What is Chartist?
This is a real conversation which took place before I ever heard about technical analysis:
Jill: Rick come in here and watch this…
Rick: But I'm not interested in Oprah…
Jill: But she's talking to people about how they got rich and there is this lady that says she and her husband got rich by “charting stocks” in their basement.
Rick: What the heck? That DOES sound interesting!
I owe all this to Oprah Winfrey. She gave me my introduction to the world of technical analysis, to being a “chartist” and to “the art of keeping charts”
So what is a chartist you ask? A chartist is someone who keeps charts in their basement… No seriously! Well these days mine are all on my computer but basically that's all that has changed from the time that lady on Oprah and her husband were amassing a fortune. Chartists are sometimes called: Technical Analysts and vice versa.
What is on these charts you ask? Usually bars indicating exchange prices. The Y axis or “ordinate” is price and the X axis or “abcissa” is usually time (but sometimes its cumulative volume). What are they used for you ask? To tell us know when to buy and when to sell. How's that work you ask? Keep reading (this website) my friend and you'll soon see.
