Visit almost any Southern California beach in the early morning hours and you’re likely to see group after group of surfers paddling out in search of the perfect wave. The quest is never a straight line. As they push to get past the breakwater, small waves temporarily stall their progress, but as long as their […]

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Did you read that headline and immediately wonder, “What exactly is a reversal hammer?”  To start, it is a term from a type of stock chart called a “candlestick chart.” A “hammer” is the term used to describe a single candlestick on a chart that has a short body, a long lower wick, and little […]

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When times are good, don’t get caught up in thinking it’ll be that way forever. At some point, you may want to turn on your alerts just so you don’t get caught unawares. And in the markets, those alerts could come in the form of chart patterns. Have you ever looked at a chart and […]

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One of the great things about investing is that there are all sorts of ways to approach it. Different strategies and asset classes are available whether you’re a short-term trader or a long-term investor. So why limit yourself to just one way of viewing the data? The thinkorswim® platform has a number of different options […]

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Candlestick charts have been around since at least the 19th century (though some estimate the technique, which was invented by Japanese rice merchants seeking a way to predict price movements, to be much older). But until 1991, they were all but unknown to those outside Japan. That was when author Steven Nison introduced the concept to […]

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Editor’s note: This article is the second installment in a series on candlestick patterns. The first article introduced candlestick charts. This one looks at trend reversal patterns. First developed by Japanese merchants centuries ago to track the price of rice futures, candlestick charts gained popularity in the U.S. in the early 1990s and are now […]

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Editor’s note: This article is the third installment in a series on candlestick patterns. The first article introduced candlestick charts. The second installment looked at trend reversal patterns—a single candle or group of candles that indicate a change in trend may be coming. A continuation pattern is a pause or pullback during an established trend, which, […]

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There are plenty of charting programs out there. But seriously, why look further? Other than make you an extra-shot nonfat vanilla latte, thinkorswim® charts can do almost anything you’d need a chart to do–even if you’re not a chart reader. Want to compare two stocks on one chart? No problem. Would you like to conduct a […]

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Key Takeaways The stochastic oscillator, created in the 1950s, is designed to signal support and resistance levels It attempts to track price momentum and signal when a stock price may have gotten ahead of itself, or “overbought” vs. “oversold” stocks Stochastics can be combined with other technical indicators to help determine trends “It doesn’t follow […]

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Key Takeaways Technical analysis is the study of historical price and volume to identify and project price trends By plotting price over time, charts allow technicians to identify trends, or a prevailing direction of price movement Technical analysts believe trading with the trend increases the probability of success Investors use a variety of methods to […]

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