technical analysis

Definition 1

General: Examination and evaluation by experts of materials, processes, practices and other factors associated with economy, efficiency, effectiveness, or safety.

Definition 2

Trading: One of the two basic techniques (the other is fundamental analysis) used by commodity and stockmarket investors/speculators to estimate price movements. Technical analysts (also called 'chartists' or 'technicians') believe that (in case of stocks) the intrinsic value of a firm or its estimated earnings-potential, and (in case of commodities) the demand and supply information, is insufficient to predict its future prices. Instead, they rely on statistical methods and collective (mob) psychology techniques, and use data charts and computer programs, to study past movements in prices and trading volumes to detect current and future trends. Most technical analysis is short- or intermediate-term, and is based on three major tenets: (1) history repeats itself—what goes around comes around, (2) prices move in trends and usually follow known patterns, and (3) current market price of a stock (share) or commodity reflects the effect of all available information about it.