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Fundamental
                                                                                          Technical
                                      S.No.
                                             His perspective is long-term in nature. He is
                                        1.
                                                                               aggressive. He acts on ‘what is’.
                                             conservative  in  his  approach.  He  acts  on   His outlook is short-term oriented. He is
                                             ‘What should be’.
                                        2.   He adopts a buy-and hold policy. He does   He believes in making a quick buck. He
                                             not  usually  expect  any  significant  increase   snuffles  his  investments  quite  often
                                             in the value of his investments in less than a   recognizing  and  foresees  changes  in
                                             year.                             stock prices.
          Security Analysis and Portfolio Management
                                        3.   He  considers  total  gain  from  equity   He  does  not  distinguish  between
                                             investment consists of current yield by way   current income and capital gains. He is
                                             of dividends and long-term gains by way of   interested in short-term profits.
                                             capital appreciation.
                    Notes
                                        4.   He  forecasts  stock  prices  on  the  basis  of   He forecasts security prices by studying
                                             economic, industry and company statistics.   patterns  of  supply  of  and  demand  for
                                             The  principal  decision  variables  take  the   securities. Technical analysis is study of
                                             form of earnings and dividends. He makes   stock exchange information.
                                             a judgment of the stock’s value with a risk-
                                             return.
                                        5.   He  uses  tools  of  financial  analysis  and   He  uses  mainly  charges  of  financial
                                             statistical forecasting techniques   variables  besides  some  quantitative
                                                                               tools.

                                   6.3.1  The Critics

                                   Some critics see technical analysis as  a form  of black magic. Don't be surprised to see them
                                   question the validity  of the discipline to the point where they mock its  supporters. In fact,
                                   technical analysis has only recently begun to enjoy some mainstream credibility. While most
                                   analysts on Wall Street focus on the fundamental  side, just about any  major brokerage  now
                                   employs technical analysts as well.
                                   Much of the criticism of technical analysis has its roots in academic theory – specifically the
                                   efficient market hypothesis (EMH). This theory says that the market's price is always the correct
                                   one – any past trading information is already reflected in the price of the stock and, therefore,
                                   any analysis to find undervalued securities is useless.

                                   There are three versions of EMH. In the first, called weak form efficiency, all past price information
                                   is already included in the current price. According to weak form efficiency, technical analysis
                                   can't predict future movements because all past informations have already been accounted for
                                   and, therefore, analyzing  the stock's  past price  movements will  provide no  insight into its
                                   future movements. In  the second, semi-strong form  efficiency, fundamental  analysis is also
                                   claimed to be of little use in finding investment opportunities. The third is strong form efficiency,
                                   which states that all informations in the market are accounted for in a stock's price and neither
                                   technical nor fundamental analysis can provide investors with an edge. The vast majority of
                                   academics believe in at least the weak version of EMH. Therefore, from their point of view, if
                                   technical analysis works, market efficiency will be called into question. (For more insight, read
                                   What Is Market Efficiency? and Working Through The Efficient Market Hypothesis.)
                                   There is no right answer as to who is correct. There are arguments to be made on both sides and,
                                   therefore, it's up to you to do the homework and determine your own philosophy.
                                   6.3.2 Superiority of Technical Analysis


                                   Technical analysts differ in their views about fundamental analysis. Those who depend exclusively
                                   on technical analysis, criticize fundamental analysis as follows.
                                   1.  Fundamental analysis is hard and time consuming work. Technical analysis, on the other
                                       hand, requires less schooling and is easier to use.
                                   2.  Fundamental analysis  is based on inadequate income statements  and highly subjective
                                       nature of earnings multipliers.
                                   3.  Fundamental analysis is right in its assertion that security prices fluctuate around their
                                       intrinsic values. But even if a fundamental analyst does find an under-priced security, he
                                       must wait and hope that the rest of the market recognizes the security's true value and bids
                                       its price up.







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