June 2012
Technical analysis is using market price data, usually displayed in a chart, to try and predict future price movements. To predict future price movements, there are two central tenets: Inertia – You will often hear technical analysts say things like “Don’t fight the trend” and “Don’t Try to catch a falling knife” which capture the spirit of the inertia tenant.
Basically, you want to be long when the market is rising and short or flat when the market is falling. Reversion To Mean – Markets tend to overshoot the “real” value of a security during any strong directional move up or down. As a rally or sell-off loses steam, saner heads prevail. This usually leads to a more rational assessment of value and creates a move in the opposite direction.
There are Several Problems with Technical Analysis For Municipal Bonds
Not Enough Data – To know the trend, you need to know the price history. Most municipal bond issues trade relatively infrequently which means that price data for them can be difficult to interpret . This problem can be solved by looking at groups of bonds of a similar type and combining the price data.
Interest Rate Changes Can Overwhelm Relative Price Movements – The primary driver of all bond prices, including municipal bonds, is the overall interest rate environment. Without adjusting for interest rates, detecting meaningful trends in market data is very difficult.
To do detailed market analysis municipal bond market professionals talk about a spread against a yield curve of AAA General Obligation (GO) State Bonds. When a bond has a spread of +100 bps its yield is 1.0% (100 bps) more than the average AAA yield for its maturity.This allows market participants to discuss relative changes of value between different types of municipal bonds. Do Hospital Bonds Look Overbought? Daniel Berger, a …
