Monday, April 30, 2012

Introduction to Fundamental Analysis

Fundamental analysis 

Fundamental analysis studies the core underlying elements that influence the price of a particular entity, like a stock or currency. It attempts to predict price action and trends by analysing economic indicators, government policy, societal and other factors within a business cycle framework.

 If you think of the markets as a big clock, fundamentals are the gears and springs that move the hands around the face. Anyone can tell you what time it is now, but the fundamentalist knows about the inner workings that move the clock's hands towards times (or prices) in the future.

WHAT ARE ECONOMIC INDICATORS?
Economic indicators are snippets of financial and economic data published regularly by governmental agencies and the private sector. These statistics help market observers monitor the economy's pulse - so it's no surprise that they're religiously followed by almost everyone in the financial markets.

With so many people poised to react to the same information, economic indicators have tremendous potential to generate volume and to move prices. It might seem like you need an advanced economics degree to parse all this data accurately - but in fact traders need only keep a few simple guidelines in mind to making trading decisions based on this data.