In finance, technical analysis is an analysis methodology for analysing and forecasting the direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price and volume. As a type of active management, it stands in contradiction to much of modern portfolio theory. The efficacy of technical analysis is disputed by the efficient-market hypothesis, which states that stock market prices are essentially unpredictable, and research on whether technical analysis offers any benefit has produced mixed results. It is distinguished from fundamental analysis, which considers a company's financial statements, health, and the overall state of the market and economy.
The relative strength index (RSI) is a technical indicator used in the analysis of financial markets. It is intended to chart the current and historical strength or weakness of a stock or market based on the closing prices of a recent trading period. The indicator should not be confused with relative strength.
MACD, short for moving average convergence/divergence, is a trading indicator used in technical analysis of securities prices, created by Gerald Appel in the late 1970s. It is designed to reveal changes in the strength, direction, momentum, and duration of a trend in a stock's price.
The money flow index (MFI) is an oscillator that ranges from 0 to 100. It is used to show the money flow over several days.
Bollinger Bands are a type of statistical chart characterizing the prices and volatility over time of a financial instrument or commodity, using a formulaic method propounded by John Bollinger in the 1980s. Financial traders employ these charts as a methodical tool to inform trading decisions, control automated trading systems, or as a component of technical analysis. Bollinger Bands display a graphical band and volatility in one two-dimensional chart.
Williams %R, or just %R, is a technical analysis oscillator showing the current closing price in relation to the high and low of the past N days. It was developed by a publisher and promoter of trading materials, Larry Williams. Its purpose is to tell whether a stock or commodity market is trading near the high or the low, or somewhere in between, of its recent trading range.
The commodity channel index (CCI) is an oscillator indicator that is used by traders and investors to help identify price reversals, price extremes and trend strength when using technical analysis to analyse financial markets.
The accumulation/distribution line or accumulation/distribution index in the stock market, is a technical analysis indicator intended to relate price and volume, which supposedly acts as a leading indicator of price movements. It provides a measure of the commitment of bulls and bears to the market and is used to detect divergences between volume and price action - signs that a trend is weakening.
The detrended price oscillator (DPO) is an indicator in technical analysis that attempts to eliminate the long-term trends in prices by using a displaced moving average so it does not react to the most current price action. This allows the indicator to show intermediate overbought and oversold levels effectively.
The ultimate oscillator is a theoretical concept in finance developed by Larry Williams as a way to account for the problems experienced in most oscillators when used over different lengths of time.
George Lane was a securities trader, author, educator, speaker and technical analyst. He was part of a group of futures traders in Chicago who developed the stochastic oscillator, which is one of the core indicators used today among technical analysts. Lane was also President of Investment Educators Inc. in Watseka, Illinois, where he taught investors and financial professionals basic and advanced technical analysis methods. He popularized the stochastic oscillator.
In technical analysis in finance, a technical indicator is a mathematical calculation based on historic price, volume, or open interest information that aims to forecast financial market direction. Technical indicators are a fundamental part of technical analysis and are typically plotted as a chart pattern to try to predict the market trend. Indicators generally overlay on price chart data to indicate where the price is going, or whether the price is in an "overbought" condition or an "oversold" condition.
Stochastic oscillator is a momentum indicator within technical analysis that uses support and resistance levels as an oscillator. George Lane developed this indicator in the late 1950s. The term stochastic refers to the point of a current price in relation to its price range over a period of time. This method attempts to predict price turning points by comparing the closing price of a security to its price range.
The McClellan oscillator is a market breadth indicator used in technical analysis by financial analysts of the New York Stock Exchange to evaluate the balance between the advancing and declining stocks. The McClellan oscillator is based on the Advance-Decline Data and it could be applied to stock market exchanges, indexes, portfolio of stocks or any basket of stocks.
In financial technical analysis, the know sure thing (KST) oscillator is a complex, smoothed price velocity indicator developed by Martin J. Pring.
The range expansion index (REI) is a technical indicator used in the technical analysis of financial markets. It is intended to chart the relative strength or weakness of a trading vehicle based on the comparison of the recent price changes and the overall price changes for the period.
The true strength index (TSI) is a technical indicator used in the analysis of financial markets that attempts to show both trend direction and overbought/oversold conditions. It was first published William Blau in 1991. The indicator uses moving averages of the underlying momentum of a financial instrument. Momentum is considered a leading indicator of price movements, and a moving average characteristically lags behind price. The TSI combines these characteristics to create an indication of price and direction more in sync with market turns than either momentum or moving average. The TSI is provided as part of the standard collection of indicators offered by various trading platforms.
Timothy Charles Slater, known as "Tim", is an American entrepreneur and trader who founded CompuTrac, the first software program to draw commodity graphs and technical market indicators on a personal computer, in 1978. Slater contributed significantly to the field of technical analysis as a way to uncover price movements and trends.
Bill M. Williams (1932–2019) was an American trader and author of books on trading psychology, technical analysis, and chaos theory in trading the stock, commodity, and foreign exchange (Forex) markets. His study of stock market data led him to develop a number of technical analyses that identify trends in the financial markets. Indicators like Accelerator/Decelerator Oscillator, Alligator indicator, Awesome Oscillator, Fractals indicator, Gator Oscillator, and Market Facilitation Index are popular today in Forex, stock, and other financial markets.
