An indicator is a mathematical calculation that can be applied to a security's price and/or volume fields.  The result is a value that is used to anticipate future changes in prices.

MetaStock for Java includes many of the most popular indicators used among technical analysts.  All of the indicators are calculated using only one or two values, either the closing price, the volume, or both.

A moving average fits this definition of an indicator: it is a calculation that can be performed on a security's price to yield a value that can be used to anticipate future changes in prices.

MetaStock for Java also allows you to draw support/resistance lines and trendlines.  Support/resistance and trendline analysis lie at the heart of technical analysis, since they are based on basic laws of supply and demand.

Indicators