"Technical analysis is perhaps the oldest device designed to beat the market. It has secular history given that its origins can be traced to the seminal articles published by Charles H. Dow in the Wall Street Journal between 1900 and 1902, and its basic concepts became popular after contributions by Hamilton (1922) and Rhea (1932). A complete jargon of words and pictures has been developed since then and many traders, nowadays, take their buying and selling decisions on the basis of technical analysis results appearing on their screen." Cesari and Cremonini (2003)

Most of today's technical analysis is based on Charles Dow's market observations and Dow Theory. When Charles Dow published his observations at the end of the 19th century in the Wall Street Journal he, unfortunately, did not name his observations. His theory was named "Dow Theory" by later chartists and it is Dow Theory in which modern technical analysis has its roots.

Next: Introduction to Dow Theory