The Evolution of Technical Analysis: Financial Prediction from Babylonian Tablets to Bloomberg Terminals

Andrew Lo, Director, MIT Laboratory for Financial Engineering, and his co-author Jasmina Hasanhodzic, present the creation and evolution of technical analysis, spanning several civilizations, from the most ancient onesas far back as the Stone Age, through the rise of Wall Street as the world's financial center. It is filled with interesting facts, such as that speculative trading came into existence in ancient Babylon, where market values of various commodities were regularly charted with the purposes of forecasting them. They continue their research through the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and the Industrial Revolution. They also explore the Eastern markets of China and Japan, and compare and contrast them to Western practices. Along the way, they examine the work of the people who have played a significant role in the formation and growth of this ancient practice. The work of Charles Dow, the grandfather of modern technical analysis, will be discussed in this volume, as well as the contributions of other pioneers, such as Samuel Armstrong Nelson, William, Peter Hamilton, Robert Rhea, Richard Russell, and C.J. Collins.