Talk:Timeline of technical analysis

Excluded events

Year	Event type	Details	Location
324 B.C.	Infrastructure	Antimenes the Rhodian introduces the first system of insurance, insuring owners against the flight of their slaves for an annual premium of 8 percent. The concept of risk management, fundamental in technical analysis, can be traced back to early insurance practices.	Rhodes
868	Background	The world's first known printed book, a Buddhist sutra, is produced in China.	China
1575	Settlement	Lodovico Benedito Bonbisi settles bills of exchange with Francisco de la Pressa and heirs at Medina del Campo. Bills of exchange and settlement practices introduce financial instruments that would later evolve into futures and options, integral to technical analysis strategies.	Lyons, France
1664	Conquest	British invade New Amsterdam and rename it New York, continuing business as usual under favorable terms. Maintaining the continuity of business practices help solidify New York's role as a financial hub.
1698		The wooden wall on Wall Street is torn down. The removal of physical barriers symbolizes the growing openness and expansion of the financial markets.
1776	Background	The United States wins its independence, several years after the rice market in Osaka opened.	United States
1792	Market infrastructure	New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Founded under the Buttonwood Agreement.	United States
1817	Market infrastructure	Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX). Formally established in 1861.	Canada
1866	Market infrastructure	Milan Stock Exchange (Borsa Italiana). Later merged with Euronext.	Italy
1875	Market infrastructure	Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Asia's first stock exchange.	India
1884	Financial analysis development	Dow publishes the first stock market average, tracking 11 stocks.	United States
Early 20th century		William Hamilton refines Dow Theory, explaining market trends using a metaphor of ocean waves.	United States
1902	Publication	Charles Dow's ideas are posthumously developed into Dow Theory by William Hamilton.	United States
1912	Stock exchange launch	Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). Suspended during WWII; re-established in 1949.	Japan
1916		The Dow–Jones Industrial Average is expanded from 12 to 20 stocks, reflecting the growth and diversification of the industrial sector.	United States
1920s	Development	William P. Hamilton applies Dow Theory, forecasting market trends and identifying short-term waves.	United States
1920s-1930s		Richard W. Schabacker, a former financial editor of Forbes Magazine, builds on the work of Charles Dow and William Peter Hamilton by systematizing methods and identifying significant technical patterns in individual stock charts. His influential books, including "Stock Market Theory and Practice," "Technical Market Analysis," and "Stock Market Profits," become foundational texts in the field.	United States
1923	Publication	The first stock chart is published in The Wall Street Journal, aiding in visual market analysis.	United States
1928		The Dow–Jones Industrial Average is further expanded to 30 stocks, a composition that continues to date.	United States
1929		All public utility companies are removed from the Industrial Average, and a new Utility Average of 20 issues is established.	United States
1934	Financial governance	U.S. Securities Exchange Act creates the SEC, increasing demand for market transparency and data—fuel for technical analysis.	United States
1934		Alfred Cowles conducts a study that critically examines the performance of the Dow theory, which is based on Charles H. Dow's editorials in The Wall Street Journal. Cowles' analysis, published in Econometrica, concludes that following Dow's stock price movement advice results in lower returns than a simple buy-and-hold strategy with a diversified portfolio. From 1902 to 1929, Cowles had found that the Dow theory strategy produced annualized returns of 12%, compared to 15.5% from a buy-and-hold approach. However, later studies would revisit Cowles' conclusions, suggesting that the Dow theory may offer higher risk-adjusted returns despite slightly lower overall returns.	United States
1938	Publication	Ralph Nelson Elliott publishes his theory of market behavior in The Wave Principle, where he introduces the Elliott wave principle, a method for analyzing financial markets by identifying patterns in price movements. Elliott proposes that market prices unfold in repeating cycles driven by collective trader psychology, moving between optimism and pessimism. His theory divides market movements into two phases: impulsive (motive) waves, which follow the trend, and corrective waves, which go against it. These patterns recur across various timeframes and exhibit fractal-like self-similarity, offering insights into market behavior and trends across different scales.
1938	Adjustment of Utility Average	The number of stocks in the Utility Average is reduced from 20 to 15 to better represent the sector.	United States
1942	Collaboration	Robert D. Edwards joins his brother-in-law Richard Schabacker in furthering technical analysis research. Edwards continues Schabacker's work after his death, contributing to the development and refinement of technical analysis techniques.	United States
1951		Robert D. Edwards retires from his work as a stock analyst. John Magee continues research independently and later as Chief Technical Analyst at an investment counseling firm, focusing on discovering new technical devices.	United States
1951		John Magee initiates the Delta Studies, an extension and refinement of the technical method. These studies introduce new concepts that enhance the ability to interpret and predict market situations, proving successful in practical market operations.	United States
1950s	Indicator creation	George Lane develops the Stochastic Oscillator, a momentum indicator that compares a security's closing price to its price range over a specific period. The indicator aims to predict price turning points by identifying overbought or oversold conditions.	United States
1960	Methodology shift	Chester W. Keltner introduces what would later become known as the Keltner Channel in his book How To Make Money in Commodities. Though he refers to it simply as the "ten-day moving average trading rule," the method lays foundational groundwork for systematic trading. His approach combines a 10-day simple moving average of the typical price—defined as the average of the daily high, low, and close—with channel lines set above and below based on the 10-day average trading range. The strategy aims to identify bullish or bearish momentum, and over time, it would evolve through modifications by later analysts like Linda Bradford Raschke.
