Investopedia

Technical Indicator

Dictionary Says

Definition of 'Technical Indicator'

Any class of metrics whose value is derived from generic price activity in a stock or asset. Technical indicators look to predict the future price levels, or simply the general price direction, of a security by looking at past patterns. Examples of common technical indicators include Relative Strength Index, Money Flow Index, Stochastics, MACD and Bollinger Bands®.
Investopedia Says

Investopedia explains 'Technical Indicator'

Technical indicators, collectively called "technicals", are distinguished by the fact that they do not analyze any part of the fundamental business, like earnings, revenue and profit margins. Technical indicators are used most extensively by active traders in the market, as they are designed primarily for analyzing short-term price movements. To a long-term investor, most technical indicators are of little value, as they do nothing to shed light on the underlying business. The most effective uses of technicals for a long-term investor are to help identify good entry and exit points for the stock by analyzing the long-term trend.

Articles Of Interest

  1. Support And Resistance Basics

    Understanding the concept of Support and Resistance in trading can drastically improve your short-term investing strategy.
  2. Finding Success Where Indicators Fail

    Trade what you see: Follow the charts, buy breakouts and honor stops. We'll look at a case study to show you how.
  3. How To Build A Trading Indicator

    Wondering how people like Elliott and Gann built their famous trading tools? Learn the basics of constructing an indicator.
  4. 4 Types Of Indicators FX Traders Must Know

    By learning a variety of indicators, you can determine the right time and the right strategy to trade any given currency pair.
  5. Turnover Ratios Weak Indicator Of Fund Quality

    This indicator is not as important as some investors might think.
  6. Is technical analysis used only to analyze stocks?

    The simple answer to this question is definitely not. This form of analysis can be applied in more situations than you may think. Any time a person uses past data to predict the outcome of a ...
  7. Can technical analysis be called a self-fulfilling prophecy?

    This has been a topic of much controversy since the invention of technical analysis, and it remains a very heated debate. A self-fulfilling prophecy is an event that is caused only by the preceding ...
  8. Basics Of Technical Analysis

    Learn how chartists analyze the price movements of the market. We'll introduce you to the most important concepts in this approach.
  9. Exploring Oscillators and Indicators

    Find out how to use these technical analysis building blocks.
  10. Market Summary for May 24 2013

    The major U.S. indices moved lower this week, ahead of the long Memorial Day weekend. After reaching all-time highs last week, many traders attributed the sell-off to a combination of profit ...
comments powered by Disqus
Marketplace
Hot Definitions
  1. Winner's Curse

    Because of incomplete information, emotions or any other number of factors regarding the item being auctioned, bidders can have a difficult time determining the item's intrinsic value. As a result, the largest overestimation of an item's value ends up winning the auction.
  2. Glocalization

    A combination of the words "globalization" and "localization" used to describe a product or service that is developed and distributed globally, but is also fashioned to accommodate the user or consumer in a local market.
  3. Disaster Loss

    A special type of tax-deductible loss, similar to a casualty loss, where a loss has been incurred by taxpayers who reside in an area that has been designated as a federal disaster area by the President.
  4. Fool In The Shower

    The notion that changes or policies designed to alter the course of the economy should be done slowly, rather than all at once.
  5. Pattern Day Trader

    An SEC designation for traders who trade the same security four or more times per day (buys and sells) over a five-day period, and for whom same-day trades make up at least 6% of their activity for that period.
  6. Cost-Push Inflation

    A phenomenon in which the general price levels rise (inflation) due to increases in the cost of wages and raw materials.
Trading Center