Shares of Hilltop Holdings Inc (HTH) have been trending up over the past five bars, revealing solid bullish momentum for the shares, as they ran 1.07% for the week.  Looking further out we note that the shares have moved -0.86% over the past 4-weeks, -18.52% over the past half year and -4.31% over the past full year.

Investors will be closely tracking the equity market as we charge through the last couple of months of the year. They may be doing a review of the portfolio to see what moves have worked and which ones haven’t. Reviewing specific holdings and past entry and exit points may help the investor develop new ideas to trade on in the future. Staying on top of market happenings and the economic landscape can be a challenge. Investors will be closely following the action over the next quarter to help gauge whether the bulls will stay out front, or if the bears will take the lead.    

Currently, Hilltop Holdings Inc (HTH) has a 14-day Commodity Channel Index (CCI) of -55.42. The CCI technical indicator can be employed to help figure out if a stock is overbought or oversold. CCI may also be used to aid in the discovery of divergences that could possibly signal reversal moves. A CCI closer to +100 may provide an overbought signal, and a CCI near -100 may offer an oversold signal.

Tracking other technical indicators, the 14-day RSI is presently standing at 45.43, the 7-day sits at 47.80, and the 3-day is resting at 51.69 for Hilltop Holdings Inc (HTH). The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a highly popular technical indicator. The RSI is computed base on the speed and direction of a stock’s price movement. The RSI is considered to be an internal strength indicator, not to be confused with relative strength which is compared to other stocks and indices. The RSI value will always move between 0 and 100. One of the most popular time frames using RSI is the 14-day.

Moving averages have the ability to be used as a powerful indicator for technical stock analysis. Following multiple time frames using moving averages can help investors figure out where the stock has been and help determine where it may be possibly going. The simple moving average is a mathematical calculation that takes the average price (mean) for a given amount of time. Currently, the 7-day moving average is sitting at 20.82.

Let’s take a further look at the Average Directional Index or ADX. The ADX measures the strength or weakness of a particular trend. Investors and traders may be looking to figure out if a stock is trending before employing a specific trading strategy. The ADX is typically used along with the Plus Directional Indicator (+DI) and Minus Directional Indicator (-DI) which point to the direction of the trend. The 14-day ADX for Hilltop Holdings Inc (HTH) is currently at 11.85. In general, and ADX value from 0-25 would represent an absent or weak trend. A value of 25-50 would support a strong trend. A value of 50-75 would signify a very strong trend, and a value of 75-100 would point to an extremely strong trend.

At some point in time, traders may have to deal with the overconfidence issue when dealing with the market. Traders may have times when they go on runs where everything works out. This may cause the individual to become overconfident in their ability and possibly lead to uninformed decisions late on. When the good times are rolling, it can be easy to think that the winners are a direct result of skill. This may be true, but if this is incorrect, it can lead to portfolio damage in the future. Having is long string of winning trades is a great thing, but markets can be cruel and have the ability to turn very quickly. Approaching every trade with the same research and examination may help the trader to make better decisions when a string of trades eventually go the wrong way.