What is Technical Trading? TheStreet's Jim Cramer Explains

TheStreet's Jim Cramer explains that technical traders are people who analyze trend information and look for recognizable patterns. Cramer said, 'Patterns of what has happened to the stock. Regardless of the name of the stock. It’s about what has happened to the pictograph over time. Why is this important? Because in times of turbulence, people default to something that gives them comfort. And those are the support levels or when it gets too high. We look at the ceiling levels.' For technicians, there are many different ways to interpret the data and come up with a price the stock should be trading at. For his part, Cramer said he is 'a fundamentalist, I take a bottoms-up approach, I’m looking at the earnings, I’m looking at the sales and what a company’s management is doing.' Fundamental traders are focused on analyzing longer-term company trends. Some people ask whether technical or fundamental trading is better. Cramer said, 'If you marry the two, you come up with a very successful way to increase the odds that you will make money.' Cramer believes that once an investor gets comfortable with both analyzing companies and trends they should also work to understand charts and share prices and whether the stock has a range that it typically trades within. 'That’s what I did at the old Cramer & Co. and that’s what I’m urging you to do.'