Introduction The methods used to analyze securities and make investment decisions fall into two very broad

categories: fundamental analysis and technical analysis. Fundamental analysis involves analyzing the characteristics of a company in order to estimate its value. Technical analysis takes a completely different approach; it doesn't care one bit about the "value" of a company or a commodity. Technicians (sometimes called chartists) are only interested in the price movements in the market. Despite all the fancy and exotic tools it employs, technical analysis really just studies supply and demand in a market in an attempt to determine what direction, or trend, will continue in the future. In other words, technical analysis attempts to understand the emotions in the market by studying the market itself, as opposed to its components. If you understand the benefits and limitations of technical analysis, it can give you a new set of tools or skills that will enable you to be a better trader or investor.

What Is Technical Analysis? Technical analysis is a method of evaluating securities by analyzing the statistics generated by market activity, such as past prices and volume. Technical analysts do not attempt to measure a security's intrinsic value, but instead use charts and other tools to identify patterns that can suggest future activity. Just as there are many investment styles on the fundamental side, there are also many different types of technical traders. Some rely on chart patterns, others use technical indicators and oscillators, and most use some combination of the two. In any case, technical analysts' exclusive use of historical price and volume data is what separates them from their fundamental counterparts. Unlike fundamental analysts, technical analysts don't care whether a stock is undervalued - the only thing that matters is a security's past trading data and what information this data can provide about where the security might move in the future.

The field of technical analysis is based on three assumptions: 1. The market discounts everything. 2. Price moves in trends. 3. History tends to repeat itself. 1. The Market Discounts Everything A major criticism of technical analysis is that it only considers price movement, ignoring the fundamental factors of the company. However, technical analysis assumes that, at any given time, a stock's price reflects everything that has or could affect the company - including fundamental factors. Technical analysts believe that the company's fundamentals, along with broader economic factors and market psychology, are all priced into the stock, removing the need to actually consider these factors separately. This only leaves the analysis of price movement, which technical theory views as a product of the supply and demand for a particular stock in the market. 2. Price Moves in Trends In technical analysis, price movements are believed to follow trends. This means that after a trend has been established, the future price movement is more likely to be in the same direction as the trend

than to be against it. Most technical trading strategies are based on this assumption. 3. History Tends To Repeat Itself Another important idea in technical analysis is that history tends to repeat itself, mainly in terms of price movement. The repetitive nature of price movements is attributed to market psychology; in other words, market participants tend to provide a consistent reaction to similar market stimuli over time. Technical analysis uses chart patterns to analyze market movements and understand trends. Although many of these charts have been used for more than 100 years, they are still believed to be relevant because they illustrate patterns in price movements that often repeat themselves

When people use the term "day trading", they mean the act of buying and selling a stock within the same day. Day traders seek to make profits by leveraging large amounts of capital to take advantage of small price movements in highly liquid stocks or indexes. Here we look at some common day trading strategies that can be used by retail traders. Tutorial: An Introduction To Technical Analysis Entry Strategies Certain stocks are ideal candidates for day trading. A typical day trader looks for two things in a stock: liquidity and volatility. Liquidity allows you to enter and exit a stock at a good price (i.e. tight spreads and low slippage). Volatility is simply a measure of the expected daily price range - the range in which a day trader operates. More volatility means greater profit or loss. (To learn more, see Day Trading: An Introduction or Forex Trading Walkthrough.) Once you know what kinds of stocks you are looking for, you need to learn how to identify possible entry points. There are three tools you can use to do this: Advertisement - Article continues below.

Intraday Candlestick Charts - Candles provide a raw analysis of price action. Level II Quotes/ECN - Level II and ECN provide a look at orders as they happen. Real-Time News Service - News moves stocks. This tells you when news comes out. We will look at the intraday candlestick charts and focus on the following three factors:

Candlestick Patterns - Engulfings and dojis Technical Analysis - Trendlines and triangles

Volume - Increasing or decreasing volume There are many candlestick setups that we can look for to find an entry point. If properly used, the doji reversal pattern (highlighted in yellow in Figure 1) is one of the most reliable ones.

Figure 1: Looking at candlesticks - the highlighted doji signals a reversal. Typically, we will look for a pattern like this with several confirmations:

First, we look for a volume spike, which will show us whether traders are supporting the price at this level. Note that this can be either on the doji candle, or on the candles immediately following it. Second, we look for prior support at this price level. For example, the prior low of day (LOD) or high of day (HOD). Finally, we look at the Level II situation, which will show us all the open orders and order sizes. If we follow these three steps, we can determine whether the doji is likely to produce an actual turnaround, and we can take a position if the conditions are favorable. Typically, entry points are found using a combination of these three tools. (For more see the Charting Section of the Forex Walkthrough.) Finding a Target Identifying a price target will depend largely on your trading style. Here is a brief overview of some common day trading strategies: Strategy Scalping Description Scalping is one of the most popular strategies, which involves selling almost immediately after a trade becomes profitable. Here the price target is obviously just after profitability is attained. Fading involves shorting stocks after rapid moves upwards. This is based on the assumption that (1) they are overbought, (2) early buyers are ready to begin taking profits and (3) existing buyers may be scared out. Although risky, this strategy can be extremely rewarding. Here the price target is when buyers begin stepping in again.

Fading

Daily Pivots This strategy involves profiting from a stock's daily volatility. This is done by attempting to buy at the low of the day (LOD) and sell at

the high of the day (HOD). Here the price target is simply at the next sign of a reversal, using the same patterns as above. Momentum This strategy usually involves trading on news releases or finding strong trending moves supported by high volume. One type of momentum trader will buy on news releases and ride a trend until it exhibits signs of reversal. The other type will fade the price surge. Here the price target is when volume begins to decrease and bearish candles start appearing. You can see that, although the entries in day trading strategies typically rely on the same tools used in normal trading, the exits are where the differences occur. In most cases, however, you will be looking to exit when there is decreased interest in the stock (indicated by the Level II/ECN and volume). (For further reading, see Introduction To Types Of Trading: Momentum Traders and Introduction To Types Of Trading: Scalpers.) Determining a Stop-Loss When you trade on margin, you are far more vulnerable to sharp price movements than regular traders. Therefore, using stop-losses is crucial when day trading. One strategy is to set two stop losses: 1. A physical stop-loss order placed at a certain price level that suits your risk tolerance. Essentially, this is the most you want to lose. 2. A mental stop-loss set at the point where your entry criteria are violated. This means that if the trade makes an unexpected turn, you'll immediately exit your position. Retail day traders usually also have another rule: set a maximum loss per day that you can afford (both financially and mentally) to withstand. Whenever you hit this point, take the rest of the day off. Inexperienced traders often feel the need to make up losses before the day is over and end up taking unnecessary risks as a result. (To learn more, see The Stop-Loss Order - Make Sure You Use It.) Evaluating and Tweaking Performance Many people get into day trading expecting to make triple digit returns every year with minimal effort. In reality, many day traders lose money. However, by using a well-defined strategy that you are comfortable trading, you can improve your chances of beating the odds. How do you evaluate performance? Most day traders evaluate performance not so much by a percentage of gain or loss, but rather by how closely they adhere to their individual strategies. In fact, it is far more important to follow your strategy closely than to try to chase profits. By keeping this mindset, you make it easier to identify where problems exist and how to solve them. The Bottom Line Day trading is a difficult skill to master. As a result, many of those who try it fail. But the techniques described above can help you create a profitable strategy and, with enough practice and consistent performance evaluation, you can greatly improve your chances of beating the odds.

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