In the first 3 parts of this series, we went fishing for high dividend stocks with strong balance sheets using the following screening criteria:

1. High Dividend Yield - Above 5 %

2. Moderate Dividend Payout Ratio - Below 50 %

3. Less Than 40 % Above 52-Week Low *

4. Options Available

5. Current Ratio: Over 1.5

6. Long Term Debt to Equity: Under .5

Technical analysis is basically all about the analysis of prices and their behaviour. These price actions depict patterns on charts and because human behavior is notoriously repetitive in nature, these price patterns can also be seen as very repetitive as well. By being aware of this important element definitely puts the odds in our favour right from the start.

You can choose from a variety of chart types that are readily available. The Japanese candlestick charts I have found by far are the easiest to utilise and could quite possibly be the one chart that you will use the most.

There are entire books devoted to the study of these candlestick patterns - if you are really serious about studying candlestick charts, Just take a look at the free books available on www asxnewbie.com.

Support and Resistance:

This is one of the most important concepts in technical analysis. Support and Resistance forms the very basic foundation for nearly every trading decision you will make. To give it full coverage would require many pages but I will limit myself to some very basic definitions and just a couple examples:

Support level:

This is a price level that a declining market or stock has failed to penetrate and has rebounded off at this level.
Example: the low of the previous day forms an line of support and this price level is often frequently used as a stop loss.

Resistance level:

This is a price level that a rising market or stock has failed to break through and has rebounded off it and headed back downwards.
Example: a previous high in an uptrend forms an area of resistance and this can be used as a minimum future objective to take some profits once that level is eventually reached.