1962	Indicator Creation	Richard Donchian introduces moving average trend-following systems, influencing future breakout strategies.	United States
1966	Indicator creation	Norman Fosback introduces the Money Flow Index (MFI), which uses both price and volume to identify overbought or oversold conditions in an asset, often called the "volume-weighted RSI".	United States
1967	Theory Development	J. Welles Wilder begins developing technical indicators such as RSI, ATR, and ADX.	United States
1969	Macroeconomic infrastructure	Data Resources Inc. (DRI) is co-founded by economist Otto Eckstein and financier Donald Marron with the vision of democratizing access to economic data and econometric forecasting tools. Based in Massachusetts, DRI quickly distinguishes itself by compiling vast datasets and building the largest private macroeconometric model of the U.S. economy. This model would be used to generate economic forecasts and policy simulations, influencing both private and public decision-makers. The company’s mainframe computing infrastructure, particularly Burroughs 6700 and 7700 systems, enables large-scale economic modeling. DRI’s software suite—including PRIMA, AID, and EPL—revolutionized data management and economic modeling. DRI became the go-to source for economic insights.
1972	Indicator creation	Larry Williams develops the Williams %R, a momentum indicator that measures overbought and oversold levels, similar to the stochastic oscillator.	United States
1978	Indicator creation	Wilder introduces the Parabolic SAR (Stop and Reverse), which is designed to identify potential reversals in market direction and place trailing stop-losses.	United States
1980	Indicator creation	Donald Lambert develops the Commodity Channel Index (CCI), originally intended to identify cyclical turns in commodities, but later widely applied to equities and other assets.	United States
1984	Championship	Robert Prechter wins the U.S. Trading Championship using Elliott Wave strategy, re-introducing the theory to the public.	United States
1985	Indicator creation	Jack Hutson formalizes the MACD Histogram, an extension of Gerald Appel's MACD, visualizing the difference between MACD and its signal line, used to anticipate crossovers.	United States
1985	Concept development	The term “dead cat bounce” makes its first known appearance in financial journalism when reporters from the Financial Times use it to describe a short-lived rebound in Singaporean and Malaysian stock markets during a severe downturn. The phrase, based on the idea that "even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great height," captures the essence of temporary recoveries in declining markets. Despite the brief uptick, both economies continue to decline before recovering later. The expression would gain traction in subsequent years, especially in the context of falling oil prices and equity markets, becoming a staple in financial and political discourse.
1986	Indicator creation	Marc Chaikin introduces the Chaikin Oscillator, which combines price and volume by applying an EMA to the Accumulation/Distribution Line, helping traders identify buying and selling pressure.	United States
1986	Indicator creation	Marc Chaikin introduces the Chaikin Money Flow (CMF) indicator, measuring the accumulation-distribution of money flow volume over a set period to gauge buying or selling pressure.	United States
1987	Market crash	Black Monday prompts debate over the limits of technical analysis during extreme volatility.	United States
1980s		Michael Adam, David Harding, and Martin Lueck use computers to analyze historical price data, introducing empirical rigor to technical analysis.	United States
1989	Theory development	Menachem Brenner and Dan Galai introduce the idea of creating volatility indices, including one for stock market volatility, in a series of influential papers. Their work lay the foundation for the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), which would later be developed by Bob Whaley in 1992. The VIX provides a measure of market volatility based on S&P 500 index options, offering insights into expected market fluctuations over the next 30 days. This concept of implied volatility, first discussed in the 1973 Black-Scholes model, is integral to options pricing and would since become a crucial tool for traders to gauge market sentiment and risk.
1989	Stock exchange launch	Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE). One of two main Chinese mainland exchanges.	China
1989	Indicator creation	Tushar Chande and Stanley Kroll introduce the Aroon Indicator, which measures the time since the last highs and lows, helping identify trend strength and potential reversals.	United States
1990	Regulation	The Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation is introduced by the MTA.	United States
1990s	Methodology shift	Steve Nison popularizes Japanese candlestick charts in the United States with a series of articles and books.	United States
1991	Stock exchange launch	National Stock Exchange of India (NSE). Introduced electronic trading, rivaling BSE.	India
1991	Indicator creation	Tom DeMark publishes the DeMark Indicators, including the TD Sequential and TD Combo, which identify potential trend exhaustion and reversal points based on price and time.
