroon Down = 100. When the security has not made a new high for 14 days, the Aroon Up = 0 and when the security has not made a new low for 14 days, the Aroon Down = 0.

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Breakouts

Explanation of Play

Breakouts can be some of the most interesting plays, but you must be selective in choosing them. Properly identified and played, breakouts may offer upside profits within one to seven trading sessions. The breakout screen looks for two main criteria:

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Peak Plays

If you're quick enough - and if there's still enough pressure built up - you can participate in the run up.

Potential Entry Points

If you believe a peak can be sustained for your quick play, consider trying to get in at the open. You can place an order before the open or, for a more conservative entry, wait for the first 30 minutes of trading for validation. Sometimes a peak that continues on for a second day will have a small pullback at the open and then continue up.

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