self fulfilling prophesy, page-7

As a newbie, I've been wondering when someone would open this conundrum for debate.

IMHO...

A chart can only be plotted AFTER the fact. So fundamentals are the driving force behind what a chart shows.

BUT the fundamentals (and I include "fundamentals" to be anything other than a chart - whether that be balance sheets, hype, insider trading and whatever else) are reflected in the chart via the price of the stock.

There is no way the average investor can possibly know more about the fundamentals than the chosen few like major investors or instos. And even they are trumped by the rig workers who have just struck oil and ring home to tell their missus to buy. And the stock moves up.

Every night thousands of us are sitting looking over charts and the next day we buy based on what we see in them. And yes, if everyone was scanning for a stock that volume was its highest for 12 months then we'd all be on that stock tomorrow and supply and demand would dictate it would fulfil its own destiny because we'd all be sitting there watching the price fly up as everyone scrambled to get in, confirming our decision to buy.

Then, you can add in all the intabgibles - things like fibonacci, support and resistance, double tops, head and shoulders, and why on earth numbers just seem to add up.

But when all is said and done, unless you are the oil rig worker, a chart is the only way of knowing something is up without knowing exactly what that something is.

I really no freakin clue :-) but boy, if I'm gonna try to be that profound I'd better have a red wine...