How to Learn Stock Market Charts

Locate the stock symbols of the companies you are investigating. Knowing the location of the stock symbol (normally on the top left hand corner of a stock chart) will allow you to quickly identify the stock with which you are dealing. Familiarize yourself with all of the symbols which are a part of your stock portfolio by committing them to memory, or simply have them printed out and placed in an area where they can easily be seen.
Read the high and low price points of the stock. Understanding the high and low price of your stock is crucial when it comes to reading stock charts. Viewing the high and low of the stock will let you see the highest price that stock reached, and the lowest price which the stock reached over a given period of time. Most online charts give the option to show different periods of time, from one day to a year or more.
Find the moving average. A moving average tracks the movement of the stock during a particular time frame. Comprehend that you can track the movement of a stock chart over a 30 or 90 day time frame.
Determine the stock volume. Volume simply means the number of people that were trading the stock on any given day. The volume is usually found beneath the price graph. Track the volume in days, months or weeks by referring to the dates on the chart. A high volume indicates a lot of transactions taking place on that day, which usually moves the stock significantly up or down.
Analyze trends. Know that when the price of a stock market chart is trending in an upward direction, the price is likely to go higher due to trading momentum. Similarly, stocks that are moving in a downward direction will tend to keep moving in that direction. Observe which direction the stock chart you are reading is moving. If the price is moving toward the top right corner of the chart, the stock is trending up. If the stock price is moving in the direction of the lower right corner of the chart, the stock is trending in a downward direction.
Understand support and resistance levels. Support refers to the lowest point a stock has a tendency to reach and then rebound in an upward direction. Resistance is the point a stock will normally reach and then seem to bounce off that price level and move in a downward direction.

How to Check the Stock Market

Compile a list of the stocks that you currently own and those that you have interest in purchasing. It is almost impossible to monitor and track all of the stocks available, therefore developing a list of those that you have direct interest in is important.
Create a portfolio of your current holdings including share amounts and purchase prices. This can be done simply with a spreadsheet or with an on-line portfolio tracking program. This will help you keep your information well organized.
Sign up for alerts by ticker symbol for stocks that you have the highest interest in. This can be done through various on-line sites including Yahoo Finance and Google Finance. This type of alert system should also be available to you should you have an on-line trading account. In addition, periodically review market overview information at the home page of finance web sites.yahoo.comgoogle.com
Read all information on company websites and general news sites. A fast way to find information on a company that you are interested in is to search the web based on the trading symbol of the company.
Download and install financial trading and monitoring applications to your personal computer, laptop and smart phone to make sure that you have the ability to check the stock market whenever you need to. The benefit of technology is that investors have the ability to check the stock market as they need to and no longer check only the closing price printed in newspapers.
Develop and maintain a schedule to track and monitor the stock market so that you become accustomed to doing so on a regular and routine basis. Stock market investors learn through experience, knowledge and consistency. Letting your knowledge base lapse is a fast way to fall out of favor with the market as it changes so often and so fast.