The Breadth Dashboard Routine
Today, as I read that Trump is blockading Iran, I will share with you a very old-fashioned way to monitor money flows in the financial markets.
This is 1 part of a 6-part routine that should really help you stay on the right path of the markets and trends.
In war and in peace.
The initial article can be found HERE
The tough part is finding free and easy-to-use online services to monitor. Online, everyone has a firewall or wants to charge for basically water.
It used to be very easy to find in newspapers, but that is a relic of the past.
I personally believe it’s so useful that the powers that be just don’t want you to have the info.
What we will be measuring today is known as the concept of Accumulation vs. Distribution of the financial markets…
Through daily stock movements, options, and the underlying volume
The only website I found free and easy to use is:
https://www.marketinout.com/chart/market.php?breadth=advance-decline-line
Did you go there yet?
So the SEVEN things I want you to look at are:
(And the rule of technical analysis is: DON’T THINK, LOOK
Am I wrong? right?
The chart will show it clearly)
With the help of AI I generated the text below.
Why am I admitting this?
Not so you will zone out but show you what the basic, core concepts you should be observing as an investor.
With a “no-cost, fee” diet. So let’s dive in.
Tab 1 — % Above 200MA. The 200-day MA is the institutional dividing line between bull and bear. Fund managers, quant models, and risk desks all use it. When more than 60% of S&P stocks are above it, the institutional bid is broad. When it falls below 40%, funds are in risk-off mode even if the headline index hasn’t cracked yet. You’re reading their positioning, not guessing at it.
Tab 2 — A/D Line The index is a lie told by large caps. The A/D Line is the truth told by the majority. Every major top in modern market history — 2000, 2007, 2021 — showed A/D Line divergence weeks to months before price broke. It is the single most historically validated breadth tool in existence.
Tab 3 — A/D Volume Line Bodies without dollars is a protest march, not a revolution. If stocks are advancing but volume isn’t following, institutional money isn’t behind the move. Retail is pushing, smart money is distributing. This separates genuine rallies from sucker moves.
Tab 4 — % Above 50MA The 50MA is where the intermediate-term trend lives. This tab is your early warning system — it degrades before the 200MA read does. Think of it as the canary. By the time Tab 1 breaks down, Tab 4 has usually been warning you for 2-3 weeks already.
Tab 5 — New Highs / New Lows A healthy bull market constantly mints new winners. When the index grinds higher but the new highs list shrinks and new lows expand, the market is being carried by fewer and fewer stocks. That’s a narrowing base — structurally fragile. This tab gives you the raw count, no interpretation needed.
Tab 6 — McClellan Oscillator Everything above is structural/positional. The McClellan adds velocity. It tells you whether breadth is accelerating or decelerating right now. Extreme negative readings (-100 and below) historically coincide with short-term washout lows — buyable panic. Extreme positives signal breadth thrust, which is actually a bullish signal when coming off a low. It’s a timing layer on top of the structural reads.
Tab 7 — McClellan Summation Index This is the cumulative total of the Oscillator — a smoothed, slow-moving picture of whether the breadth engine is building or exhausting over weeks and months. Sherman McClellan called it the “troops vs. generals” indicator. When it turns down from a high level while price is still elevated, that’s one of the most reliable topping signals in technical analysis. Check weekly, not daily — it’s not noise-sensitive.
The through-line: Each tab addresses a different time-horizon question.
200MA = months.
A/D Line = weeks to months.
A/D Volume = same timeframe with conviction filter.
50MA = weeks. Highs/Lows = confirmation.
McClellan Oscillator = days to weeks.
Summation = months.
Together, they give you a complete picture from the inside out.
Understand? Kicked the tires?
Here is the 8-minute routine that I generated with the help of AI.
(When you see my videos, I’ll throw in some spice but for YOU lets focus on the basics)
The 8-Minute Routine — Tab Order
Tab 1 — % Above 200MA (Regime) S&P panel only. Above 60% = bull structure intact. Below 40% = defensive. 30 seconds.
Tab 2 — Advance/Decline Line (Trend confirmation) Is the S&P A/D Line confirming the index or diverging? This is your headline read. 90 seconds.
Tab 3 — A/D Volume Line (Money breadth) Compare to Tab 2. If the A/D Line is rising but the Volume Line is flat, the rally has no conviction behind it. 60 seconds.
Tab 4 — % Above 50MA (Short-term deterioration) Moves faster than the 200MA read. Internal rot shows here first. 30 seconds.
Tab 5 — New Highs / New Lows (Confirmation or contradiction) Index near highs but new lows expanding? Market narrowing. Simple binary check. 30 seconds.
Tab 6 — McClellan Oscillator (Momentum of breadth). Above zero = breadth expanding. Below zero = contracting. Extreme readings (+100 / -100) signal exhaustion or washout. 60 seconds.
Tab 7 — McClellan Summation Index (Big picture engine). Check this weekly, not daily. Rising = underlying engine building. Rolling over = structural deterioration beginning. 60 seconds.
What to Ignore for Now
Arms Index, A/D Ratio, McClellan Volume Oscillator/Summation — these add noise until you have the core 7 above wired. Come back to them in 60 days.
The Global Bonus
That site shows FTSE, DAX, Nasdaq, TSX, Hang Seng, Straits Times, KLSE — all with their own A/D Lines. Once a week, glance at the global panel. If US breadth is holding but European and Asian A/D Lines are rolling over, you’re seeing a global divergence forming. That’s not noise — that’s early signal.
Total time: 8 minutes. Cost: $0. Bookmark it and go.
Have a Super Sunday and don’t read the news, read where the $ is going.
Eric