Stock Charting Tips for Beginners

Stock Charting for Dummies - Last Week and Next Week

The markets have been bearish recently for a variety of reasons, the euro, the Greeks, the Chinese etc... so what are they charts saying about where we are heading? First, on the SnP 1280 is a significant support line,if it goes under 1280 then we can expect it to head quite a lot further south.

However,the 'old school chartist' is quite optimistic as can be seen from this interest video below. Personally I am more negative but that may be just be negative nature and also because I'm hoping for stock prices to head lower so that I can buy them cheaper.

It is important for beginners to understand stock charts as the professionals use them to time their trades. So if you don't understand them then you are placing yourself at a disadvantage.

Chart analysis of last week and possible trend for next week


A couple of things to remember for short-term swing trading - don't buy a stock if the 5-day moving average is pointing down. And in swing trading you are looking for a profit of around 8 or 9% before selling up and moving on. It's all about risks and rewards, you need to ensure that your winners make more than your losers lose, so don't forget to sell if your trade moves down around 4%, don't hang on hoping it will bounce back, just get out and look for another one. For more details on swing trading see - swing trading tips

Investing Online Swing Trading

Stock Investing for Beginners - Learning to Invest

What is Swing Trading?

When investing online or trying to make money from the stock market, traders apply a number of different strategies, such as Day Trading, Swing Trading, or Long-term Value Investing as recommended by Warren Buffett.

In swing trading the idea is to buy stocks (or sell them) for just a few days. The aim obviously is to make money by selling the stocks (or buying them back) a few days later. Swing trading is not interested in long-term trades.

There are however a number of recommendations it is worth following when swing trading

If a stock price gaps 1-2%, you should buy (or sell) half of the position size you intend buying (or selling) then see how the stock behaves before increasing your position. If the price doen't return to its original price, increase your position position.

If a the stock price gaps 2-3%, only buy (or sell) a quarter of the position size you intend buying (or selling).

If the stock price has gapped more than 3%, you are probably better off not bothering with the trade and looking for something else instead - the risk/reward is no longer the same, there is too much risk for too little reward.
Stock Investing - Swing Trading Video