Getting Started with Technical Analysis

Getting Started with Technical Analysis

The best way to start using technical analysis is to approach it as you would any subject that you wanted to learn more about and do your homework. A growing numbers of resources, including books and articles, are available both in print and online formats. Many websites provide educational content in the form of videos, webinars and chat rooms. You might want to start by learning about the different types of technical indicators, including those that measure momentum, trend, volatility and volume.

Steps to Learn Technical Analysis

1. Books: Read Books which helps to understanding Technical Analysis

Technical Analysis of Stock Trends by Robert D. Edwards and John Magee – this is without a doubt the bible of Technical Analysis. It’s a must read for anyone who takes this market seriously.

A Beginners Guide to Charting Financial Markets by Kahn – this is the most easy to read and easy to understand books in the history of technical analysis.

High Performance Trading by Steve Ward – the way he explains how to benefit from using more than just one timeframe is the perfect complement to all of these other books.

Technical Analysis and Stock Market Profits by Schabacker – It would be suggested to read this one first, before getting into Edwards and Magee. But you have to read both

The Way to Trade by Piper – Everything that you need to know about Technical Analysis, their history is in this book.

Future Trends from Past Cycles by Millard– This book helps you to think outside the box and explains how to manipulate different oscillators so you get signals that others wouldn’t because they use default settings.

2. Websites with Free Charting:

* STOCKCHARTS.COM; takes the #1 spot for its simplicity, cleanliness, and overall scalability. It is the most widely utilized free stock charting site for financial bloggers and is also the primary charting service used here at StockTradingToGo. The site offers a wide variety of different free tools and ways to analyze any stock chart desired. For investors who want historical charting and further analysis they can upgrade to a paid subscription.

*YAHOOFINANCE; provides a similar charting service to Google Finance just less the extra bullet points highlighting key dates. Yahoo’s charting service is clear, easy to use, and great for regular investors which are why it is #2 on this list. Yahoo Finance is also the go to place for quotes, research, news, etc.

*TRADINGVIEW.; offers a clean and flexible way of looking at stock charts. These stocks charts are community driven to provide analysis in the form of annotations on each chart. Personally, I disable these as they can be distracting, however. Community aside, Trading View also supports extensively flexible and detailed charts, not too mention better pricing than StockCharts.com for those who want access to advanced featured and/or real-time data.

*GOOGLEFINANCE; provides a very clean charting solution for investors. Two of its nice features include the ability to see what key events occurred on major days for the stock being analyzed and the ability to easily look back in time an analyze a stock’s historical performance. Comparing multiple charts or indices by having them overlap is also a breeze.

*FINVIZ.COM; charts are simple, easy to read, and include technical analysis overlays on them by default which is something the other chart providers do not do, making it unique.

3. ONLINE COURSES (FREE)

*Forex Technical Analysis Program

http://www.dailyfx.com/forex-education

*Elliott Wave Program

http://www.actionforex.com/education/free-training-courses/

*Forex Trading Course

http://www.tradingacademy.com/resources/free-online-courses.aspx

*Trading Introduction Course

http://www.learntotradethemarket.com/forex-university

4. Resources

4.1 Related Blogs

* Ino.com Traders Blog; Adam has some good general market analysis and trading updates. You’ll also find some good guest posts from other stock traders.

* StockCharts.com; is my go-to source for stock charts and their blog posts are usually very informative.

* The Kirk Report; Charles doesn’t post very often but when he does it is worth reading. Charles also has a highly rated membership section.

* On The Edge; This is the blog for Alan Farley, author of The Master Swing Trader. Always worth reading to get inside his head!

* Abnormal Returns; Tadas finds the top blog posts from all over the financial blogosphere. I read this daily to keep up with the latest stock market news.

4.2 Business Channels

*CNBC TV 18

*NDTV PROFIT

*CNN IBN

*CNBC AWAAZ

*ET NOW

*BBC

*BLOOMBERG

5. CERTIFICATIONS

5.1 CERTIFIED TECHNICAL ANALYST (CeTA) PROGRAM

Globally, the Technical Analysis industry is represented by the International Federation of Technical Analysts, USA (IFTA) and The Association of Technical Analysts (ATA) being an affiliated society of IFTA represents this industry in India.

As part of the ATA’s objective of promoting greater use and understanding of technical analysis education, ATA’s Education Committee have launched the professional course in Technical Analysis for both beginner and experienced analysts.

The main aim of the ATA’s Certification is to certify that the candidate acquires the professional knowledge, understanding and skills to pursue a career as a Technical Analyst in the Financial Services industry.

http://taindia.org/ATA_Certification

5.2 Certified Financial Technician (CFTe): Level I

ATA and other member societies recognize that IFTA’s Certifications represent the highest achievement and recognition by peers in the Technical Analysis community.

http://taindia.org/IFTA_Certifications