One screen showing whether each index is trending up, down or sideways across several timeframes at once.
Before deciding what to trade, decide whether to trade. This dashboard answers that in about thirty seconds.
The tool opens inside your BreakPoint account. If you are not signed in yet you will be asked to sign in first, and access depends on your active plan.
The Index Trend Dashboard shows the trend state of the major indices across multiple timeframes side by side. Instead of opening several charts and forming an impression, you read a grid.
The reason multiple timeframes matter is that they frequently disagree, and that disagreement is information. An index can be falling this week inside a rising three-month trend — which usually describes a pullback worth buying. The same index falling on every timeframe describes something entirely different.
Sector indices matter for the same reason as sector rotation: knowing which index your stock belongs to, and what that index is doing, explains a large share of what your position will do next.
Trend state describes what has been happening, not what will happen. Its purpose is to set expectations and position size, not to generate entries.
Most stocks move substantially with their index. Ignoring the index means ignoring the biggest single force acting on your trade.
Intraday traders
Decide whether today favours longs, shorts, or staying small, before you look at a single stock.
Swing traders
Align positions with the direction of the timeframe you actually plan to hold for.
Options traders
Directional option trades depend far more on index direction than on stock selection.
Beginners
One habit — checking index direction first — filters out a large share of avoidable losing trades.
Direction first
Establish the environment before committing to any idea.
Several timeframes at once
Agreement across timeframes is the strongest condition; disagreement is a warning worth heeding.
Sector coverage
Sector indices show which parts of the market are driving the headline number.
Fast to read
A grid rather than a set of charts, so the check takes seconds rather than minutes.
Position sizing input
Mixed timeframes are a reason to trade smaller, not a reason to try harder.
Pairs with everything
Whatever scanner you use next, this tells you how aggressively to act on it.
A compact grid of indices against timeframes.
The grid scrolls horizontally with index names anchored, so you can read across timeframes without losing which index you are on.
Thirty seconds before the open, and again before any significant position.
Start with the broad market index
It sets the baseline. Most stocks find it hard to work against a broad market moving decisively the other way.
Check timeframe agreement
When short, medium and long all point the same way, conditions favour trading in that direction with normal size.
Note any disagreement
Short-term down inside a longer-term uptrend usually describes a pullback. Short-term up inside a longer-term downtrend usually describes a bounce, which is a much weaker trade.
Scan the sector indices
Find which sectors are strongest on the timeframe you trade, and prefer stocks from those.
Match the timeframe to your holding period
An intraday trader cares most about the shortest column; a positional trader should weight the longest one.
Set your bias for the session
Decide long, short or reduced size before you look at any individual stock, so the decision is not influenced by a chart you happen to like.
Re-check after major moves
A large move can flip the shortest timeframe. If your bias was based on it, revisit it rather than assuming it still holds.
How to read the grid.
| Field | What it tells you | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Index | The broad market or sector index being described. | Know which index your stock belongs to; it explains a large share of the stock's daily movement. |
| Short timeframe | Recent direction. | Most relevant for intraday and short swing decisions. |
| Medium timeframe | Direction over the past several weeks. | The natural horizon for swing trades — this is the column most swing traders should weight. |
| Long timeframe | The prevailing direction over months. | Determines whether a shorter-term move is a continuation or a counter-trend bounce. |
| Trend state | Up, down or sideways. | Sideways is a legitimate answer and usually means fewer trades rather than different ones. |
| Sector rows | Individual sector indices. | Reveals which parts of the market are actually driving the headline index. |
Four combinations that cover most market conditions.
The broad index shows down on the short timeframe, up on the medium, and up on the long. Two sector indices remain up on all three timeframes while the rest are mixed.
This is a pullback inside an intact uptrend, not a reversal. The correct response is not to abandon long positions but to be more selective — and the two sectors still up on every timeframe are the obvious place to look, since they are absorbing the pullback better than the rest of the market.
Had all three timeframes been down, the same shortlist of stocks would deserve a completely different answer: wait.
This tool works by being checked first, every time.
✅ Do this
⛔ Avoid this
Cherry-picking the timeframe that agrees with a trade you already want to take. If you find yourself justifying a long position using the one column that is green while the other two are red, the dashboard has told you something and you are arguing with it.
It is checking the same market across several time horizons before trading. A move that looks strong on a short timeframe can be a minor bounce inside a longer decline, and only looking at both reveals which situation you are in.
The one matching your holding period, with the next longer one as context. Intraday traders weight the short column, swing traders the medium, positional traders the long.
Disagreement usually means either a pullback in an uptrend or a bounce in a downtrend. Both are tradeable but with reduced size, faster targets, and tighter stops than a fully aligned trend.
A large portion of any stock's daily movement comes from the market and its sector. A good stock in a falling market frequently falls anyway, which is why checking the index first saves a lot of unnecessary losses.
Not necessarily, but you should trade smaller, expect lower success rates on long setups, and be quicker to take profits. Many experienced traders simply reduce activity in poor conditions.
No side is in control. Breakouts fail more often, ranges hold more often, and trend-following strategies underperform. It is often the environment where doing less is the most profitable choice.
They show which parts of the market are driving the headline number. A flat index can hide one sector rallying hard while another falls, and knowing which is which points you to the right stocks.
Once before the session and again after any large move. Trend states change over days rather than minutes, so constant checking adds nothing.
You can, but understand you are choosing a lower-probability version of the trade. Counter-trend positions justify smaller size and earlier exits.
No, it summarises them. Use it to set your bias quickly, then use charts for the actual entry and stop-loss decisions.
Trend state describes index direction; breadth describes how many individual stocks are participating. They answer different questions and are most useful read together.
It is the most stable and hardest to fight, but importance depends on how long you hold. A day trader constrained by a monthly trend they will never experience is over-thinking it.
Every technical term above, written for someone who has never traded before.
Trading in the direction the market is already going.
Rather than predicting turns, trend following waits for direction to establish itself and then joins it. Entries are less exciting and often feel late, but the approach avoids the most expensive habit in trading: repeatedly buying something because it looks cheap while it continues to fall.
How many stocks are participating, not just the index.
An index can rise because five heavyweight stocks rose while three hundred fell. Breadth counts advancers against decliners to reveal whether a move is broad or narrow. Broad participation supports a trend; a narrowing market is a warning even when the headline number looks healthy.
Money moving from one part of the market to another.
Capital rarely leaves the market entirely — it moves. When banks cool off and metals begin to lead, that is rotation. Spotting it early puts you in the group of stocks with a tailwind instead of fighting a sector that has just lost its sponsorship.
Short, medium and long-term trend lines.
The number is how many sessions the average covers. EMA 20 describes the last month of trading, EMA 50 the last quarter, EMA 200 roughly the last year. When price sits above all three and they are stacked in order, short above medium above long, the stock is in a healthy trend on every timeframe at once. That stacking is what most swing traders mean by "the trend is clean".
Holding for a few days to a few weeks.
Swing trading targets one leg of a move rather than every wiggle. Decisions are made after market hours, positions are held overnight, and stops are wider than intraday. For anyone with a job, it is usually the most practical style.
Positions opened and closed inside the same session.
Intraday trading avoids overnight news risk but demands speed and discipline, because every decision has to happen while the market is moving. Costs matter more here than anywhere else — commission and spread are paid on every round trip.
Holding for weeks to months.
Positional trading rides the larger trend and accepts deeper pullbacks along the way. It requires the fewest decisions and the most patience, and it lives on daily and weekly charts rather than minute-by-minute action.
Looking for a term that is not here? The full trading glossary covers every concept used across these guides.