As Traders, Technical Analysis allows us to Judge Potential, Identify Accumulation, and Manage Risk.
It allows us to see through the noise and interpret price action.
Here is How To Read a Stock Chart For Beginners (Thread)
Let's start with the basics.
When you first pull up a stock chart you will see Price and Volume plotted versus time.
Each price bar represents one period of whatever timeframe you are on
Some people like candlesticks, I personally think Open/High/Low/Close (OHLC) Bars are more intuitive
For each bar/candle, the four important data points of each period are represented:
High
Low
Open
Close.
For each bar, we want to be able to determine whether buyers or sellers are in control and how much conviction they have.
To do this we use our tools: Price and Volume
Thing about turning a price Bar 90 degrees counter clockwise so the high is now on the left and the low is now on the right.
Then picture a game of tug of war with participants representing buying pressure on the left and selling pressure on the right.