How to learn about doing technical analysis?  Any suggested programs or tools that teach it?
"A lot of investors prefer to start jumping into tools and figuring out from there, but I've always said that you should learn the theory before you go around applying it, so you can understand its shortcomings.  A great starting point is Investopedia's Introduction to Technical Analysis. There you can read about the ""idea"" of technical analysis, how it compares to other strategies, what some of the big ideas are, and quite a bit about various chart patterns (cup and handle, flags, pennants, triangles, head & shoulders, etc). You'll also cover ideas like moving averages and trendlines. After that, Charting and Technical Analysis by Fred McAllen should be your next stop. The material in the book overlaps with what you've read on Investopedia, but McAllen's book is great for learning from examples and seeing the concepts applied in action. The book is for new comers and does a good job explaining how to utilize all these charts and patterns, and after finishing it, you should be ready to invest on your own.  If you make it this far, feel free to jump into Fidelity's tools now and start applying what you've learned. You always want to make the connection between theory and practice, so start  figuring out how you can use your new knowledge to generate good returns.  Eventually, you should read the excellent reference text Technical Analysis of the Financial Markets by John Murphy. This book is like a toolbox - Murphy covers almost all the major techniques of technical analysts and helps you intuitively understand the reasoning behind them. I'd like to quote a part of a review here to show my point:  What I   like about Mr. Murphy is his way of showing and proving a point. Let   me digress here to show you what I mean: Say you had a daughter and   wanted to show her how to figure out the area of an Isosceles   triangle. Well, you could tell her to memorize that it is   base*height/2. Or if you really wanted her to learn it thoroughly you   can show her how to draw a parallel line to the height, then join the   ends to make a nice rectangle. Then to compute the area of a rectangle   just multiply the two sides, one being the height, the other being   half the base. She will then ""derive"" this and   ""understand"" how they got the formula. You see, then she can   compute the area under a hexagon or a tetrahedron or any complex   object. Well, Mr. Murphy will show us the same way and   ""derive"" for us concepts such as how a resistance line later   becomes a support line! The reson for this is so amusing that after   one reads about it we just go ""wow..."""" Now I understand why   this occurs"". Murphy's book is not about strategy or which tools to use. He takes an objective approach to describing the basics about various tools and techniques, and leaves it up to the reader to decide which tools to apply and when. That's why it's 576 pages and a great reference whenever you're working.  If you make it through and understand Murphy, then you'll be golden. Again, understand the theory first, but make sure to see how it's applied as well - otherwise you're just reading without any practical knowledge. To quote Richard Feynman: It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong.  Personally, I think technical analysis is all BS and a waste of time, and most of the top investors would agree, but at the end of the day, ignore everyone and stick to what works for you. Best of luck!" A great way to learn is by watching then doing. I run a very successful technical analysis blog, and the first thing I like to tell my readers is to find a trader online who you can connect with, then watch them trade. I particularly like Adam Hewison, Marketclub.com - This is a great website, and they offer a great deal of eduction for free, in video format. They also offer further video based education through their ino.tv partner which is paid. Here is a link that has their free daily technical analysis based stock market update in video format. Marketclub Daily Stock Market Update Corey Rosenblum, blog.afraidtotrade.com - Corey is a Chartered Market Technician, and runs a fantastic technical analysis blog the focuses on market internals and short term trades. John Lansing, Trending123.com - John is highly successful trader who uses a reliable set of indicators and patterns, and has the most amazing knack for knowing which direction the markets are headed. Many of his members are large account day traders, and you can learn tons from them as well. They have a live daily chat room that is VERY busy. The other option is to get a mentor. Just about any successful trader will be willing to teach someone who is really interested, motivated, and has the time to learn. The next thing to do once you have chosen a route of education is to start virtual trading. There are many platforms available for this, just do some research on Google. You need to develop a trading plan and methodology for dealing with the emotions of trading. While there is no replacement for making real trades, getting some up front practice can help reduce your mistakes, teach you a better traders mindset, and help you with the discipline necessary to be a successful trader. I recall the name Martin Pring. As my fundamental analysis book from grad school was the work of Graham and Dodd titled Security Analysis, Pring was the author of the books I read on technical analysis. If you've not read his work, your education has a ways to go before you hit the tools. Recommended? There's really no perfect answer. You need to know the motivations of the participants in the markets that you will be participating in. For instance, the stock market's purpose is to raise capital (make as much money as possible), whereas the commodities-futures market's purpose is to hedge against producing actual goods. The participants in both markets have different reactions to changes in price.
