Channel Analysis
MetaStock Indicator

Channel Analysis, beginning on page 18 of the July 1998 Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities Magazine It's quite easy to create the Trend Channels discussed in Thom Hartle's Channel Analysis article in MetaStock for Windows.

After opening a chart, you may want to zoom in a little to make it easier to draw the Trend Channels more precisely. You can do this by clicking on the "+" button located on the Chart Toolbar at the bottom of the chart. Next you may want to identify the bars for the support or resistant points by drawing circles on the bars as Mr. Hartle did in the article, or you can use symbols from the symbol palette.

Both can be chosen from the Drawing Toolbar which is on left side of the chart. After identifying the points to draw the trendline, click on the Trendline button, also located on the Drawing Toolbar, and draw the trendline between the closing prices of the two bars. If you are using MetaStock 6.5, you may want to right-click on the trendline, choose properties, and then check the Snap to Price checkbox. This will make the trendline line up exactly with the closing prices.

To create the second trendline of the Trend Channel, right-click on the first trendline and choose Create Parallel Line. Drag this parallel line so it aligns with the highest high between the two support points or the lowest low between two resistance points. If desired, you can go to the properties of each of these trendlines and choose to extend the lines to the right.