Quote from Handle123:
Too many people don't think outside the box. A moving ave can be anything to anybody so long as they backtest their ideas with sound money management techs. I use moving aves all the time for entry, getting in on deeper retracements allows me to risk less, what's wrong with that? If it is a support/resistance area, perfect way to get in and risk 4-5 ticks in ES.
Moving averages can also alert the trader for divergences and reverse divergences, THIS is huge, as it tells me when NOT to take a signal. Does yours tell you when not to take signals? Traders do not have to use the closes, using the highs and lows as an indicator in itself can alert the trader to changes he can't spot on price itself.
Only in ones backtesting can someone judge optimal targets and stop loss, but even that can be broken down further as to duration of trade, for consistency in day trading there is always a trade off for larger profits and win/loss, smoother equity curve requires smaller profits for me.
I think people confuse "Edge", it is different for everyone and depending on experience, this changes. Those who don't make consistent money often times believe it is a system, those who have traded for long time might have more of a philosophical thoughts of watching price patterns and laughing all day long cause they see where the inexpereinced are getting screwed.