What is Data Analysis?

Data analysis is the process by which traders and investors study market price movement, price history, and supply and demand to determine in what direction a market will move. It involves gathering data, creating charts, and applying various studies to charts to determine price patterns and market signals. These patterns and signals help indicate specific market direction, which in turn helps identify potential buy and sell opportunities.

Studies are visual investment tools that provide a precise, calculated way to monitor and measure a market's price movement and financial performance; helping to identify the likelihood of a change in price movement at the exact moment it begins.

TradeStation offers many different types of studies including drawing objects, technical indicators, ShowMe™ and PaintBar™ studies, ActivityBar™ studies, and ProbabilityMap™ studies. All of these studies can be applied to almost any price chart you create.

You can also create different types of charts; for example, a Point & Figure chart or a candlestick chart, to reflect market price movement in different ways. All of this information assists you in your final goal-that of determining timing and market patterns that identify buy and sell opportunities and creating a trading strategy that takes advantage of these opportunities.

Data analysis is an excellent way to study supply and demand as well as past market history, and to identify past patterns that may be repeated in the future. Charted data quickly enables you to visualize exactly what a market's price is or has been doing, as well as monitor a large number of markets. It also enables you to study and cross over to other trading vehicles. You can compare markets and apply multiple studies to the same market to gain a wealth of information that will help you in making trading decisions.