Technical analysis can seem like one of the more intimidating corners of investing for someone just entering the stock market. Charts, candlesticks and patterns can make it appear as though analysts are trying to predict the future.
In a recent podcast conversation, SEBI-registered Research Analyst Rohit Tripathi addressed that very perception, explaining why it keeps many retail investors from exploring technical analysis in the first place.
The discussion went beyond charts and trading strategies, looking at how technical analysis can help ordinary investors make more deliberate decisions with their portfolios. Tripathi argued that the discipline is not about predicting markets with perfect accuracy. It is about studying historical price data, recognising patterns and building a system for making decisions under uncertainty.
For him, the misconception is simple to explain: people mistake analysis for fortune-telling. But, as he put it, technical analysis is not about reading someone’s palm. It is about working with data and probabilities and accepting that no system needs to be perfect to be useful.
When Charts Start Looking Like Fortune-Telling
For someone new to the stock market, technical analysis can look intimidating. Candlesticks, support levels, patterns and indicators can easily create the impression that analysts are trying to predict the future from a chart. That perception, according to Tripathi, is one of the biggest reasons people hesitate to learn it.
He rejects the idea that technical analysis is a form of financial fortune-telling. His comparison is simple: judging a student’s possible career based on what they are studying and how they are performing is not the same as reading their palm. It is an assessment based on available information.
Technical analysis works on a similar principle. It studies historical price data and uses recurring behaviour to make decisions about what could happen next. There is no promise of being right every time, nor does there need to be one. What matters is having a system that is more useful than making decisions blindly.
The Problem Isn’t Always the Chart
Tripathi believes another barrier is the way people approach learning technical analysis. Many beginners consume a large amount of content, quickly move past the basics and jump straight into advanced concepts. The result is often confusion rather than confidence.
For him, the foundation matters. He compares it to mathematics: trying to learn trigonometry without understanding geometry leaves gaps that eventually show up in the work. Technical analysis is no different. Beginners need to properly understand concepts such as Dow Theory and candlesticks before attempting more complicated strategies.
He is also surprisingly blunt about how people should learn. Despite being a YouTuber himself, Rohit Tripathi recommends books over relying entirely on YouTube videos. His reasoning is that a subject as broad as technical analysis cannot realistically be understood through a couple of hours of scattered content. For him, learning requires structure, time and practice, not simply consuming more information.
The Bigger Hurdle Is Human Psychology
Even after someone understands the charts, Tripathi says the real test begins when money is involved. Knowing what a setup indicates is one thing; following the system when emotions take over is another.
He points to a familiar pattern among investors. A stock starts making a profit and impatience pushes them to sell early. A losing stock, meanwhile, can trigger ego: instead of accepting the loss, they hold on because they believe it must eventually recover. The same emotional cycle can turn into revenge trading, where investors increase their bets simply to recover money they have already lost.
That is why he does not present technical analysis as a shortcut to quick profits. He estimates that it can take about a year of consistent learning and application before someone becomes meaningfully better at making decisions. The challenge is not just reading a chart. It is learning to respond rationally when the chart does not behave as expected.
Why “Not 100% Accurate” Isn’t a Dealbreaker?
Another misconception can work against technical analysis: the expectation that a good system should always be right. Rohit Tripathi argues almost the opposite.
No technical setup works every single time. Some patterns may have a higher probability of success than others, but uncertainty remains part of the process. Rather than treating that as a flaw, Tripathi frames it around risk and reward. If a trade has a defined potential upside and a defined downside, an investor can make a decision knowing that the outcome is not guaranteed.
That distinction matters for beginners. Technical analysis, in his view, is not about finding a magic pattern that tells you exactly what a stock will do tomorrow. It is about creating a repeatable decision-making system. A few failed trades do not automatically invalidate the system; what matters is whether the overall approach produces favourable outcomes over time.
From Learning Charts to Making Better Decisions
Rohit Tripathi’s argument ultimately comes back to something more basic than charts: having a reason behind an investment decision.
A salaried investor may put money into several stocks every month simply because they already own them. Technical analysis can introduce another question: which stocks are actually better positioned right now, and which ones might be too expensive to add to?
That framework also sits alongside Tripathi’s approach to stock selection through Mini Marvels, his stock recommendation service, where the focus is on applying research and decision-making rather than simply following market noise.
For someone investing their own salary, that framework can matter more than another prediction about where the market is headed. The point is not to know the future. It is to make better decisions with the information available and to have a system to fall back on when the market does not behave as expected.