Quote from marketsurfer:
i would take that a step further by saying tape reading is the ONLY edge available for a trader who isnt on the "inside" or cracked some kind of market structure code. trying to trade from a chart is foolishness--proven again and again but they seem to like the pretty pictures and would of could of should of talk of trading in the past.
surf
I should just like to point out that when that program on Jones was made he wouldn't have been able to trade from real time charts if he'd wanted to. Not using the computers you see in the background anyway. Today it is very possible to trade from real time charts, and many traders do it, some even successfully. Whether you can do this depends on your data feed and charting software. There must be no significant lag between the data and the chart. Under those conditions the chart is superior to the tape. Time and sales (the "tape") is still useful, but if i could only have one or the other i'd choose the chart as long as it did not lag. I mainly use charts in combination with a depth of market display to trade intraday, though i do keep an eye on the "tape" as well and use it mainly to bring the spirit of Christmas, with its brightly flashing lights, into my trading room.

