Essential Technical Analysis: Tools and Techniques to Spot Market Trends »

LEIGH STEVENS is a respected and well-known technical analyst. After spending years as an analyst at Dow Jones Telerate and PaineWebber, he joined Cantor Fitzgerald as Vice President of Equity Sales and Trading Division. In addition to his other duties, he wrote technical analysis commentary and trading suggestions for the Cantor Morning News Web. Stevens currently writes for his own essentialtechnicalanalysis.com service. Prior to this, he wrote the popular "Stevens on Technical Analysis" column on CNBC.com where he provided analysis and stock-specific answers to reader questions in his "Mailbag" column.

Essential Technical Analysis

Tools and Techniques to Spot Market Trends

The discipline of technical analysis–hearing the message of the market through price movements–is a valuable tool for making profitable trading and investing decisions. Once you understand the concepts and techniques of technical analysis, your view of the market and how you trade or invest within it will be forever changed.

Essential Technical Analysis: Tools and Techniques to Spot Market Trends is a simple, accessible, and straightforward introduction to technical analysis. Whether you’re a short-term trader or die-hard investor, respected technical analyst and CNBC affiliate Leigh Stevens will show you how to use this popular stock, bond, and futures trading technique to make money in both up and down markets.

Essential Technical Analysis demystifies technical analysis for the beginner. You’ll become familiar with basics such as trends, chart patterns, and price and volume indicators, and you’ll learn how to put them all together so you can begin to consistently lock in profits. Numerous examples, based primarily on stocks, and clear explanations provide a solid framework for using technical analysis to better understand the dynamics of market movements and trends.

In Essential Technical Analysis, Leigh Stevens’s real-world experiences using technical analysis shine through and fill these pages with useful tips, tools, and techniques that have been consistently accurate and profitable over the years.

In-depth coverage includes:

• An introduction to and rationale for the technical analysis approach
• A discussion of the basic concepts of technical analysis: trends, trendlines, and trading
• Price and volume basics: chart types and price scales
• A description of the most common technical indicators–moving averages and oscillators
• A guide to creating a market strategy with confirmation and divergences
• Specialized forms of technical analysis and trading methods–seasonality in the markets, basic market concepts of W. D. Gann, Elliott Wave analysis, and trading systems

The goal of Essential Technical Analysis is to provide you with the most useful and practical techniques that could increase the profitability of your investing and trading activities. With this comprehensive guide at your side, you’ll learn how to use technical analysis and begin to make informed and accurate decisions that will boost your trades and investments in any market.