No one seems to use indicators

[speedo]

"Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded."
-Yogi Berra

 

[murray t turtle]

I think so, yes - unless perhaps you "trade" (more likely "invest", but perhaps not necessarily) solely on the basis of fundamentals?

I don't use indicators, myself - but there are certainly people trading broadly the same way as me, who do. I do relatively fast-moving intraday futures trades (not by any means scalping) using my perception of overall trend as a directional bias indication (I know people who use indicators to assess this) and timing my entries according to immediately preceeding price action patterns, my general aim being to enter existing trends during/after retracements - in short, looking for convenient long entries in uptrends and short entries in downtrends. I think the timing/positioning of my entries would be harder to duplicate with indicators - in fact I don't really know of a way to do that.

I'm heavily dependent on assessing areas of support and resistance, but not dependent on indicators at all - and it just suits me.

It's still "past information", though, as I feel you'd rightly say - it's just that the lookback periods (yes, we price action traders use that expression, too) are significantly different for the directional bias from what they are for the entry timing. And one part of that can far more easily be substituted by indicators than the other.

For what it's worth (if anything) ...

I think so, yes - unless perhaps you "trade" (more likely "invest", but perhaps not necessarily) solely on the basis of fundamentals?

I don't use indicators, myself - but there are certainly people trading broadly the same way as me, who do. I do relatively fast-moving intraday futures trades (not by any means scalping) using my perception of overall trend as a directional bias indication (I know people who use indicators to assess this) and timing my entries according to immediately preceeding price action patterns, my general aim being to enter existing trends during/after retracements - in short, looking for convenient long entries in uptrends and short entries in downtrends. I think the timing/positioning of my entries would be harder to duplicate with indicators - in fact I don't really know of a way to do that.

I'm heavily dependent on assessing areas of support and resistance, but not dependent on indicators at all - and it just suits me.

It's still "past information", though, as I feel you'd rightly say - it's just that the lookback periods (yes, we price action traders use that expression, too) are significantly different for the directional bias from what they are for the entry timing. And one part of that can far more easily be substituted by indicators than the other.

For what it's worth (if anything) ...

%%
Another big problem with indicators; depends on the market+ timing to.
I noticed that when he worked for the big firm, Fidelity/institutional trading, i never heard him admit that. Admit what?? After Kevin Haggerty left Fidelity/ institutional trading, he admitted institutions will not admit they use 200 day moving average.

 

[digitalnomad]

I have my opinions about off-the-shelf indicators, but I can't say with certainty they're completely useless. Everyone has to start somewhere, and most useful quantitative models are proprietary for obvious reasons.

 

[murray t turtle]

I have my opinions about off-the-shelf indicators, but I can't say with certainty they're completely useless. Everyone has to start somewhere, and most useful quantitative models are proprietary for obvious reasons.

%%
Even the least useful, to some --''feelings'' could give a hint, sooner or later/later Maybe we should get up from a computer desk every now + then even if we '' feel fine!!''

 

[murray t turtle]

indicators are useless

%%
None of them work LOL;
unless you work

 

[caacapital]

Whatever you use to trade execution and money management is key. It kills me when people rag on a particular method they may work for someone else. It's true indicators are a derivative of price and volume but I agree with the OP you even if you don't use them directly if your trading on technicals your input is the current price(the current is part of past once you see it) for example RSI predicts turns but only will work in consolidations with out the RSI you would simply look for the low that held and the high that held and try to fade. I don't use them simply because it didn't fit my personality but I can see some form of these being an input for any algorithm that I write in the future.

 

[MrScalper]

You are all aware of how magicians work..mostly by distraction!

When a person is distracted..he/she does not see what is really happening..thus..the magician performs tasks that "appear" impossible to the untrained eye!

Charts are no different..and the magicians in the big financial world of trading are the brokers..software vendors..mentors..course providers..book writers..etc..they all distract the trader from what is really happening!

When you look at a chart..what you will see will be directly related to what you have learned about charts..so..unless you have seen the magicians for what they really are..you are just going to see the same thing as everyone else..which..usually means.. you are going to get the same results as everyone else!

 

[Bekim]

Candlesticks and multi time frame analysis I like. To me everything else is noise that gets in the way of the descision making process

 

[Handle123]

Whatever you use to trade execution and money management is key. It kills me when people rag on a particular method they may work for someone else. It's true indicators are a derivative of price and volume but I agree with the OP you even if you don't use them directly if your trading on technicals your input is the current price(the current is part of past once you see it) for example RSI predicts turns but only will work in consolidations with out the RSI you would simply look for the low that held and the high that held and try to fade. I don't use them simply because it didn't fit my personality but I can see some form of these being an input for any algorithm that I write in the future.

RSI predicts nothing, but it shows where it has been recently, if traders spent more time in durations, expand normal RSI periods, get averages of "Swing" by the hour and study RSI in either harder trend development and in chop by making zones between 100/0, they can create much better ideas of where price been and what one might expect for continuation of movement. Major problem with RSI are the limits of 100/0.

 

[fordewind]

Dont use indicators,but use indicator.Walking stick, sort of...