Technical Analysis For Dummies

at heart technical analysis seeks to measure and quantify market sentiment.

The emphasis in technical analysis is to make profits from trading, not to consider owning a security as some kind of savings vehicle. In buy-and-hold investing,

Technical analysis is the study of the price behavior of securities (and often the accompanying volume, too) in order to predict upcoming price moves. Focusing on price behavior gives you a window into the mind of the market — what the key players are thinking — and helps you make better trading decisions. Technical analysis seeks to identify and measure market sentiment, which at the most basic level means optimistic, pessimistic, or uncertain about future prices.