The information in this course is designed to save you countless hours of studying and potentially $1,000s in losses that many new traders face due to a lack of education.

Technical Analysis     

Technical Analysis is an analysis methodology for forecasting the direction of prices based on past market data, trends, and patterns. This is the main type of analysis done by most day traders.

• 2.1 Candlestick Charts 

Candlestick charts can be used on any timeframe and for any type of trading (day trading, swing trading, and even long-term investing).

• 2.2 Anatomy of Candlesticks 

Candlesticks may look complex, but they are actually pretty simple. They are made up of four simple points, the open, the high, the low and the close.

• 2.3 Demand and Supply in Candlestick Pattern

Supply & Demand is the sole reason for price fluctuations in the market. If there is more demand (buying) than supplying (selling) then the stock is going to go up. If there is more supply (selling) than demand (buying) then the stock is going to go down.

• 2.4 Support and Resistance 

Support: A price where a stock historically has a difficult time breaking below due to stronger buying (demand) than selling (supply). Support can provide an opportunity to buy low before the stock bounces upward.

• 2.5 Standard Doji 

A Doji is a candlestick with virtually the same open and close price. Doji candles indicate indecision in the market, often leading to a reversal in the stock’s price.

• 2.6 Dragonfly Doji  

Dragonfly Doji: A Doji with the real body at the top of the candle, typically indicating a bullish reversal to the upside after a move downtrend.

• 2.7 Gravestone Doji   

The long upper wick tells us that there was strong buying during the candle, but the sellers took control and pushed the price down before the close.

• 2.8 Engulfing Candles   

Engulfing Candle: A candlestick with a real body that completely covers the real body of the previous candle. Engulfing candles are used to spot trend reversals, whether it be a short-term, mid-term, or even long-term trend.

• 2.9 Morning & Evening Stars 

Morning Star: A 3-candle pattern most commonly found at the bottom of a move indicating a bullish reversal to the upside. The morning star pattern can be seen as a buying opportunity.

• 2.10 Hammer & Hanging Man Candles 

Hammer Candlestick: When the price falls significantly but rallies back up near the opening price before closing. These are used as an indicator of a bullish reversal after a move downtrend.  

• 2.11 Mat Hold Pattern  

Bearish Mat Hold: Made up of 2 tall red candles with 3 smaller green candles in between. The pattern is confirmed once the final red candle closes below the low of the pattern.

• 2.12 3-Methods Pattern 

Bullish 3 Methods Pattern: A bullish continuation pattern made up of 5 candlesticks. Similar to the bullish mat hold, but the 3 middle candles stay within the range of the first candle.

• 2.13 Gaps Between Candlesticks  

Gaps can form between candlesticks when there are transactions at that price. Most commonly gaps form on the daily chart when a large move happens in the stock in extended-hours trading (premarket or after hours).

• 2.14 Gap Close Reversal Strategy 

Gap close reversal: Gaps tend to be filled over time and often reverse direction after the gap is filled. This allows us to use the gap fill to enter trades.

• 3.1 Trendlines 

Trendlines are the Lines drawn on your chart that show the overall “trend” of the direction of the price. Trendlines are essentially slanted lines of support or resistance.

• 3.2 Head and Shoulders Pattern: H&S 

A bearish reversal pattern typically occurs at the end of an uptrend or strong move up. Head and shoulders patterns are indicators to sell your position or even open a short position to profit from the bearish reversal.

• 3.3 Inverse Head & Shoulders Pattern: IH&S 

A bullish reversal pattern typically occurs at the end of a downtrend or strong move down. Inverse Head and Shoulder patterns are indicators that exit your short position and/or buy to profit from the bullish reversal.

• 3.4 Bull Flag 

This is a bullish continuation pattern. A bull flag forms after an upward (bull) move and indicates that the stock is likely to continue to rise.

• 3.5 Bear Flag

This is a bearish continuation pattern. A bear flag forms after a downward (bear) move and indicates that the stock is likely to fall.

• 3.6 ABCD Pattern                 

An ABCD pattern is a bullish pattern that allows us to “buy the tip” in stock instead of chasing it at its highs.

• 3.7 Pattern Practice             

Now it is time to analyse each chart and try to spot all of the chart patterns. You will have 30 seconds before the patterns are shown to you.

