Technical analysis has been used by traders and analysts for centuries, but it has only recently achieved broad acceptance among regulators and the academic community. This reading gives a brief overview of the field, compares technical analysis with other schools of analysis, and describes some of the main tools in technical analysis. Some applications of technical analysis are subjective. That is, although certain aspects, such as the calculation of indicators, have specific rules, the interpretation of findings is often subjective and based on the long-term context of the security being analyzed. This aspect is similar to fundamental analysis, which has specific rules for calculating ratios, for example, but introduces subjectivity in the evaluation phase.