KM: Technical Analysis Revealed

Following is taken from an analysis of a book on AMZN.com:

the real use of technical analysis is not that the patterns mean anything in and of themselves, its having the experience and judgment to know which pattern applies in a given situation that makes them truly useful, and the fact the traders themselves believe in them, so to some extent they become a self-fulfilling prophecy. So the field of technical analysis is itself a combination of art and science.

And actually, the most important aspect of trading is loss control and sell discipline, and understanding position sizing relative to risk and reward, since understanding the technical indicators is actually fairly straightforward, and many charting packages will do that for you anyway, so you don't even know how to understand how they're derived. And the charting packages will generate buys and sells by whatever indicator you want, but remember, it's knowing when to apply a given indicator that's the hard part. Finally, if you're planning on starting in on trading yourself, make sure you read up on and understand what's known as "money management" thoroughly before you set out--such as proper position sizing (not risking too much money on a given trade) and not selling your losers promply--an almost universal mistake among novice traders--and even pros who should (and do) know better. Good luck and happy trading!