1992	Methodology shift	Robert E. Pardo introduces Walk Forward Analysis (WFA) as a method to optimize and validate trading strategies. WFA divides historical market data into two sets: in-sample (used for optimization) and out-of-sample (used for validation). The process involves repeatedly shifting the in-sample window forward and testing on the subsequent out-of-sample segment, helping assess the system’s robustness over time. WFA minimizes overfitting and simulates real-market performance more accurately than static backtests. Today, it is widely considered the gold standard in trading system development and is crucial for evaluating the consistency and adaptability of trading strategies in dynamic market conditions.
1994	Publication	Martin Pring publishes Technical Analysis Explained, becoming a standard textbook for traders and students worldwide.	United States
1994	Indicator creation	Tushar Chande also introduces the Stochastic RSI, which applies the stochastic formula to RSI values rather than price, making it more sensitive to market momentum shifts.	United States
1995	Market development	Widespread adoption of personal computers and Windows-based platforms leads to greater access to charting tools for individual investors.
1995	Stock exchange launch	Euronext. Europe (cross-border). Merged markets from France, Netherlands, Belgium; now includes several others.
1995	Indicator creation	John Ehlers presents the Hilbert Transform-based indicators, introducing signal processing methods from electrical engineering into technical analysis to reduce lag and improve cycle detection.	United States}
1995	Indicator creation	John Ehlers develops the Fisher Transform, which converts prices into a Gaussian normal distribution to identify price extremes and potential reversals.	United States
1996	Indicator creation	Daryl Guppy introduces the Guppy Multiple Moving Averages (GMMA), a system of two groups of moving averages that reveal the behavior of short-term traders versus long-term investors.	Australia
1997	Indicator creation	Alexander Elder publishes his Force Index, combining price movement and volume to assess the power behind a price move.	United States
1998	Tool launch	Launch of StockCharts.com, offering free online charting tools and education on technical indicators.	United States
1998	Theory development	Bob Farrell, the retired Chief Market Analyst at Merrill Lynch, publishes a list of ten "Market Rules to Remember" in a report. Initially overlooked, the rules would gain prominence after the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s. They would since become iconic in financial circles, frequently quoted by financial advisors and investors. The rules cover key market principles, such as the inevitability of market corrections, the dangers of market excesses, and the influence of investor sentiment. Farrell's insights on market behavior would remain highly relevant, with his rules continuing to guide investors decades after their original publication.
1999	Education	Chartered Market Technician (CMT) program is launched to certify professional technical analysts.	United States
2000	Stock exchange launch	Deutsche Börse (Xetra). Launched modern digital trading system.	Germany
2001	Indicator creation	Eric Lefort develops the Zero-Lag MACD, aiming to address the delay in traditional MACD signals by smoothing input data without introducing significant lag.	France
2002	Indicator creation	Sylvain Vervoort creates the SVAPO (Short-Term Volume And Price Oscillator), integrating volume and price volatility to detect short-term market turning points.	Belgium
2002		Data Explorers is founded in London by Charles Stopford Sackville and Mark Faulkner to provide critical data and analytics for the securities lending and short-selling markets. Recognizing a growing demand for transparency and benchmarking in these opaque financial sectors, the company builds a platform aggregating trade and inventory data from thousands of institutional participants worldwide. Data Explorers would quickly become a trusted resource for quantitative measurement of performance and risk across securities lending programs, eventually tracking $12 trillion in lendable assets. With innovative tools and deep market intelligence, it supports hedge funds, broker-dealers, asset managers, and financial media globally.
2004	Indicator creation	Vitali Apirine introduces the Smoothed RSI, aiming to reduce false signals by smoothing the RSI with a moving average.	United States
2007	Stock exchange launch	Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Aimed at boosting Gulf capital markets.	United Arab Emirates
Digital age	Accessibility	Online trading platforms and sophisticated charting software make technical analysis accessible to retail traders. Machine learning and AI open new frontiers in the field.	Global
2012	Indicator creation	John Carter popularizes the TTM Squeeze indicator, which identifies moments when volatility contracts (Bollinger Bands within Keltner Channels), predicting potential breakouts.	United States
2016	Organization	MTA changes its name to the CMT Association to reflect global and professional focus.	United States
2017	Mobile integration	Trading platforms like TradingView become dominant, offering real-time mobile charting and social sharing of TA ideas.	Global
2024	Market Capitalization	As of date, the market capitalization of the NYSE and Nasdaq is $25.56 trillion and $23.41 trillion, respectively.