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.
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Volume (Year): 34 (2009) Issue (Month): 2 (February) Pages: 206-221 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
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