Okay, I am a noob, but from all the information I have come across [I am chasing my CMT now], I have seen price & volume remain as the true measures of when and where to strike. But the problem with saying that the indicators are wrong, lag, etc. is that MOST OF THE POPULAR INDICATORS ARE DERIVED FROM SOME FORM OF PRICE & VOLUME DATA. So what did you really say?
If you are referring to watching the price movements of the different orders being placed, have told these people how they should account for dark pools? Have you mentioned that if overall security volume is down, snap shots of price action would allow other traders to eat their lunch [and dinner too?]. Did you also explain that the speed of which your data provider can get you data can make or break you if all you are watching is price action? Did you explain that if you watching MACD and other similar indicators, you should probably concentrating on swing trading in the first place?
No. So if you're not going to take the time to answer the questions appropriately, don't suck people in with recommendations that will get them in more trouble than it is worth.
Bottomline is Half truths will get you killed - literally. If you study the bible enough [I mean even if you're not religious, it is still a good read], you'll notice that the Lucifer [the devil] generally uses half truths and twisting of facts or statements to draw people in. Baiting many might call it.
And to answer the original question: both.
Most traders on this forum should be using [in order] Market Volume, Security Volume, RSI, MACD, Stoch, [or something similar] along with some basic fundmentals [P/E, Tobin's Q] to ISOLATE their traders and to set targets exit points. From that point when you RSI & Volume are about to pass strike zones [for RSI or like indicator, just after a cross], that is when you watch Price Action like a hawk and nothing else -- Really. Close your chart. You have enough data to be in the right security, you just looking to exploit the best entry you can without getting a false move. And you keep going until maybe you get good enough to trade off price action alone. But then you should be hedging with calls and puts anyways to allow your swings to unwind so you won't be in too much of a hurry. I know that this might be for the lower end trader, but it IS what works and it gives you the opportunity to learn a sector profitably while trading a live account
Real pros can do this buy looking at price action alone all day. But then, Larry Bird could hit over 100 free throws in a row -- several weeks in a row. Most people at the pro level couldn't even do that. The same can be said for Price Action.
My $0.02