Common indicators? For sentiment indicators I've seen volatility (VIX) and put-call ratio discussed. A bit of googling reveals the CFTC COT (Commitment Of Traders) index which I hadn't heard of before [1]. What other short and long horizon indicators are good to consider? A nice one to have right now would be some kindof world debt crisis indicator! Or we should just all invest in Russia (one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios) [2]. [1] http://www.cftc.gov/marketreports/commitmentsoftraders/index.htm [2] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html
Most technical analysis indicators are derivatives of price and therefore provide similar information. However, using multiple non-correlated indicators is helpful when several different ones suggest the same market direction. Larry Williams teaches this approach to commodity trading using the COT report, sentiment, seasonal tendencies, price action, moving averages, oscillator divergence, etc. I have posted some charts illustrating a few of these concepts elsewhere on ET. For example: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=186559&perpage=6&pagenumber=5