Two ways to look at a stock
| Fundamental analysis | Technical analysis | |
|---|---|---|
| Studies | The business: sales, profits, debt, value | The price: trends, patterns, indicators |
| Question | Is this a good company at a fair price? | Which way is the price moving? |
| Time frame | Years | Days to months |
| Tools | Growth, P/E, balance sheet | RSI, moving averages, MACD |
What each is good for
Fundamentals tell you what a business is worth and whether it is getting better. Over years, stock prices follow earnings, so fundamentals decide long-term results. Technicals describe what other investors are doing right now. They can help with timing and risk, but they say nothing about the company.
ETFs are different
A broad index fund has no single business to analyse, so investors in ETFs lean more on market signals such as the The VIX (volatility index), trend and valuation of the whole market.
How this site uses them
Automate Fundamentals is built around fundamentals: Strategies rank companies on growth, valuation and balance sheet. Technical measures such as RSI appear as context and timing aids, never as the reason to own a company. Technical strategies are covered in this wiki for education only.
See also
- Fundamental analysis What fundamental analysis is, the four things it checks in every company, and how it differs from reading price charts.
- Relative Strength Index (RSI) What the RSI indicator measures, how the 14-day RSI is calculated, what overbought and oversold readings mean, and the limits of using it alone.
- The 200-day moving average Why the 200-day moving average is the most-watched trend line in investing, what the research shows about markets above and below it, and its weaknesses.
- Investor or trader The difference between investing and trading, why most individuals do better as long-term owners, and how costs, taxes and time favour patience.
Pages that link here: A long-term investing philosophy, Frontrunner strategies, MACD indicator
Last updated September 30, 2026. Education only, not investment advice.