Technical Analysis Plain and Simple: Charting the Markets in Your Language

“This book is an excellent primer. As a proponent of the art-versus-science school of technical analysis, his primary focus is on the practical aspects of chart reading and how to translate the intelligence derived from charts into investment decisions. If you have ever wondered what technical analysis is, or how you could get started doing it, this is a good place to start.”

John Bollinger, CFA, CMT, President, Bollinger Capital Management

“Here is the place to discover why the RSI goes up while the price is going down, how to measure potential moves from a breakout, how not to look at a chart with preconceived notions of what the market will do--‘Let the market talk....’ The advice is above all practical. [This is] a book to own, particularly in the earlier stages of your investment career.”

Michael Smyrk, STA Journal

“Finally, an easy-to-understand explanation of how technical analysis works! This primer shows investors how to spot trends and patterns in the markets that can help them choose winning stocks. Full of practical advice, this is a must have for both individual and professional investors.”

Susie Gharib, Coanchor, PBS Nightly Business Report

The Best-Selling Introduction to Technical Analysis: Updated with New Examples, Techniques, and Guidance!

• Fully updated with new coverage of bubbles, sector rotation, and rare “black swan” market events

Technical analysis offers powerful, objective tools for picking stocks and making money--and in today’s market environment, that makes it more indispensable than ever. Unfortunately, most technical analysis books confuse investors instead of enlightening them. In this clear, practical, fully updated book, Barron’s Online technical analysis columnist Michael N. Kahn introduces proven technical analysis techniques in simple language that any investor can understand and use.

Kahn explains how technical analysis works and then teaches you how to read charts and translate them into investment decisions. You’ll learn how to use technical analysis to complement your current approach to stock selection, discover what makes a stock look promising, and objectively assess both risk and reward.

This completely revised third edition contains many new examples reflecting today’s transformed market environment. You’ll find detailed new coverage of recognizing bubbles, including real estate (2006), oil (2008), and bonds (2009). Kahn presents powerful new insights into the relationship between technical analysis and market psychology and crucial, up-to-date guidance on sector rotation in rapidly changing markets. He also presents a full chapter on navigating through chaotic, once-in-a-millennium, “black-swan” market events.

• Why technical analysis works
  Bringing real objectivity to investment decision-making
• Chart patterns: See the forest and the trees
  Recognizing markets that are changing, need a rest, or are about to take off
• Understand the central importance of price...
  And what you must know about volume, time, and investor sentiment
• Down the road: a taste of advanced technical analysis
  Candlesticks, cycles, Elliott waves, and how to debunk those guys on TV

Michael N. Kahn, CMT, a Chartered Market Technician, currently writes the twice-weekly column “Getting Technical” for Barron’s Online. Mr. Kahn also produces a daily proprietary technical market newsletter, Quick Takes Pro (www.QuickTakesPro.com). Previously, he was chief technical analyst for BridgeNews, a division of Bridge Information Systems, a leading source of global financial information, transaction services, and network services.

He has been a regular guest on the Nightly Business Report on PBS, has appeared on CNBC, and was the editor of the Market Technicians Association newsletter, Technically Speaking. His first book, Real World Technical Analysis, was published in January 1998, by Bridge/Commodity Research Bureau Publishing.

Prior to writing technical commentary, Mr. Kahn was a Senior Product Manager for Knight-Ridder Financial before that company was merged into Bridge. He was responsible for the marketing design of several of the firm’s charting software platforms and launched technical analysis coverage for Knight-Ridder Financial News. He was also a coeditor of the Tradecenter Market Letter. Prior to joining Bridge/Knight-Ridder Financial in 1986, Mr. Kahn was a senior municipal bond specialist with Merrill Lynch. He also worked in the Financial Planning Department at Shearson Lehman American Express.

Mr. Kahn holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in physics and economics from Brandeis University and a Master of Business Administration from New York University.