•  4.1 Volume  

Volume is the number of shares traded during a set period (usually a full day). The way that we see volume on a chart is usually with bars down at the bottom of the chart.

• 4.2 Adding Volume Indicators on Charts         

Different trading platforms equal different processes. Generally, you will see a button to “add studies/indicators.” After clicking, search for your volume indicators and apply these to your charts.

• 4.3 Using VWAP: Volume Weighted Average Price    

VWAP = Volume Weighted Average price: The average price of all transactions within a trading session. The VWAP differs from the moving average because moving averages are only the average of each transaction’s price, while the VWAP is the average of each transaction’s price and volume.  

• 4.4 Using OBV: On-Balance Volume    

The On-Balance-Volume provides a running total of an asset’s trading volume and indicates whether the volume is flowing in or out of the asset.

• 4.5 Volume Profile  

The Volume Profile shows the amount of volume traded at a specific price level over a specific period. It is shown horizontally on charts, unlike typical volume bars.

• 4.6 Supply & Demand in Volume          

If there is a strong demand and low supply, as with limited edition items, the price of the stock will be pushed higher.  

•  4.7 Stock Breakouts & Volume              

A Breakout is a move above the defined level of resistance or below a defined level of support. A False Breakout is a short-term, temporary breakout, often causing inexperienced traders to panic buy at the top of a move or panic sell at the bottom of a move.

• 4.8 Volume Exhaustion 

Volume exhaustion is often compared to someone running. They can jog at a steady pace for a while, but once they start to sprint, they will inevitably become exhausted and need a break.

• 4.9 Analysis and Example

Take a look at the interactive trading platform and all its elements. Go through some of those top per cent gainers and top per cent losers. You will see some examples of when the volume analysis worked and when it did not work so well.  

• 5.1 Level1 vs. Level2 

Level 1 displays the highest bid and lowest offer quote in real-time for an individual stock. Level 2 displays the order book for stocks from various exchanges and includes the price, number of shares, and route for each active order.

• 5.2 Supply & Demand in The Tape        

The sole reason for stock prices rising and falling is not news, press releases, earnings reports etc. it is supply and demand.

• 5.3 Time & Sales                   

Time and Sales shows real-time data of every transaction that goes through in each stock. Every time anyone has an order filled in the live market, it will be shown on the time and sales.

• 5.4 Tape Reading  

Tape Reading is a trading technique done to analyse the price and volume of a given stock to interpret the direction the stock is likely to move in going forward.

• 5.5 The Importance of Tape Reading  

Tape reading is the #1 strategy used by most professional/successful short-term traders. Many proprietary traders do not even look at charts, only the tape.

• 5.6 Hidden Buyers               

A hidden buyer is when large orders to buy on the bid (demand) are hidden from level 2. Here is how to spot hidden buyers.

• 5.7 Hidden Sellers                

This is the exact opposite of a hidden buyer. These are large orders to sell on the ask (supply) that are hidden from level 2.

• 5.8 Fake Outs & Manipulation Tactics 

Fake Bids are large bids shown on level 2 with no intention of them actually filling. These bids will get cancelled before filling and are used to manipulate retail traders to buy while the fake buyer is actually selling shares.

• 5.9 Identifying Reversals with The Tape 

The tape can be a great indicator of when a stock has reached its short-term top or bottom and is about to reverse in the opposite direction.

• 6.1 Managing Risk               

Risk management is the #1 most important factor in trading. Managing risk simply means knowing where to cut your losses and doing so when the time comes.

• 6.2 Breakout Trading Strategy               

Breakout is when the price of a stock moves outside a defined level of resistance. This can be a sign of strength and can offer an opportunity to buy into the stock’s momentum.

• 6.3 Momentum Trading Strategy          

A Trendline is a line drawn over pivot highs or below pivot lows to show the prevailing direction of price. Trading with the trend equals trading momentum.

• 7.1 Setting Up Trading Platform              

This is a walkthrough of a commonly used trading platform which is “thinkorswim”. There are a lot of tools and features to the platform, so they can be overwhelming.

• 7.2 Risk-Free Trading Strategies

Learn how to get started with paper money with these risk-free trading strategies.