The trin is a measurement for stocks, and since futures naturally lead the market, I would say no. I've looked closely at the moving average of ES and that of TRIN and have never found any benefit of trading ES from TRIN.
TICK, TICKI, TRIN and PREM, i found them all to no value for my trading. I also used to watch the Nq and ES the same time for confirmation. Don't do that any more also. I just watch the PRODUCT, THAT I'M TRADING. Then you can trade what you see.
Try looking at something as simple as confirmation filter? ES has a breakout, but TICK/TRIN/etc. does not. TICK/TRIN/etc shows a breakout but price is hanging below/above support/resistance... what behavior do you see? Your indicator shows divergence, so does TICK/TRIN/etc., but price does not. Now take it one step further and try looking at non-linear relationships between various breadth indicators and other markets/indexes.... A lot of peopel dismisss the breadth indicators. I don't...
One of the best uses that I have found for the TICK in particular is when TICK has risen to overbought (relative to the day) and ES has risen with it as well. Then TICK falls, but ES does not fall. ES stays flat. When TICK reaches support and starts to bounce, look for rubberband shot up on the ES. (opposite for shorting)
Have to disagree completely. Regardless of who's leading who, I can assure you that if MSFT or IBM or GE is collapsing (or rallying hard) for whatever reason, the futures won't be far behind. So, yes, I find TRIN useful for all my trading, whether it's equities or futures. Dottom, good points, excellent post.
The tick, trin and prem are basic to trading the S&P's/ES. Different traders use them differently, but you are cutting yourself off from valuable information if you don't watch them closely.
oh yeah, especially on really big days. tick, trin, prem, cash, DJIU, and bonds, NYSE and nasdaq comp. You get a feel for how they are all moving, and then it is really easy to notice when one starts acting up. Something to watch when you have a nice profit and aren't determined to hang on, or you have a loss and don't feel like taking a full one. So you have narrow DJ on one side, and broad tick trin NYSE/nasdaq comp on the other, and es is right in the middle, so you can guess better how things may affect you.
I use TRIN as a filter for trading ES. If it is <.45 I will not Short. If it is > 1.35 I will not go Long. If it is at 1.0 I go play golf.
what if it's way above 1.35, but trending down? do you still not go long? Anyway, I like your golfing idea