What Do I Need To Know About Technical Analysis Of Equities?

By: Mike Singh

Predicting future moves in the stock market has become a science. This form of prediction has become known as technical analysis. Traders who take this approach to investing in the stock market usually hold stocks for a short time period and then sell their stocks once the predicted profit has been achieved.

The foundations to technical analysis can be found in the understanding that stock price movements are predictable. All the factors affecting the value of a stock are reflected in the stock market with the greatest efficiency that can be found in any type of market. Movements in the stock value follow predictable historical trends, coupled with the efficiency of the market make it possible to predict the direction the stock is going to go.

Technical analysis is a very short term method of investing because the potential long term growth of a company is not taken into account through this method. Trades are timed to exactly reflect the upward and downward trends in the market so nothing is left to chance. Because buying and selling go through at specific times, losses can be minimized if the market does not move in the predicted manner.

Many methods of predicting the movement of the market have been developed for use in technical analysis. These methods for the most part are based on the 'support' and 'resistance' concept. How this works is that, support is the level by which a downward price is predicted to increase by and resistance is the level by which an upward price is expected reach before coming down again. To put this in clearer terms prices tend to fluctuate between a support and resistance levels.

Market movements are predicted for a large part through the use of charts (mostly bar charts). The horizontal axis represent time be it a minute, hour, day or week, while the vertical axis represents the price of the stock. By looking at the chart a trend for the stock value can be traced.

A trained analyst studies the chart and can see certain patterns in the chart that they can then use to predict for future movements in the price of stocks. As is the case with most things there is no one single pattern that fits all. There are hundreds of different types of movements, indicators and patterns that can be used. By combining a number of different indicators technical analysis can make it possible for an investor to become very successful on the stock market.

Article Source: http://yourfinance.co.za