What is Technical Analysis?

Technical analysis is the practice of studying the stock market's past in an attempt to determine its future.  People who utilize technical analysis often study charts and graphs of a particular stock, industry, and / or sector to try and find patterns.

Here's how it works:  A technical analyst may look at XYZ's stock and notice the price has risen every February, then fallen sharply in March every year for the past four years.  They would then buy XYZ stock in February because he / she believed the market was likely to repeat the same price pattern.  Technical analysis does not pay particular attention to the fundamentals of a stock.