TY - JOUR
T1 - Identification through technical analysis
T2 - A study of charting and UK non-professional investors
AU - Roscoe, Philip
AU - Howorth, Carole
PY - 2009/2
Y1 - 2009/2
N2 - The usefulness of technical analysis, or charting, has been questioned because it flies in the face of the 'random walk' and tests present conflicting results. We examine chartists' decision-making techniques and derive a taxonomy of charting strategies based on investors' market ontologies and calculative strategies. This distinguishes between trend-seekers and pattern-seekers, and trading as a system or an art. We argue that interpretative activity plays a more important role than previously thought and suggest that charting's main appeal for users lies in its power as a heuristic device regardless of its effectiveness at generating returns.
AB - The usefulness of technical analysis, or charting, has been questioned because it flies in the face of the 'random walk' and tests present conflicting results. We examine chartists' decision-making techniques and derive a taxonomy of charting strategies based on investors' market ontologies and calculative strategies. This distinguishes between trend-seekers and pattern-seekers, and trading as a system or an art. We argue that interpretative activity plays a more important role than previously thought and suggest that charting's main appeal for users lies in its power as a heuristic device regardless of its effectiveness at generating returns.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=58249086412&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.aos.2008.05.003
DO - 10.1016/j.aos.2008.05.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:58249086412
SN - 0361-3682
VL - 34
SP - 206
EP - 221
JO - Accounting Organizations and Society
JF - Accounting Organizations and Society
IS - 2
ER -