Analysis
Technical vs Fundamental Analysis: Which Should You Use?
Every trader eventually picks a side — or learns to blend both. This is a plain-English comparison of the two dominant approaches to analysing markets.
Fundamental analysis
Fundamental analysis (FA) asks: what is this asset actually worth? Analysts study revenue, earnings, debt, interest rates, commodity supply-demand, macro trends and adoption metrics. The thesis: over time, price converges to fair value.
Common FA inputs by asset class:
- Stocks — earnings, cash flow, P/E ratio, guidance.
- Crypto — active addresses, network fees, developer activity, token supply schedule.
- Forex — interest rates, inflation, trade balance, GDP.
- Commodities — inventories, weather, OPEC output, geopolitics.
Technical analysis
Technical analysis (TA) asks: what is price actually doing?TA studies chart patterns, indicators (RSI, MACD, moving averages), volume, and market structure. The thesis: price already reflects everything, and history rhymes.
Common TA tools:
- Support & resistance levels.
- Moving averages (50-day, 200-day).
- Momentum indicators (RSI, MACD, Stochastic).
- Chart patterns (head & shoulders, triangles, flags).
Where each shines
| Situation | Better tool |
|---|---|
| Long-term investing (years) | Fundamentals |
| Swing trading (days to weeks) | Blend |
| Day trading / scalping | Technicals |
| Identifying trend reversals | Technicals |
| Understanding why a market moves | Fundamentals |
The pragmatic answer: use both
Most consistently profitable traders use fundamentals to decidewhat to trade and technicals to decide when. FA tells you the story; TA tells you the timing.
The NexPrices terminal is built for both: live prices, market cap and volume for FA, and TradingView charts on every symbol for TA.