I was recently emailed from an individual interested in our ETF Updater informational service. He was asking how someone can learn about technical analysis and swing trading online.

Obviously, there are quite a few ways to learn about technical analysis, daytrading and swing trading. First, the self taught method is probably the most popular, but unfortunately if the self taught technician doesn’t have much interaction with other technical analysis experts they may learn and commit to memory incorrect information. I’ve noticed many times when “self-taught” technical analyst had an incorrect read, did not understand some terminology or even how to correctly interpret a particular study they claimed to have expertise with.

Initially, I went the “self-taught” way of learning technical analysis and swing trading, but I soon realized I had very little resources to turn to if I had a question and it seemed the so called “experts” willing to share their knowledge didn’t know what they were talking about either. It was sort of like the blind leading the blind.

Next, there are trading schools. In a “past life”, I was an instructor at one of the largest trading firms for independent traders. Because of my past experience, I’m always intrigued to learn more about what the latest schools are teaching. Unfortunately, after reviewing many of the various schools curriculum, it seems they attempt to teach a few trading methods for either day trading or swing trading instead of the “how” or “why” the trading method should work.

The topics in my curriculum consisted of Trading Psychology, Market Mechanics, Market Analysis, Identifying Opportunity, Technical Analysis and Risk Management. Basically, I showed people the “How and Why” of trading. Sure, we taught a few strategies, but the “nuts and bolts” of the course was actually to teach the fundamentals so traders can create a style of trading that suites their personality.

The final and I believe the best way to learn about Technical Analysis is to join an organization like the MTA (Market Technicians Association, http://mta.org/). The organization has a program similar to the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) except the MTA focuses on Technical Analysis. Once an individual completes the program they are granted to use the CMT (Chartered Market Technician) designation.

I’ll continue to post additional pieces of technical analysis and may start a video blog to compliment my efforts to help teach individuals aspiring to trade for a living, so stay tuned.

Mike Matousek, CMT
Portfolio Manager, ETF Updater
http://www.etfupdater.com/