Download or read book Technical Analysis Plain and Simple (Preface & Chapter 4) written by Michael N. Kahn CMT and published by Pearson Education. This book was released on 2010-01-13 with total page 15 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This download is a free sample chapter from Technical Analysis Plain and Simple: Charting the Markets in Your Language (ISBN: 0137042019) by Michael N. Kahn CMT. Available in print and digital formats. Read the following excerpt from the Preface: Technical analysis is one of the oldest market disciplines, yet the majority of the investment and academic communities consider it, at best, a minor supplement to their own work. At worst, it is disparaged as tea-leaf reading or simply a self-fulfilling prophecy. Look at these two phrases. They suggest that the technical analyst divines the market from some mystical process. This could not be further from the truth. Consider the fundamental analyst. This person relies on company reports, conversations with company insiders, and macro-economic research in relevant business sectors. All this is indispensable when determining if a company is viable and predicting how its business will fare in the future. Now consider the source of all the raw data. Much of it is projection and conjecture. How can you rely solely on such raw data when earnings reports and other industry-wide data will be subject to revisions? Technical analysis looks at actual trades in which bulls and bears have put their money where their collective mouths are. There is no revision of data. There is no ambiguity. There is no mystical divining of the future. All market and stock selection is based on current, not past, price performance, the predictable behavior of market participants, and the dynamics between markets over time. To continue reading, download this free preview of the Preface & Chapter 4. The full book is also available for sale.