Showing posts with label investors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label investors. Show all posts

Friday, June 12, 2009

What Do I Need To Know About Technical Analysis Of Equities?What Do I Need To Know About Technical Analysis Of Equities?

Predicting future moves in the stock market has become a science. This form of prediction has become known as technical analysis. Traders who take this approach to investing in the stock market usually hold stocks for a short time period and then sell their stocks once the predicted profit has been achieved.

The foundations to technical analysis can be found in the understanding that stock price movements are predictable. All the factors affecting the value of a stock are reflected in the stock market with the greatest efficiency that can be found in any type of market. Movements in the stock value follow predictable historical trends, coupled with the efficiency of the market make it possible to predict the direction the stock is going to go.

Technical analysis is a very short term method of investing because the potential long term growth of a company is not taken into account through this method. Trades are timed to exactly reflect the upward and downward trends in the market so nothing is left to chance. Because buying and selling go through at specific times, losses can be minimized if the market does not move in the predicted manner.

Many methods of predicting the movement of the market have been developed for use in technical analysis. These methods for the most part are based on the 'support' and 'resistance' concept. How this works is that, support is the level by which a downward price is predicted to increase by and resistance is the level by which an upward price is expected reach before coming down again. To put this in clearer terms prices tend to fluctuate between a support and resistance levels.

Market movements are predicted for a large part through the use of charts (mostly bar charts). The horizontal axis represent time be it a minute, hour, day or week, while the vertical axis represents the price of the stock. By looking at the chart a trend for the stock value can be traced.

A trained analyst studies the chart and can see certain patterns in the chart that they can then use to predict for future movements in the price of stocks. As is the case with most things there is no one single pattern that fits all. There are hundreds of different types of movements, indicators and patterns that can be used. By combining a number of different indicators technical analysis can make it possible for an investor to become very successful on the stock market.

The Value Investing Approach - What Is Value Investing All About?

One investment strategy is value investing. Individuals who adopt this style of investment are called value investors. Value investors usually purchase companies whose share price could be underappreciated for some reason.

Value investors search the marker for the undervalued companies. The reason a company is thought to be undervalued is because value investors believe that the stock market overreacts to good and bad news announced by companies in the company's monthly, quarterly or annual reports. This means that in the short run share prices fluctuations have more volatility than that of the average long run price of the shares in a company. The short term swings in the price of shares leaves value investors with a good opportunity to make a quick buck.

The majority of value investors seek out stocks with lower prices than the average price to book. However the value of stocks is no longer as easy to estimate as it once was. The book value of certain goods is well defined however since the advent of fast paced technological advancement and the constant changing of technological products the value of most goods is no longer so easy to predict.

The potential in value investing was first recognised by Benjamin Graham who was a lecturer from Columbia University. What Graham propagated was a cautionary approach to investing. What this means is, purchasing stocks that are relatively safe in that they don't fluctuate greatly from their book value. This protects value investors from any potential stock market shocks in the future be they good or bad.

Value investing is the a good relatively safe way for an experienced investor to make safe earnings on the stock market while minimizing risk. The fluctuations of the stock market are avoided as opposed to day traders who like the ride the waves of the stock market. Day trading is a very risky form of investment and not for the faint hearted investors.

The stock market has just as many losers as winners. For every stock sold on the market by a seller there is a buyer out there who is purchasing it. Only one of you, either the buyer or seller can be right. One of you is making a profit the other one is making a loss.

In summary - in order to be a good value investor you must have a deep understanding of the how the market works and a keen eye for how efficient the market is at any given point of time.