I hope anyone who has come to the conclusion that TA doesn't work has watched a TA expert do it live. Watch a guy who has made his living like that for 10+ years, watch him do it live in real-time on a real market with his real money, and if you don't think it's TA at the root of his success, then I guess whatever you think is at the root of his success you should do that instead.
Having said that, of course TA alone, or pretty much anything alone, won't get the job done. Money management, keep an eye on current news, etc. I mean, I don't care what TA is telling you, if the government just passed a huge "bank bailout" bill, things are probably going to move, and fast. (Thinking back to last October or whenever it was they passed the first one. Ugh.
). Or when Rambus lost its patent case. Ouch if you didn't have a good news feed.
Main point is, someone can point to an article here or there how TA doesn't work, but if you see someone do it live who's been doing it a long time, and isn't just a marketing guy trying to sell you something, you can see him doing it with your own eyes and be your own judge. If you haven't seen, I wouldn't judge.
I mean, Jim Cramer doesn't believe in TA, so what does that tell you? Case closed.
And then of course the question is: "what is TA?" Indicators? Charts? Price? Volume?
Pretty much every forum on the net will have at least one thread about how using indicators is like using training wheels, or, even worse, using them is gimping your growth, and that the sooner you take them off your charts, the better.
I think most indicators are of dubious value, but if they tell you something you aren't otherwise seeing from price or a chart or whatever voodoo you might prefer, or if you just use them for confirmation or a second opinon, then go with it. I think of it as like having multiple teachers teaching the same material in the same class -- some students will "get it" when things are presented in one way but maybe not another way, and if it helps them understand, then hey.
A main thing to remember is your way of doing likely isn't the only way of doing. Heck, some people swear by Elliot Waves. Maybe I'm just not smart enough to get anything out of them. :smart:
I just hope pro-indicator people actually know what it is the indicator is showing them. I know a guy who swore by stochastics. Any opinion on a stock he had, every other word he said was about stochastics. But he didn't understand what stoch was based on. A conversation later, and he still uses it, but it's no longer a holy grail.
edit: what the heck, did the forum get purged? It says I only have one post.
