Identification

• Technical Analysis (TA) is the evaluation of price and volume data of securities. TA distinguishes itself by asserting that the market "prices in" all that is known about the stock, industry group or the broad market; this system is different from the fundamental evaluation of a company's financial statements. Proponents of TA also hold that price patterns often repeat themselves.
  
  

Dedicated TA Software

• Prior to widespread access to the Internet, traders needed to purchase stand-alone programs installed directly on a personal computer. These programs are still favored by some traders. End-of-day and intra-day data supplied by data vendors is incorporated into the program to permit virtually endless possibilities of analysis.
  
  

Web-Based TA Software

• While there are now a wide variety of independent web-based TA software platforms (some of which are subscription-based), many online brokerage firms have proprietary platforms for their account holders that offer full-featured TA capabilities, including advanced analytical tools.
  
  

Examples

• MetaStock is an example of a PC-based "end-of-day" software platform, while TradeStation offers an example of an advanced "real time" Internet platform. Other web-based sources include StockCharts.com and BigCharts.com.