Technical analysis is the process of forecasting the direction of prices of a financial instrument through the study of past market data. Most of the time, this process would involve a graph containing huge amount of data.
Fundamental analysis is the process of analyzing financial statements and the major aspects of the business, such as its management team, to forecast the price. This uses historical as well as present data. It would definitely be more in-depth as compared to technical analysis.
Both methods has its pros and cons. The industry players also uses both methods with success.
For the average person, my advice would be to learn both up and put it to practice with a small amount of funds, which you are willing to lose, to ensure you find the method that would work for you. For those who are not capable of using any capital then you should play with some free accounts online using both methods and building your strategy.
