Technical Analysis From A to Z

Steven B. Achelis

Ever wonder what all those proper names and strange looking acronyms mean when you look at the choices of technical indicators available on most web sites today?

Steven B. Achelis, founder of EQUIS and creator of MetaStock, has compiled the quintessential reference book for technical analysis covering practically every indicator known to mankind. But if there is one thing to imprint onto your brain from this book, it is contained in pages covering the subject “Support and Resistance.” In all my years of floor trading, I have never seen anything more valid in price trend analysis than this horizontal (support) line connecting previous tops which once surmounted becomes the floor for the next move up. Achelis calls the pullback after breakout “trader’s remorse” and it is the ideal place to buy into a strong stock in a strong industry. His several graphs depicting this pattern couldn’t be more precise. The pictures are worth a thousand words. Armed with only this bit of technical knowledge, an investor would improve the odds of profitability many times over by merely subjecting every potential purchase to this test pattern. I take it that because Achelis spent about 5 times as much material on this one concept as he did the other indicators, he agrees that this is truly one of the most important theories in technical analysis.
The rest of the book is devoted to short descriptions of what various indicators mean, how they area calculated, and how they are used. This is especially useful when subscribing to any of the numerous web sites that now carry dozens of indicators. Keep the book close to the computer to have it as a ready reference. I doubt if you will find more detailed information in any other source.