Shots across the bow
Courtesy of Allan
In the days before radar, radio and high-powered binoculars, one ship meeting another at a distance might not be able to tell the country from whence she hailed. Therefore, in the 18th century, the captain would order a “shot across the bow,” that is, a harmless cannonball lobbed across the bow of the ship. This was essentially a way to hail the ship and ask her to show her colors. If the colors were of an enemy country, the captain might then order an attack on the ship, but the shot across the bow had to be made first for it to be a legitimate engagement.
Here was the first shot across the bow, a daily Sell signal for US Steel:
Followed by another cannonball, GOOG:
Then the venerable DJIA following suit:
These were all Daily Signals, with the real confirmation of change held in abeyance, temporarily, by the Weekly Models. As we saw on Thursday-Friday, this too would pass:
"Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore."
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