It's true that when it comes to evaluating the market and gathering information that will inform decisions about when to buy and when to sell, technical analysts are crazy about prices. No matter whether the prices are trading high, moving into a downtrend, or gapping over the weekend, technical analysts will be tracking, recording and transforming this information into clues about what their stocks are going to do in the long run. For technical analysts, two of the most widely discussed market motivators are the attributes of support and resistance, and these are essential concepts for all new traders.

It's true that the concepts of support and resistance can be complex for new investors, but it is possible to focus on the basics, while still getting a good idea of how these two attributes work together to influence prices on your stock charts. Many new traders have already seen these forces at work in their own trading, without realizing what they actually were. Have you ever noticed that your stocks keep climbing up to the same point, only to bounce lower and then start climbing back up again? If so, you have experienced what technical analysts would call a level of resistance.

The other element of support and resistance is, of course, support. Just like resistance is characterized by a level about which a stock cannot manage to increase in price, a support level is a level of prices below which the stock doesn't fall, for a significant period of time. Just as resistance levels act as a sort of ceiling for the price, the support level acts like the floor, preventing prices from bottoming out, although they may not necessarily be increasing either. Spotting a level of support means that you've found a great buying opportunity, as support lines indicate that market participants have determined a solid value and the fact that prices will start to look up eventually.

Being able to spot support and resistance levels is very important for new investors that want to base their market strategy in technical analysis. Technical analysts are obsessed with synchronizing data because it allows them to better predict future price movements. Being able to identify areas of support and resistance is useful for providing emphasis for a particular trend, and confirming the fact that a certain pattern has reached completion. You should build your analytical skills by looking for these indicators chart tracking systems.