This paper examines the main drawbacks of technical analysis. Although this is widely used by practitioners, from an academic perspective it can only be seen as a form of "voodoo finance". In particular, it runs into the following pitfalls: Subjectivity; Doubtful assumptions; Unjustified...

We selectively review recent advancements in research on predictive models of earnings and returns. We discuss why applying statistical, econometric, and machine learning advancements to forecasting earnings and returns presents difficult challenges. In the context of these challenges, we...