Category — Technical Analysis

Most folks see technical traders as lucky market magicians. They know nothing about the principles of technical analysis, so they quickly dismiss the practice as witchcraft or coincidence.

I understand where many of these investors are coming from. I mean, it’s hard to embrace the chaos that is the stock market. We’re only human — and most of us desire predictability and absolutes above all else.

It’s no wonder so many investors have trouble shaking the buy-and-hold philosophy that has shaped their investing worldview.

But even if you consider yourself a fundamentals-driven investor, you have to incorporate some technical analysis into your strategies. If you open your mind and apply technical indicators to your fundamental ideas, I promise you’ll begin to rake in the profits that were once so elusive. [Read more →]

When it comes to technical analysis, many people don’t know where to start.

That’s why last weekend we introduced you to one of the more basic tools, moving averages.

However, that’s just the beginning. There are many types of technical analysis indicators. Today we’ll show you another.

While we said that moving averages play a big part in Slipstream Trader, Murray Dawes’ analysis, there’s another indicator that plays an even bigger role. It’s the average true range indicator. It’s more commonly known as the ATR indicator. [Read more →]

Often, when people first became interested in the stock market, they develop an interest in technical analysis. But sometimes, after reading a book or two on the subject, they find they know no more than before they read the book. Discouraged, many people give up.

But there’s no need to. When something looks complicated the best place to start is with something simple. And in technical analysis that means starting with moving averages.
Even though they’re simple and easy to understand, moving averages can be an important tool in a trader’s toolbox. Let’s have a quick look at how they work…

A moving average is simply a rolling indicator many traders use. It can help eliminate some of the market noise. And it’s helpful to detect ‘trends’ arising in a stock.

So for example, a 10-day moving average (MA) is the average price for the past ten days. Or, a 200-day MA is the average price for the past 200 days. See, simple. Generally, a trader will use two or three moving averages of different durations to define a trend.

How does that work? Again, it’s simple. When these indicators cross over, it’s often a signal of a change in market direction. [Read more →]

Essentially Technical analysis is a study of the actual share price movement, not the fundamentals of the company.

Technical Analysis is probably the more common and successful way of making trading decisions and analyzing forex and commodities markets.This is how the trader uses the forecasting of future financial price movements founded on an scrutiny of past price movements.

This is a method of assessing securities by analyzing the statistics generated by market activity, such as past prices and volume.  This research of market dynamics is done mainly with the help of charts and with the aim of calculating future price development.

Technical analysis is widely believed to be essential in limiting risk and maximizing profit as part of any trading and investment scheme.  Technical analysis is often contrasted with fundamental analysis,the study of economic components that influence prices in financial markets.   [Read more →]

When you are looking at a chart and happen to encounter a stock that breakouts through its resistance line. What you are looking at is one of the most desirable of all trade opportunities.

To explain exactly what a breakout is,it is  a penetration of the resistance line. This resistance line was based on a stock price that has been established over time. This occurs where price reversals have taken place at approximately the same price level in previous time periods.

Sounds easy doesn’t it?

These breakouts are fantastic that is if they continue to go upwards.  But if they fail you can expect the price not to trend sideways but it could quite possibly return to or come close to  the original resistance line probably before it rises again. This is where a stop loss comes in handy to lock in those profits that you made as the price was going up. [Read more →]

If you have been trading for a while and have used some Technical Analysis you would by now have heard of Fibonacci Retracements.

Fibonacci, was actually named Leonardo of Pisa. He was born in Pisa, Italy,home of the Famous Leaning Tower of Pisa around the time of 1175 A.D. Historically he is recognized as the greatest European mathematicians of the middle ages.

He is also credited with introducing the Arabic-Hindu numeric system to Europe. He also has been attributed to introducing the decimal system as well. These have become the basis of mathematics that we are currently using today. One very bright boy. [Read more →]

Amongst the first errors new traders make when they begin trading in the stock market is putting in a lot of wasted time and effort into anticipating trends. Numerous traders nowdays are using very complicated formulas, indicators, and various other systems in order to help them to identify possible future trends in the market place.

Therefore it is not surprising that they invariably end up with plotting so many indicators on a single chart that they end up so confused that they can’t even see the share prices any longer. The trouble here is that they have lost sight of making a simple basic decision about when to buy and when to sell. Hopefully at a profit.

The mistake a lot of traders are guilty of making is when they are trying to accomplish too much at once. The major problem here is that the trader has the attitude that the more complicated their system is the easier it will be at “predicting” trends. This is all but a pipe dream.. [Read more →]

There are literally thousands of stocks listed in the various stock markets which are quite suitable for trading profitably, but how does a trader go about choosing his/her stock selection successfully?

In this particular instance I am not referring to the commonly used basic fundamental approach. This where the trader analyses the various fundamentals of the company, which also includes researching the performance results and checking its price-earnings ratios and other basics fundamentals.

Overall, many successful traders who genuinely make their living off by trading professionally in the stock markets, quite often their preferred method seems to be the technical analysis approach.

This means of course that they are using charting methods, and the other various technical indicators which pertains to their selected stock. What these traders are actually trying to do is to scan for stocks that will meet some of their preselected indicators or criteria. The ultimate aim of course is to show the trader which stocks are beginning to move or have already begun to move in the desired direction. [Read more →]