A bullish divergence formed in January-March. The bullish divergence formed with Ebay moving to new lows in March and RSI holding above its prior low. RSI reflected less downside momentum during the February-March decline. The mid March breakout confirmed improving momentum. Divergences tend to be more robust when they form after an overbought or oversold reading.
Before getting too excited about divergences as great trading signals, it must be noted that divergences are misleading in a strong trend. A strong uptrend can show numerous bearish divergences before a top actually materializes. Conversely, bullish divergences can appear in a strong downtrend - and yet the downtrend continues. Chart 6 shows the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) with three bearish divergences and a continuing uptrend. These bearish divergences may have warned of a short-term pullback, but there was clearly no major trend reversal.