Stock chart patterns are simply a visual representation of the prices buyers and sellers bought and sold at in the past. There is no magic in a chart pattern they just show you what happened in the past and what has a higher probability of happening in the future. The best use of chart patterns is to take a wider view of the trend on your time frame of choice and follow the path of least resistance. A chart pattern can show that a stock is in a range with defined resistance and support. A chart could also show an uptrend of higher highs and higher lows or a downtrend of lower highs and lower lows. Stock chart patterns signal whether a stock is under accumulation or distribution or just trading in a defined price range. The most popular use of stock chart patterns is for breakout trading signals as the probability increases of a move in a specific direction after a price breakout of a previous support or resistance. They are basically momentum indicators. The value comes in creati
Float in a stock is the number of shares of a company that is currently trading publicly on the exchange and is available for traders and investors to buy and sell. The stock float is calculated by taking a company’s total issue of outstanding shares and subtracting any restricted stock. Pre IPO investors, employees and founders can’t sell their restricted shares because they can be in a lock-up period for a time following the IPO usually between 90-180 days. Executives and insiders many times can also be restricted from selling shares around earnings announcement dates. This occurs when an insider could have knowledge of information not public yet where the sale of shares could be considered insider trading in a legal sense. A company’s float is an important metric to show the liquidity of shares for a company. It can show the supply of shares on the open market and give a clearer view of supply and demand. Share float is the shares traded on the stock exchanges and price is discon