Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns (Wiley Trading Advantage)

Technical chart analysis has never been easy. It has, however, been historically successful-and well worth the added effort-for dedicated investors who want to presage what a stock will do next and regularly beat the markets.

Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns represents the next step in technical analysis. This definitive text details over 50 chart patterns that signal whether a stock is in bullish, bearish, or neutral mode. It identifies each chart pattern, explains how and why each chart was formed, and where it will go next. You simply filter the information through your own trading style and strategy, watch for the optimal entry and exit points, and trade the markets with skill and confidence.

The step-by-step chapters in Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns reveal for each pattern:

Results Snapshot - At-a-glance data on chart appearance, average rise or decline, failure rate, and price prediction accuracy

Tour - Broad introduction to the pattern

Identification Guidelines - Characteristics to look for and why

Focus on Failures - What failed patterns look like, why they failed, and what to do

Statistics - The numbers, and what they tell you

Trading Tactics - Implementation strategies for maximizing profit while minimizing risk

Sample Trade - The chart pattern in action, with hypothetical trades using real data

With the proper knowledge and understanding, chart pattern analysis can be one of today's easiest to use "investing tools". Encyclopedia of Chart Patterns presents the technical analysis tools, then reveals the secrets-such as average failure rates, most likely gain or loss, volume trends, and surprise findings-as you use the tools to build a portfolio of wealth. The result is today's most valuable technical analysis reference, one that will save you critical time in identifying chart patterns and increase your likelihood of buying near the price bottom and selling near the top.

THOMAS N. BULKOWSKI is a successful full-time investor and contributing writer to Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities. Before earning enough from his investments to "retire" from his day job at age 36, Bulkowski was a hardware design engineer with Raytheon and a senior software engineer for Tandy Corporation.