"&gt;I hear lots of interesting stories about teaching. The most recent involves an experimental program where the teacher performance isn't graded on student outcomes but how well they're following the narrative defined by the program. Every few years teachers are handed new programs that the district curriculum people bought and told ""you're going to teach $subject using this program now!"" (sometimes those programs work better for different groups of students - the ones that it was evaluated with do great, the ones in different neighborhoods are failed by the program) The programs are implemented district wide and the teachers are told not to deviate from the programs.  Nothing really ""new"" there at all. And it isn't ""local control"" -- it is the opposite: standard ""central planning"", typically driven by Federal and State ""Department of Education"" bureaucrats in combination with Teacher's Union officials (but I am being redundant, because they are one and the same, there being a revolving door). And then it is pressed down on the school by an administrator who is attempting to please the ""higher ups"" (and/or to guarantee the flow of funds linked to said program) on one of their several ridiculously inane ""metrics"".  &gt;A recent example from the town I grew up in.  That letter is *hilariously SAD* (and not for the reasons that you think).  This ""teacher"" (with a Masters Degree (!!!!) in Reading -- from which I assume they believe they understand ""reading"" better than anyone  -- be interesting to know the last time this ""Master"" of reading actually READ a book that wasn't strictly required, the answer is probably a decade or more ago)...  This ""teacher"" is really just one central-planning disciple who is objecting to a *different* central planning program than the one they themselves were indoctrinated into.  The whole thing is very revealing regarding the sheer lunacy of the ""scientific educator"" and ""scientific education"" paradigm.  This teacher (like the administrators the teacher derides) is concerned about the WRONG things. There is really no concern about whether kids are learning how to read and to enjoy/utilize reading (which is a rudimentary skill kids can pick up on their own, provided they haven't had it turned into ""torture"" by some brainless curricula &amp; teacher).  But rather it is all about ""what [curricula] to use for reading/language arts"".  The phrasing of that question and the misguided emphasis of it reveals the fact that the teacher really doesn't have a CLUE how to truly get kids reading and understanding the English language.  Basically he/she just wants to ""work a program"" (by a semi-mindless *rote*) and is really only pissed because the programs keep being changed on them.   *Fortunately, a least a small part of the kids WILL learn to read (mostly due to authors/industry putting out things they are interested in -- all hail JK Rowling, JRR Tolkien, &amp; Suzanne Collins) not because of but* **despite** *the formal schooling systems attempts to ""teach"" them.*" College professor here. I often think about the fact that all the information I teach is available online. Students are paying a premium for my course- what of value do I bring?  **Filter** There is a lot of good information online, but there is also a lot of inaccurate information. I filter out inaccurate information.   **Structure** I organize material in a way that makes it easier to digest  **Elaboration** I provide context and examples. I'm able to explain complex topics in several different ways in case students don't get it the first time.   **Motivation** I explain *why* students need to learn something; I hold them accountable for deadlines.   **Social interaction** I get students to talk with one another and see material from multiple view points.   **Feedback** This is, in my opinion, the most valuable thing I provide to students, and I invest *a lot* of time in it. What are students doing well? What are they not doing well? How can they improve?  This doesn't mean intelligent, motivated individuals can't learn from online materials as well as in a classroom- I believe they can. But the classroom environment does provide some advantages over teaching yourself material online. I don't see balance sheet in what you're looking at, and I'd definitely suggest learning how to read a balance sheet and looking at it, if you're going to buy stock in a company, unless you know that the recommendations you're buying on are already doing that and you're willing to take that risk.  Also, reading past balance sheets and statements can give you an idea about how accurate the company is with their predictions, or if they have a history of financial integrity. Now, if you're going the model portfolio route, which has become popular, the assumption that many of these stock buyers are making is that someone else is doing that for them.  