Trading 101: The No-BS Guide to Financial Markets
What is Fundamental Analysis?
This is the ‘big picture’ stuff. Fundamental analysis looks at news, economic reports, interest rates, and anything that influences a market’s overall value.
Economic Reports & Data Releases – Think GDP, inflation, employment reports (like NFP for Forex).
Interest Rates & Central Banks – The Federal Reserve, ECB, etc. move markets with their policies.
Market Sentiment & Geopolitical Events – Elections, wars, economic policies—these create volatility.
Company Earnings & Industry Trends (For Stocks) – If a company is making bank, its stock usually rises.
When to Use It:
Long-term trades (swing trading, investing).
Figuring out why a market is moving.
Timing entries before major news releases.
What is Technical Analysis?
This is where we get into charts, indicators, and price action. Technical analysis is all about recognizing patterns and predicting movements based on past data.
Charts & Price Action – Candlestick patterns, trends, support/resistance.
Indicators – Moving averages, RSI, MACD, Bollinger Bands, Fibonacci (we’ll cover these in detail later).
Volume & Liquidity – Shows how strong a move is (high volume = real moves, low volume = fakeouts).
When to Use It:
Short-term trades (scalping, day trading, swing trading).
Identifying entry and exit points.
Spotting high-probability setups.
So… Which One Should You Use?
Both, dumbass. They’re not enemies—they complement each other. Fundamentals tell you why a market is moving, technical tell you when and where to enter.
Example 1: If the Fed raises interest rates (fundamental), the USD might strengthen. You can then use technicals to find the best entry.
Example 2: A stock has killer earnings, but if the chart is at a major resistance level, you might wait for confirmation before jumping in.
Final Rule: Fundamentals set the direction, technicals set the execution.