Technical analysts like to put moving averages on their charts, and each analyst has his own favorite for the type of moving average and the speed at which it adjusts to changes in the data. The two most common types in use these days are Simple Moving Averages (SMAs) and Exponential Moving Averages (EMAs). To understand why technicians care about EMAs versus SMAs, a quick look at this chart provides some an illustration of the difference. During trending moves upward or downward, a 10% Trend and a 19-day SMA will largely be right together. It is during periods when prices are choppy, or when the trend direction is ... (full story)