CMT Level II study guide
CMT Level II · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Chartered Market Technician (CMT) Program is a three-level curriculum in technical analysis of financial markets, administered by CMT Association, leading to the CMT designation. CMT Association describes it as a rigorous program covering behavioral finance, risk management, and quantitative strategies, built on the analysis of statistical patterns in price, volume, and momentum. The association positions the credential for portfolio managers, hedge fund managers, investment advisors, RIAs, investment strategists, heads of research, and chief investment officers - people whose work depends on market behavior, the gap between intrinsic value and market price, and systematic risk control. Level II is the second of the three exams; candidates must pass all three levels, accumulate qualifying professional work experience, and join CMT Association as Professional Members with references before earning the charter. CMT exams are offered twice a year, in June and December. The Level I and II exams will be offered December 1 – 16, 2026 ET, and Level III is scheduled for Thursday, December 3, 2026 ET. Topics on this exam: Technical Analysis of Financial Markets (CMT Level II curriculum scope not enumerated in source). The CMT Level II study guide has 1 section and about 434 words.
01Technical Analysis of Financial Markets: Integrating Evidence into a Testable Market View
CMT Level II tests synthesis, not definition recall. Candidates must combine trend, momentum, volume, breadth, sentiment, cycles, and intermarket evidence into a coherent, testable market view. Questions often ask which tool answers a specific question, whether a signal is confirmed across timeframes, and whether an apparent edge survives realistic costs and out-of-sample testing. Price is primary; indicators are transformations of price, volume, or related data.
434 words, about 2 minMore study resources for CMT Level II
- Practice questionsIn classical Dow Theory, which statement best describes the relationship between the primary trend and secondary reactions?
- FlashcardsDow Theory confirmation. Both the industrial and transport averages (or comparable composite indices) must signal the same trend direction; a new high in one unconfirmed by the other is a non-confirmation and warns of trend weakness.
- Cheat sheetTrend classification rule: an uptrend requires successive higher highs and higher lows; a downtrend requires successive lower highs and lower lows; violation of the prior swing low (or high) marks the trend as broken.
- Key termsDow Theory. A framework holding that markets move in three nested trends (primary, secondary, minor), that a trend persists until clearly reversed, and that index averages should confirm one another before a signal is trusted.
- Study planMap the official CMT Level II topic outline into a personal checklist and tag each line item as trend, pattern, momentum, volume/flow, intermarket, sentiment, or system/risk.
- Common mistakesLevel II questions are built around applying method to supplied evidence; candidates who memorized pattern silhouettes skip the step of checking the actual swing sequence, volume behaviour, or threshold values, and pattern recognition becomes confirmation bias.
- Exam-day guideBring the exact form of identification your admission ticket names.