analysis

Definition
The examination and evaluation of the relevant information to select the best course of action from among various alternatives. http://www.investorwords.com/208/analysis.html Read more: http://www.investorwords.com/208/analysis.html#ixzz1PK1tRMyG

information analysis
A Dictionary of Plant Sciences | 1998 | MICHAEL ALLABY | 172 words | Copyright information analysis An agglomerative classificatory scheme for describing vegetation communities. It uses the information statistic as the basis for the joining of groups.
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What is the difference between Business Analysis and System Analysis?

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Answer: Let's start by differentiating the role from the job title. Many organizations have Systems Analysts as a job title, but often the role of performing systems analysis is often assigned to employees with other job titles, like Architect, Business Analyst, Developer or, I even know a few companies where the person with the Project Manager title performs systems analysis activities. Systems Analysis Role For sake of making this easy to understand, let's focus only on the role, taking for granted that different organizations may create a formal Systems Analyst job title to perform all of the system analysis activities; or they may split these activities and shove them here and there with other job titles. System Analysis activities focus around the translation of the business requirements into systems requirements. Business requirements have to be analyzed and decomposed into a series of

smaller requirements for different components, providing directions for the engineering team. Example Let's say that the business requirement is to add a new optional "Where did you hear about us?" drop down on the Register page for a trade organization. Possible values are {"TV", "Radio", "Marc's List", "The New York Times", "The PMI Newsletter", and "Other"} This would typically be written by the Business Analyst. Systems analysis activities would decompose this requirement into: - New fields or a new table required to capture the user's selections. - A new table required to capture the drop down values. - A change in the user interface to add the drop down control. - etcetera 2 Aspects of System Analysis The first step is to look at everything that is needed to make the new requirement work. Look at what is required in the database area, the local session information, the middleware layers, connectivity requirements, the user interface, or perhaps a new system interface, a new web service or something of the sort. After analyzing what is required, the systems analyst must look into what can break if the requirement is implemented. This implies analyzing each and every system component to ensure compatibility, and that there are no conflicts. The activities of the system analyst border those of the Business Analyst at the start of the analysis and those of the Architect towards the end of the analysis. For modern SDLC methodologies (RUP, Agile, XP, EssUP, etc.) system analysis also defines the scope of the system under consideration and models requirements by taking the black box view and whitening it. (if this is obscure, stay tuned for an upcoming blog entry on black box versus white box.) Should Analysis be performed by Analysts? I have encountered several IT Managers who believe that analysis is not necessary. My answer to them: "Whether known or not, system analysis is performed somewhere in the organization. The question is... Is it done by the Analyst, the Architect, the Developer, or if not done before deployment, then, done after deployment when the defects are analyzed? It is, by far, less costly to have the Analyst perform system analysis." This is taken from: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/about-it-analysis/the-difference-between-business-analysis-andsystems-analysis-20491 5 Hot Growth Stockswww.taipanpublishinggroup.com
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Technical Analysis (Technicals)

1. Definition
"Technical analysis is the study of market action, primarily through the use of charts, for the purpose of forecasting future price trends.". In its purest form, technical analysis considers only the actual price behavior of the market or instrument, based on the premise that price reflects all relevant factors before an investor becomes aware of them through other channels. Technical analysis is widely used among traders and financial professionals, and some studies say its use is more widespread than is "fundamental" analysis in the foreign exchange market. Academics such as Eugene Fama say the evidence for technical analysis is sparse and is refuted by the efficient market hypothesis, yet some Federal Reserve and academic studies include evidence that supports technical analysis. MIT finance professor Andrew Lo argues that "several academic studies suggest thattechnical analysis may well be an effective means for extracting useful information from market prices."Burton Malkiel argues, "Technical analysis is anathema to the academic world."

2. Examples, Types, or Variations

Technical analysts believe that prices trend. Technicians say that markets trend up, down, or sideways (flat). This basic definition of price trends is the one put forward by Dow Theory. An example of a security that had an apparent trend is AOL from November 2001 through August 2002. A technical analyst or trend follower recognizing this trend would look for opportunities to sell this security. AOL consistently moves downward in price. Each time the stock rose, sellers would enter the market and sell the stock; hence the "zig-zag" movement in the price. The series of "lower highs" and "lower lows" is a tell tale sign of a stock in a down trend. In other words, each time the stock edged lower, it fell below its previous relative low price. Each time the stock moved higher, it could not reach the level of its previous relative high price. Note that the sequence of lower lows and lower highs did not begin until August. Then AOL makes a low price that doesn't pierce the relative low set earlier in the month. Later in the same month, the stock makes a relative high equal to the most recent relative high. In this a technician sees strong indications that the down trend is at least pausing and possibly ending, and would likely stop actively selling the stock at that point. Widely-known technical analysis concepts include:

