Technical and fundamental analysis both allow you to analyse the financial markets before making an investment. Technical analysis examines the price movement of securities in order to predict price movements of the future. Fundamental analysis simply looks at economic factors.

I use fundamental analysis more than technical. In layman's terms, I look at the income and cashflow statements of any given company, along with the balance sheet, to try and estimate its base value. Once I've determined how much the company is worth, I can then see if the stock is trading at a lower value. If it is then it makes good business sense to invest. I find it usually works well, although I have made some mistakes - look at Elan!

Technical analysis also generally works but you really have to know your stuff and it is arguably more speculative than fundamental analysis. You look at the trading history of a particular stock to predict the future prices. I personally think analysis works best when looked at from all possible angles so I combine the two.

I don't think of it in odds - that implies gambling too much for me. Granted, investing in stock could be a gamble, but I don't acknowledge it in that way so as not to cast doubts over my investments! It's just a mental thing really. If you are sure of the companies you are investing in via the analysis that you do before you invest then I don't think that there is much of an element of gambling involved. As long as you know what you're doing that is...

Especially now you have no financial adviser to help you! Every investor should know how to analyse the fundamentals and apply to stock history to his potential portfolio. There are plenty of resources out there that could give you a crash course. Once you have the knowledge you will surprised with the immediate results you have.