I am not saying that this assumption is valid, just one that I've seen; you will definitely find a lot of skeptics, and rightly so, about model portfolios.  Likewise, people who trade based on what [Person X] does (like Warren Buffett or David Einhorn) are assuming that they're doing the research.  The downside to this is if you follow someone like this.  Yeah, oops. I should also point out that technical analysis, especially high probability TA, generally only looks at history.  Most would define it as high risk and there are many underlying assumptions with reading the price movements by high probability TA types. I've seen agism go the other way on my job.   A Generation X'er Accounts Payable Clerk in my department was promoted to an Accounts Payable Supervisory role simply because she has kids and my Baby Boomer boss sympathized with her on a personal level. The punchline is this woman doesn't understand accounting on a fundamental level (she has some junior college education, no degree).  I (Generation Y) on the other hand had to train up my Baby Boomer boss in our industry over the course of a year. Attempt to teach him how to use our ERP system (he refuses to learn how to use our accounting system and he's the CFO, big red flag, we're going on year 2 now), cover for him when he make bone-headed Accounting 101 mistakes, and be the defacto department manager (I'm the Senior Accountant) because his Accounts Payable supervisor doesn't know how to debit and credit accounts correctly. The buck should stop with her when it comes to Accounts Payable transactions but she's too incompetent to handle the responsibility.  So now my boss is looking hire a new staff to the department and I'm gunning for a Manager's title (I do the managing already I just want the official title and pay raise). In addition I would like to have an official direct report, instead of all this  unofficial direct reporting going on.   I found out last week that I'm not up for consideration, but the girl that has NO COLLEGE DEGREE who was in my position before me, but left (knew someone who got her a better job) is on the short list for the position. Of course she's a Generation X'er. I'm more experienced technically than she is, I have less years of experience but my skill set is larger, I'm much better educated, and I bring database administration and programming to the table in addition to Accounting (Accounting ERP softwares are essentially databases). I even fixed the tax mess she left the department on the way out.  I suspect the reason why I wasn't up for consideration is because I stand out. I'm young (28, look young), gym fit (coworkers are all overweight), and no kids (that seems to REALLY single me out). Everyone else never learned what a condom was and had children around 16-19 years of age. So instead of the workplace becoming a meritocracy, it's a game of who can put themselves in bad situations and garner sympathy for pay raises and promotions they don't deserve. We have custom software written in mostly C# for the long term strategies. Day trading is done on multiple platforms. Currently using ToS scripts for some futures and equities strategies to great success, and sierra charts for a few futures exclusively. I just moved into a position to work with day trading so I'm still learning more about the systems he uses First you will need a plan stating three main points: You will have to decide what criteria you will use to answer these points. You might use Fundamental Analysis to find what to buy and Technical Analysis to decide when to buy and when to sell (your buy and sell triggers). Once you have a Trading Plan in place you would need to find a broker with conditional orders. You can place conditional buy orders to get in a trade (for example if the price moves above or below a target price). You can place conditional stop loss orders if your trade goes against you, and you can also place conditional profit target stops to automatically get out if rises to your desired profit target. You can place one, two or many conditional orders after hours which will enable you to trade without being in front of your screen all day long. The best learning technique for me is not to dredge through books in order to gain a better understanding of finance.  This is tedious and causes me to lose interest.  I'm not sure of your tolerance for this type of learning.  I tend to learn in small pieces.  Something piques my interest and I go off reading about that particular topic. May I suggest some alternate methods: Frederic Mishkin wrote a few text books on financial concepts that are widely used in colleges.  If you're not looking for a textbook - I'd really recommend Khan Academy on YouTube.  He's got some great videos on supply and demand - bonds, exchange rates - monetary policy by the federal reserve. All academically sound. They're very easy to digest and watch over again for reference.