Technical Analysis

Technical analysis attempts to forecast future price movements by examining past market data. Most traders use technical analysis to get a "big picture" on an investment's price history. Even fundamental traders will glance at a chart to see if they're buying at a fair price, selling at a cyclical top or entering a choppy, sideways market. History repeats itself. The techniques which were effective in the past can be still effective to forecast future price movements.

Technical analysis predominantly uses charts to forecast future price movements. Nowadays it is not necessary to draw charts on paper as the process is automated by specially designed computer programs.

There are three sources for the technical analysis: price, volume and open interest . Price discounts everything. Price is affected by economic, political and other factors, and all information is already reflected in it. Technical analysis utilizes the information captured by the price to interpret what the market is saying with the purpose of forming a view on the future. Price movements are not totally random, or prices trend. The main purpose of the charts is to define a trend at an early stage and to trade in accordance with its direction.

Technical indicator types:

1. Trend
2. Strength
3. Volatility
4. Cycle
5. Support
6. Resistance
7. Momentum

Using Technical Indicators

Price charts help traders identify trade-able market trends - while technical indicators help them judge a trend's strength and sustainability.
If an indicator suggests a reversal, confirm the shift before you act. That might mean waiting for another period to confirm the same indicator's signal, or checking out another indicator. Patience will help you read the signals accurately and respond accordingly.

Charts

There are a lot of different types of charts that you can use in Forex trading. The most popular ones are line chart, bar chart and candlestick chart, so I’ll try to explain to you what these are, how they are made and what they look like.

1. Line chart

Line chart or line graph is a type of graph created by connecting a series of data points together with a line. In Forex bar charts are plotted with time on the x-axis and the currency pair on the y-axis. Each time period on our real time charts can range from a tick by tick to a weekly interval (the tick refers to each individual pip movement). This gives traders the flexibility to view currencies with closer examination while also allowing them to spot the trends most suitable for their time-sensitive trading strategy. A line chart's strength comes from its simple design; it provides an uncluttered, easy to understand view of a currency's price. Line charts display the currency's closing price. A line chart is simply a graph of the value of a currency taken at regular time intervals based on current prices.