In The Turning Point Newsletters we give information about forthcoming trends. We refer to the major JSE sectors such as the JSE Overall Index, JSE Industrial Index, JSE Financial Index and the JSE Gold Index.

By understanding the likely trends for each of these sectors, even if your particular shares aren't mentioned in the newsletter, you'll be in a position to judge whether the shares you own or want to invest in are vulnerable to a selloff or whether they are oversold. (An oversold share is one that looks good value for buyers.)

You can then decide whether the risk/reward market context favours a buying opportunity is coming up.

The same comments apply to international indices such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average (the USA), the FTSE 100 (the UK), the Nikkei Dow (Tokyo) and the Dax (Germany). International trends, particularly the DJIA, still have a strong influence on us.

We often also comment on the likely trends of currencies and the impact that these will have on JSE shares which are sensitive to changes in the value of the Rand. Of course the value of the Rand changes according to the relative strength or weakness of other currencies and conversely the relative strength or weakness of the Rand itself.

Where we see sector opportunities, we comment on them, referring to individual shares which we think will soon do well ("special opportunities"). In each case we give recommended buying levels, target levels and major support levels. Gilts and futures are occasionally referred to as well.

Look out for key support and resistance levels mentioned in the body of the newsletter where we analyze trends. These levels, if penetrated, are often very accurate signals of trend confirmation or trend changes. The idea is if an index moves up through an important ("key") level of resistance, it will probably continue up to the next resistance and will "test" it. In a strong bull market, resistances are continually broken on the upside.

Each break of a resistance is another interim signal that there will be some further upside potential. As a ball thrown in the air eventually comes down again however, prices or indices eventually move down to test support levels.

Similarly, if a support level is broken -- this is a signal that there could be further downside. It is our job to tell you how much downside, or in the case of a rising market, how much upside we think there will be.

Don't hang your investment hat on cycle factors alone. Yes, cycles are part of the mosaic of decision making inputs, but like the human psyche --- cycles can invert, come in early or late, or not be as big (or small) as hoped for. We comment on cycles from time to time.