Accumulation/distribution indexbased on the close within the day's range

Average true range - averaged daily trading range Bollinger bands - a range of price volatility Breakout - when a price passes through and stays above an area of support or resistance Commodity Channel Index - identifies cyclical trends Elliott wave principle and the golden ratio to calculate successive price movements and retracements Hikkake Pattern - pattern for identifying reversals and continuations MACD - moving average convergence/divergence Momentum - the rate of price change Money Flow - the amount of stock traded on days the price went up Moving average - lags behind the price action On-balance volume - the momentum of buying and selling stocks PAC charts - two-dimensional method for charting volume by price level Parabolic SAR - Wilder's trailing stop based on prices tending to stay within a parabolic curve during a strong trend Pivot point - derived by calculating the numerical average of a particular currency's or stock's high, low and closing prices Point and figure charts - charts based on price without time Profitability - measure to compare performances of different trading systems or different investments within one system Relative Strength Index (RSI) - oscillator showing price strength Resistance - an area that brings on increased selling Rahul Mohindar Oscillator - a trend identifying indicator Stochastic oscillator, close position within recent trading range Support - an area that brings on increased buying Trend line - a sloping line of support or resistance Trix - an oscillator showing the slope of a triple-smoothed exponential moving average, developed in the 1980s by Jack Hutson

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3. Formula

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4. Related Terms

Dow Theory Technical Indicator Bollinger Bands Chartist Market Timing Fundamental Analysis Empirical Evidence Moving Average

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5. As Used in the Hedge Fund World

Many non-arbitrage algorithmic trading systems rely on the idea of trend-following, as do many hedge funds. A relatively recent trend, both in research and industrial practice, has been the development of increasingly sophisticated automated trading strategies. These often rely on underlying technical analysis principles.

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6. Applications
Other Resources:

Wikipedia: Technical analysis believes that investors en masse display much of the same behavior as the investors that preceded them. "Everyone wants in on the next Microsoft," "If this stock ever gets to $50 again, I will buy it," "This company's technology will revolutionize its industry, therefore this stock will skyrocket,"--these are all examples of investors' attitudes repeating. To a technical analyst, the human characteristics of the market might be irrational but nonetheless they exist. Because investors' attitudes often repeat, investors' actions in the marketplace often repeat as well. I.e., patterns of price movement will develop on a chart that a technical analyst believes have predictive qualities. It is important to understand that the realm of technical analysis is not limited to charting. Technical analysis is always primarily concerned with price trends. Anything that can influence the price trend is of interest to a technical analyst. As an example, many technical analysts monitor surveys of investor enthusiasm. These surveys attempt to gauge the general attitude of the investment community to determine whether investors are bearish or bullish. Technical analysts use these surveys to help determine whether a trend will reverse or whether a new trend will develop. A technical analyst would be alerted that a trend might change when these surveys report extreme investor reactions. When surveys are overly bullish, for example, a technical analyst will look for evidence that an uptrend will reverse. The logic being that if most investors are bullish, then they would have already bought the market (anticipating that the market will move higher). But because most investors are bulllish and have invested, it is safe to assume that there are few buyers remaining in the market. With most investors long, there are more potential sellers in the market than buyers despite the fact that the overall attitude of investors is bullish. This implies that the market is set to trend down and is an example of a technical analysis concept called contrarian trading.

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7. Misused & Abused

The Wall Street Journal Europe states "Whether technical analysis is really useful ... is a matter of some dispute on Wall Street. Some investors believe that it is impossible to forecast the market's ups and downs. Academic studies have shown that when most people, professionals and amateurs alike, try to move money in and out of stocks to beat market fluctuations, they tend to wind up

with losses." The same article shows how several technical analysts can simultaneously make contradictory predictions. Critics of technical analysis include well known fundamental analysts. For example, Peter Lynch once commented, "Charts are great for predicting the past." Warren Buffett has said, "I realized technical analysis didn't work when I turned the charts upside down and didn't get a different answer" and "If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians." Some academic studies say technical analysis has little predictive power, but other studies say it may produce excess returns. For example, measurable forms of technical analysis, such as nonlinear prediction using neural networks, have been shown to occasionally produce statistically significant prediction results. A Federal Reserve working paper regarding support and resistance levels in short-term foreign exchange rates "offers strong evidence that the levels help to predict intraday trend interruptions," although the "predictive power" of those levels was "found to vary across the exchange rates and firms examined."

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8. Additional Sources of Information

a. b. c.
Books News Scholarly Papers

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