Financial Time Series Toolbox

Technical Analysis

Introduction

Technical analysis (or charting) is used by some investment managers to help manage portfolios. Technical analysis relies heavily on the availability of historical data. Investment managers calculate different indicators from available data and plot them as charts. Observations of price, direction, and volume on the charts assist managers in making decisions on their investment portfolios.

The technical analysis functions in this toolbox are tools to help analyze your investments. The functions in themselves will not make any suggestions or perform any qualitative analysis of your investment.

Table 3-1: Technical Analysis: Oscillators

Function	Type
adosc	Accumulation/distribution oscillator
chaikosc	Chaikin oscillator
macd	Moving Average Convergence/Divergence
stochosc	Stochastic oscillator
tsaccel	Acceleration
tsmom	Momentum

Table 3-2: Technical Analysis: Stochastics

Function	Type
chaikvolat	Chaikin volatility
fpctkd	Fast stochastics
spctkd	Slow stochastics
willpctr	William's %R

Table 3-3: Technical Analysis: Indexes

Function	Type
negvolidx	Negative volume index
posvolidx	Positive volume index
rsindex	Relative strength index

Table 3-4: Technical Analysis: Indicators

Function	Type
adline	Accumulation/distribution line
bollinger	Bollinger band
hhigh	Highest high
llow	Lowest low
medprice	Median price
onbalvol	On balance volume
prcroc	Price rate of change
pvtrend	Price-volume trend
typprice	Typical price
volroc	Volume rate of change
wclose	Weighted close
willad	William's accumulation/distribution

The chapter provides examples for several types of technical analysis:

• Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD)
• William's %R
• Relative Strength Index (RSI)
• On-Balance Volume (OBV)

Calculate the Dividend Rate

Examples