TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Learn to use charts and graphs to identify potential trading opportunities buying, or selling CFD and forex instruments.
THE ART OF IDENTIFYING TRENDS
Technical analysts believe that prices move in trends, and price movements generally follow established patterns that can be partly attributed to market psychology based on the widely-held belief that participants in markets react in a similar fashion when faced with similar situations.
The field of technical analysis is based on three important assumptions:
The price of a security automatically factors in economic conditions.
The impact of events such as interest rate changes, or the latest inflation reports are automatically factored into the currency price through the actions of buyers and sellers in the market.
When it comes to pricing, history tends to repeat itself.
Technical analysts track historical prices and traded volumes in an attempt to identify trends. They use graphs and charts to plot this information, and for this reason are sometimes referred to as chartists. By attempting to quantify historical performance, technical analysts seek to identify repeating patterns as a means to signal future buy and sell opportunities.
WATCH THE VIDEO
Trading on Technicals
This video is designed to introduce traders to technical analysis to demonstrate how you can add these mathematical studies to your trading charts. While this lesson does not require you to have any past experience with technical indicators, it does assume that you have some understanding of trading forex and CFDs.
INCLUDES: OHLC and candlestick price charts, trend identification, and mathematical indicators like moving averages, oscillators or momentum indicators, and Fibonacci ratios. More detailed information about these topics can be found in the sections below.
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Lesson 1
MOVING AVERAGES
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Lesson 2
OSCILLATORS
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Lesson 3
STOCHASTIC OSCILLATOR
ONE OF THE MOST USED TECHNICAL INDICATORS
Moving averages help determine the strength of the current market trend and to distinguish true market reversal points from typical exchange rate fluctuations.
Topics covered:
Simple Moving Averages
Weighted Moving Averages
Exponential Moving Averages
Reporting Periods
Interpreting Signals
MEASURING MOMENTUM
Oscillators can help distinguish between reversals and fluctuations.
Topics covered:
Momentum Oscillators
Moving Average Convergence / Divergence (MACD)
Awesome Oscillator
Ultimate Oscillator
MEASURE THE DEGREE OF CHANGE BETWEEN PRICE PERIODS
This oscillator works on the theory that during a market uptrend prices will remain equal to or above the previous period closing price, and in a market downtrend prices will remain equal to or below the previous closing price.
Topics covered:
Stochastic Formulas
Crossover Indicators
Divergence
Overbought and Undersold Indicators
Stochastic RSI
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Lesson 4
THE RELATIVE STRENGTH INDEX (RSI)
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Lesson 5
BOLLINGER BANDS®
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Lesson 6
FIBONACCI RETRACEMENT LINES
EVALUATE THE STRENGTH OF THE CURRENT MARKET
The RSI is straight-forward to interpret and produces very clear trade signals.
Topics covered:
RSI Indicators
Calculating the RSI
Reading RSI Signals
Centerline Crossovers
IDENTIFY THE DEGREE OF REAL-TIME VOLATILITY
Volatility describes the degree by which an exchange rate varies over time and tends to increase just prior to a rate reversal.
Topics covered:
Bollinger Bands
Buy and Sell Channels
Trend Reversal Signals
Double Tops / Bottoms
Changing Parameters
PREDICTING FUTURE RATES
Fibonacci work on the theory that after a rate spike in either direction, the rate will return part way back to the previous price level before resuming in the original direction.
Topics covered:
Retracement Levels
Extension Lines
Swing Highs / Lows
Take-profit and Stop-loss Positions
ADVANCED AND INTERMEDIATE TECHNICAL TOOLS
OANDA TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Powered by Autochartist, this product notifies you of technical chart patterns plus support and resistance levels
ADVANCED CHARTING
Trade forex and CFDs while referencing an extensive list of leading edge indicators and drawing tools.
OANDA TRADING LABS
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GETTING STARTED
New to trading or to OANDA? Learn the basics here.
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TOOLS AND STRATEGIES
Develop your trading strategy and learn to use trading tools for market analysis.
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CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
Learn to apply risk management tools to preserve your capital.
BASICS OF TRADING
Learn the skills necessary to open, modify and close trades, and the basic features of our trading platform.
TECHNICAL AND FUNDAMENTAL ANALYSIS
A trading strategy can offer benefits such as consistency of positive outcomes, and error minimization. An optimal trading strategy reflects the trader’s objective and personal approach.
Fundamental traders watch interest rates, employment reports, and other economic indicators trying to forecast market trends.
Technical analysts track historical prices, and traded volumes in an attempt to identify market trends. They rely on graphs and charts to plot this information and identify repeating patterns as a means to signal future buy and sell opportunities.
PROTECT YOUR CAPITAL INVESTMENT
Leveraged trading involves high risk since losses can exceed the original investment. A capital management plan is vital to the success and survival of traders with all levels of experience.
Learn risk management concepts to preserve your capital and minimize your risk exposure. Seek to understand how leveraged trading can generate larger profits or larger losses and how multiple open trades can increase your risk of an automatic margin closeout.
† Disclaimer:
This page is for general information purposes only: examples are not investment advice or an inducement to trade. Past history is not an indication of future performance.
Execution speed and numbers are based on the median round trip latency from receipt to response for all Market Order and Trade Close requests executed between January 1st and May 1st 2019 on the OANDA execution platform.
Contracts for Difference (CFDs) or Precious Metals are NOT available to residents of the United States.
MT4 hedging capabilities are NOT available to residents of the United States.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) limits leverage available to retail forex traders in the United States to 50:1 on major currency pairs and 20:1 for all others. OANDA Asia Pacific offers maximum leverage of 50:1 on FX products and limits to leverage offered on CFDs apply. Maximum leverage for OANDA Canada clients is determined by IIROC and is subject to change. For more information refer to our regulatory and financial compliance section.
This is for general information purposes only - Examples shown are for illustrative purposes and may not reflect current prices from OANDA. It is not investment advice or an inducement to trade. Past history is not an indication of future performance.