Technical Analysis Vs Stocks…is There A Connection?

Trying to figure out what any stock, at any given time in the world will do, as far as price movement up or down can be daunting. Well, to help with this quandary there are two different methodologies used. However, the one that has proven most reliable over many decades has been that of fundamental analysis.

Fundamental analysis views not only the financial opportunities of a company, but also the likelihood of accomplishing these goals in respect to their competitors. Technical analysis, on the other hand, has been successful in use, but not very structured or scientific. Thus, the question again arises, what is the connection between stocks and technical analysis?

If you can believe it, technical analysis is simply the studying of past market trends to make a determination as to what the future of the stock’s price is going to be. But, that still doesn’t answer the whole question - what is the whole connection between technical analysis and stocks? More importantly, how can people think they can predict the price of a stock from looking at charts and graphs and not the financial health or condition of a company?

The primary reason that technical analysis is used by some market analysts is because it can be used subjectively. The analysts can downgrade a stock and or anticipate higher earnings. One would think that from a statistical standpoint, a regular trading day would only be swayed by the daily activities and independent of anything else that has previously occurred. The truth is that over time market movements occur and trends develop. The movements made and the events that occur are not really isolated at all to one day, but are usually cumulative over a period of time.

As a result, technical analysis utilizes tons of data including old stock quotes, trading volume charts, and a host of other data, to develop charts and graphs that work to determine exactly how long the impact of a move in a company will persist and impact the stock market trading of a particular issue.

When compared to each other, fundamental analysis and technical analysis of the same stock market gives much different results. Fundamental analysis is considered a long term or \”long\” predictor in markets. Technical analysis is considered a short term or \”short\” predictor in markets.

Technical analysis is much more difficult to explain to the layperson due to the incessantly large amount of jargon involved, much of it to describe shapes in graphs and trend lines that exist. An elbow, or a shoulder, or a host of other terms can all be used to describe the same trend in a graph (in this case, a level market, followed by a steep drop, and another leveling off) which can confuse and put off the typical investor from investing in a company.

Overall, those who are familiar with investing still question, \”Technical Analysis vs Stocks…Is there a connection?\” in regard to how can these types of analysis can be used everyday. Honestly, the fact that technical analysis is very subjective to the person who uses it, including being a bit imprecise brings concern. Fortunately, since it has been successful on the whole, this tool is still arguably a good one to use for market analysis.