Ask Ron Coleman

Mike from Michigan writes:
“What is Technical Analysis and should I take the time to learn it?”
Well, let’s first discuss Technical Analysis. As defined in wikipedia, Technical analysis is a security analysis discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price and volume. Ok, so what does that mean? Well, Technical analysis “ignores” the actual nature of the company, market, currency or commodity and is based solely on “the charts,” or price and volume information. This stands in contrast to fundamental analysis that does look at the actual facts of the company, market, currency or commodity (which I will describe in another post later.

Technical analysis is based on three assumptions:

1.     The market discounts everything.
2.     Price moves… Continue reading

• Weekly Newsletter is out, I am going to bed. I have a long drive ahead of me tomorrow. Goodnight twitterverse #
• Back in Denver #
• The TRUTH about U.S. housing numbers http://tinyurl.com/lh8vl3 #mkt #feedthebull #
• Looks like the market was all over the place today. What did I miss? #mkt #
• US home values grew on a monthly basis in May by 0.5%, the first growth in 3 years. Year-over-year, however, prices are down ~17% #mkt #
• FTB’s M&A Activity Report: $IBM plans to acquire $SPSS for about $1.2B. They also announced plans to buy Ounce Labs. #mkt #
• The Consumer Confidence Index fell to 46.6, down from 49.3 in June. We need a reading

• Leading indicators rose 0.7% in June. It is the first time the index has climbed for three months in a row since 2004. #mkt $$ #
• $CIT up 94% on reports that they are close to reaching a deal to receive $3 billion from bondholders to prevent a bankruptcy filing #mkt #
• @davetaylor do you know of any companies in the denver/boulder area that hold CSS training? #
• @DaveTaylor just checking them out, thank you. in reply to DaveTaylor #
• 98% of the Wyeth ($WYE) shareholders voted to sell the drug maker to Pfizer ($PFE). The deal is still subject to clearance by antitrust #mkt #
• Another State descends into Financial Crisis {Pennsylvania} http://tinyurl.com/ks9okk #

• Leading indicators rose 0.7% in June. It is the first time the index has climbed for three months in a row since 2004. #mkt $$ #
• $CIT up 94% on reports that they are close to reaching a deal to receive $3 billion from bondholders to prevent a bankruptcy filing #mkt #
• @davetaylor do you know of any companies in the denver/boulder area that hold CSS training? #
• @DaveTaylor just checking them out, thank you. in reply to DaveTaylor #
• 98% of the Wyeth ($WYE) shareholders voted to sell the drug maker to Pfizer ($PFE). The deal is still subject to clearance by antitrust #mkt #
• Another State descends into Financial Crisis {Pennsylvania} http://tinyurl.com/ks9okk #

• went wake boarding today for the first time. Took me a million tries to get out of the water, but was finally able to get it. I am hooked. #
• State of the Chart: MOO http://tinyurl.com/kkoom3 #mkt #feedthebull #
• Economic Indicators That May Signal A Bottom In The Economy http://tinyurl.com/l9zova #mkt #feedthebull #
• Royal Philips Electronics, the world’s biggest lighting maker, reported a 94% fall in net profit for the second quarter #mkt #
• Anyone interested in BusinessWeek? McGraw-Hill $MHP has it up on the chopping block. #mkt #
• @NatGeoChannel does that mean we are more or less safe as a country? Stricter laws or more corruption? in reply to NatGeoChannel

• PepsiCo will team up with Pepsi Bottling Group $PBG to invest $1B in Russia over three years, giving more focus to emerging markets #mkt #
• $EMC, having received regulatory approval to move forward with a deal, raised its takeover bid for Data Domain $DDUP by 11% to $2.2B #mkt #
• @RatioTrader that was a great article on FeedTheBull by the way re: no rules, no plan, no success http://tinyurl.com/m95moc in reply to RatioTrader #
• Rio Tinto $RTP has sold Alcan Packaging Food Americas to U.S.-based Bemis Company $BMS for $1.2B as it continues to reduce debt #mkt #
• @ThomasFrey what sort of problems? in reply to ThomasFrey #
• The ISM’s services index read 47

• PepsiCo will team up with Pepsi Bottling Group $PBG to invest $1B in Russia over three years, giving more focus to emerging markets #mkt #
• $EMC, having received regulatory approval to move forward with a deal, raised its takeover bid for Data Domain $DDUP by 11% to $2.2B #mkt #
• @RatioTrader that was a great article on FeedTheBull by the way re: no rules, no plan, no success http://tinyurl.com/m95moc in reply to RatioTrader #
• Rio Tinto $RTP has sold Alcan Packaging Food Americas to U.S.-based Bemis Company $BMS for $1.2B as it continues to reduce debt #mkt #
• @ThomasFrey what sort of problems? in reply to ThomasFrey #
• The ISM’s services index read 47

• @chickiedeebaby Good morning wife in reply to chickiedeebaby #
• Bernard Madoff is in court today for sentencing. The federal probation department recommends that Madoff get 50 years in prison. #mkt #
• International Energy Agency cut 5yr forecasts for global crude demand predicting consumption won’t regain last year’s levels until 2012 #mkt #
• FTB’s M&A Report: Enterprise Products $EPD will buy Teppco Partners $TPP for $3.3B, creating largest US publicly traded energy partnership #
• RT @howardlindzon Final call: please help us improve stocktwits by filling out this very short survey: http://survey.io/survey/f1671 #mkt #
• [arohan] Investing Basics: Fundamental Analysis http://bit.ly/15I4Pl
  #mkt #
• [Epiphany Investing] Welcome Back to the Land of the Viable, IMAX

• Finished, off to bed. #
• The World Bank has cut its 2009 global growth forecast, saying the world economy will shrink by 2.9%, market sinks on the news. #mkt $$ #
• Apple $AAPL sold more than a million units of its latest 3G S iPhone in the first three days it went on sale. #mkt #ftb #
• [thevoice] Blockbuster turns to videogames http://bit.ly/z4MaA
  #mkt #ftb #
• Goldman Sachs $GS is on pace to make record bonus payouts after a strong first half. Could be most profitable year ever. #mkt #ftb #
• @StockTwits http://www.feedthebull.com #
• The world’s first commercially successful color film, Kodachrome, is getting retired by Kodak $EK. Very sad

• Finished, off to bed. #
• The World Bank has cut its 2009 global growth forecast, saying the world economy will shrink by 2.9%, market sinks on the news. #mkt $$ #
• Apple $AAPL sold more than a million units of its latest 3G S iPhone in the first three days it went on sale. #mkt #ftb #
• [thevoice] Blockbuster turns to videogames http://bit.ly/z4MaA
  #mkt #ftb #
• Goldman Sachs $GS is on pace to make record bonus payouts after a strong first half. Could be most profitable year ever. #mkt #ftb #
• @StockTwits http://www.feedthebull.com #
• The world’s first commercially successful color film, Kodachrome, is getting retired by Kodak $EK. Very sad