When first getting started with stock market investing, it can seem overwhelming to new investors to think that they are not only responsible for learning how the many complicated processes of trading work, they're also going to have to wade through the thousands of available stocks to find out which ones are worth their time and money. Some people simply choose to outsource these responsibilities to brokers and financial adviser that have the time and training to make stock market predictions, but there's always the risk that they too could get it wrong.

If you're confused by all the stock market predictions that you've heard on television, or read on the internet, it's important that you know a little bit about how these forecasts are formulated, and how you can tell whether a prediction is worth listening too. First of all, it's important to remember that ever investor's financial situation is different, and what may present a good opportunity for one trader, could spell disaster for the next. Always trade within your means, and stick to the long term goals that you've set up for yourself. Forgetting to use their common sense is a mistake that gets many new investors in a lot of trouble.

You don't have to be a financial expert to know that it doesn't make sense to buy a stock before you know everything you can about the history of the company. That being said, many people want to get started trading stocks right away, and have neither the time nor the desire to spend months researching executive backgrounds. Many turn to stock market predictions as a way of choosing stocks that are likely to experience net growth over the next six to twelve months. It's important to understand the principles of technical analysis that make these predictions possible, however.

Technical analysts are experts at making stock market predictions; in fact, the whole purpose of their craft is based upon using the past information about a security to forecast how the stock or group of stocks is likely to perform in the future. These analysts believe that things like company history, public opinion, and economic pressure are all accounted for in the price of a stock, so they focus only on price movements for their decision making. By looking for trends and patterns in the price movement history, they can start to make assumptions that the stock will repeats these patterns in the future.