Technical analysis is based on the assumption that all information that can affect the performance of a stock, company fundamentals, economic factors, and market sentiments, is reflected already in its stock prices.
Technical Analysis of a Stock – How?
Technical analysts do not care to analyze the fundamentals of the business. Instead, the approach is to forecast the direction of prices through the study of patterns in historical market data – price and volume. Market activity will generate indicators in price trends that can be used to forecast the direction and magnitude of stock price movements in the future.
There are three essential elements in understanding price behavior:
Price – The history of past prices provides indications of the underlying trend and its direction.
Volume – The volume of trading that accompanies price movements provides important inputs on the underlying strength of the trend.
Time Span – The time span over which price and volume are observed factors in the impact of long-term factors that influence prices over a period of time.
The technical analysis integrates these three elements into price charts, points of support and resistance in charts, and price trends. By observing price and volume patterns, technical analysts try to understand if there is adequate buying interest that may take prices up, or vice versa.
Technical Analysis is a specialized stream in itself and involves the study of various trends- upwards, downwards or sideways, so that traders can benefit by trading in line with the trend. Identifying support and resistance levels, which represent points at which there is a lot of buying and selling interest respectively, and the implications on the price if a support and resistance level is broken, are important conclusions that are drawn from past price movements.
For example, if a stock price is moving closer to an established resistance level, a holder of the stock can benefit by booking profits at this stage since the prices are likely to retract once it is close to the resistance level. If a support or resistance is broken, accompanied by strong volumes, it may indicate that the trend has accelerated and the supply and demand situation has changed.
Trading volumes are important parameters to confirm a trend. An upward or downward trend should be accompanied by strong volumes. If a trend is not supported by volumes or the volumes decrease, it may indicate a weakness in the trend.
Technical analysis converts the price and volume data into charts that represent the stock price movements over a period of time. Some of the charts used include line charts, bar charts, and candlestick charts. The patterns thrown up by the charts are used to identify trends, reversal of trends, and triggers for buying or selling a stock. Typically, chartists use the moving average of the price of the stock to reduce the impact of day-to-day fluctuations in prices that may make it difficult to identify the trend.
Assumptions of technical analysis
1. The market price is determined by the interaction of supply and demand.
2. Supply and demand are governed by many rational and irrational factors.
3. Price adjustments are not instantaneous and prices move in trends
4. Trends persist for appreciable lengths of time.
5. Trends change in reaction to shifts in supply and demand relationships.
6. These shifts can be detected in the action of the market itself.
Technical versus Fundamental Analysis
Fundamental analysis involves determining the intrinsic worth of the stock and comparing it with the prevailing market price to make investment decisions. Fundamental analysts believe that prices will move towards their intrinsic value sooner or later. Technical analysis is not concerned if the stock is trading at a fair price relative to its intrinsic value. It limits itself to future movements in prices as indicated by the historical data. It is used for short-term term trading activities and not necessarily long-term investing.
Advantages of Technical Analysis
Technicians feel that the major advantage of their method is that it is not heavily dependent on financial accounting statements. They feel that a great deal of information is lacking in financial statements. They also contend that a lot of non-financial information and psychological factors do not appear in the financial statements.
Technicians also feel that, unlike fundamental analysts, they do not need to collect information to derive the intrinsic value of the stocks. They only need to quickly recognize a movement to a new equilibrium value for whatever reason. Hence, they save time in collecting enormous amounts of information and data which is a prerequisite for fundamental analysis.
