Frank, allow me to help you with the chart and other technical indicators.
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The first indicator is called the Relative Strength Indicator or RSI. It measures the strength of a stock's price with regard to other stocks in the market.
You will notice three areas of concern with the RSI. The 70 line, the 50 line and the 30 line.
When a stock's share price is above the 70 line, it indicates the stock is performing better than 70% of other stocks. It also indicates the stock is overbought. When the indicator approaches the 70 line from below, most of the time the stock will meet resistance and this is where a lot of people will take profits.
When the indicator is below the 30 line, it indicates the stock is oversold. The indicator crossing up and over the 30 line is considered a buy signal. This is where a lot of value investors turn into momentum investors as this is a very bullish sign when it occurs.
A general rule of thumb is sell above the 70 line, buy below the 30 line. The 50 line serves as support or resistance, depending on the direction of the indicator.
The MACD Indicator measures the trend of a stock. The thick black line is your indicator and the thin blue line is a 9 day moving average indicator. When you see the MACD indicator (thick black line) cross up and over the thin blue line, it indicates that the trend is now bullish.
When the MACD indicator crosses down and over the thin blue line, get the hell out of Dodge. If you haven't sold by then, you better get to it. (Look at the chart and compare the movement of the MACD to the share price.)
The candlestick patterns are too complicated to explain here. Those that are clear in color represent up days. Those colored in represent down days. The patterns themselves measure the psychology of the market, the battle between the bulls and the bears. Today's pattern is bullish. That's as far as I'll go on this for now.
The Chaikin Money Flow Indicator, also known as the CMF Indicator, measures the money flows into or out of the stock. A number of +1 to +10 represents normal buying. Anything above +10 represents heavy buying.
A number of -1 to -10 represents normal selling, anything below -10 represents heavy selling. (Pull up a chart on any of the drillers and see how much selling is going on.)
The Stochastic Indicator works the same way as the RSI Indicator except is uses an 80 and 20 line as opposed to a 70 and 30 line. The Sto's will flash buy and sell signals quicker than the RSI because of the numbers being used. The more aggressive investor likes the early warning system provided by the Sto's.
When both lines cross up over the 20 line it represents a buy signal. When both lines cross below the 80 line it represents a sell signal. Some people wait for the RSI to confirm the Sto's before buying and selling.
A daily chart is for short term trades, a weekly chart for intermediate term trades and a monthly chart for long term trades.
Some short term traders wait for the weekly to confirm the daily before making a move.
Hope all of this helps some.
Print it and follow the indicators with your favorite stocks and you'll catch on soon enough.
Technical analysis doesn't guarantee success, but it does give you an advantage as to when you should buy and sell a stock. I look at it as having a 3-0 count in baseball. You may not have a successful at bat but you have the advantage over the pitcher as he has to throw you something decent to swing at or you get a free pass.
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