Abstract

Finance is well known to be a very mathematical area of knowledge. However, a specific financial practice called technical analysis mainly uses visual patterns in order to take a position on the market. Through financial graphs, tables, charts, etc, technical analysts give a meaning to the evolution of financial prices. All these visual metaphors imply a real interpretative process in which analysts form 'feelings' and judgements concerning 'bad shapes' or 'good trends'. While technical analysis is usually associated with the recognition of visual patterns, this article rather deals with the way of recognizing these patterns. More precisely, we show that this recognition is based on a creative and interpretative process. This interpretative dimension of technical analysis combined with its popularization can then be looked on as a source of liquidity in the market.