What is stock charting?

Answer 1

Stock charting is a form of technical analysis used to display graphically the price behavior of a financial stock, index, commodity or anything that changes in price over time. There are many different types of stock charts. The basic form is known as a “bar chart” which displays the high, low and closing price of the stock or other financial instrument the chart is tracking. Other forms include “candlestick” charts, said to originate in Japan in the 1970s, and “point and figure” charts, a somewhat arcane type of charting used by some technical analysts. Stock charts can track prices over any period, ranging from seconds to decades and even longer, so long as a verifiable price record is available. Stock charting and technical analysis is widely used by finance professionals and individuals, though its actual value as a forecasting tool is still somewhat in question. Stock charts do however, provide a visual prospective of price behavior over a given time period, considered by many investors as quite useful in determining the value of a stock, financial index or any commodity with a record of price changes.