STA Blog

Like most investors in the Stock Markets when I started investing back in 1999 I was an amateur. I got caught up in the DotCom hype and after losing money after the bust, I stayed away from the markets for a while, feeling burned and lacking confidence.

But investing was something I still wanted to do I was fascinated by it, so when I finally decided I would re-start investing I decided to do it the right way. I searched the web for training courses from private vendors promising huge investment returns but it all seemed so untrustworthy.

Then I cam across IFTA and the STA organisation which offered industry accredited high quality (University Level) education. I did not need the accreditation because at the time I did not work in the Financial Sector but it certainly was a great bonus.

I contacted the STA and although I did not live in the UK they were very accommodating to my needs. The studies really awakened my passion for technical analysis and opened my eyes to all the possibilities, approaches and tools to analyse professionally the markets.

Undertaking a formal study of this nature, was time consuming, of this there is no doubt. But you get the rewards for your investment of time and effort. Highlights for me were truly understanding supply and demand, charting and what indicators really mean. I thoroughly enjoyed Ichimoku Cloud, Elliott Wave, Market Profile and Point and Figure charting. Market Psychology, Sentiment and the madness of crowds were fascinating eye openers for me.

Having gained the knowledge from the course it enabled me to begin working on systems, back-testing and moving my investing from an emotional roller coaster to more of a science.

It also inspired me to blog about the Stock Market and provide free educational articles to individual investors who did not have the money or the will to study for a professional qualification. Independent investors often get taken for a ride by so called guru’s and vendors of ‘Hot Stocks’ newsletters and I wanted to reach out to them.

I look back on my studies with the STA with fondness and I am proud to be a Certified Technical Analyst. I highly recommend the education available, there is nothing like it to take you to the next level either in the industry or for your own personal growth.

Barry D. Moore (MSTA)

Barry is an independent investor and founder of Liberated Stock Trader a website dedicated to helping beginners learn about the stock market and technical and fundamental analysis.