... from our point of view the market is random since we are lacking information most of the time.
Interesting discussion.
One should not confuse a self-organizing complex system (like the markets) with a Random process. Markets are not random, as you claim @
surf, but are self-organizing complex systems. If you are interested in learning about complex systems as applied to markets read Hayek's beautiful work on Complexity. By this definition, there do exist patterns that can be exploited, but the exact nature (shape) of a pattern or the timing of occurrence of such pattern
cannot be predicted.
The model of markets based on informational efficiency is the worst thing that happened to the advancement of knowledge about markets -- there are multiple philosophical problems with that model, but this is not the place or forum to discuss it.
@
Conix pay close attention to what @
Redneck said about how he "defines" trading plans. He has a knack of slipping very important distinctions in a very subtle manner

. One cannot trade a signal in all contexts even if that signal occurs in multiple contexts. The first and foremost thing to do is to develop a framework that gives you the ability to exactly define contexts in a objective way -- i.e., if you give your framework to define contexts to multiple people, all the answers from different people will be the same. Once you have such framework, look at signals that have high probability of success in that context. These are the signals you want to trade in that context. The
same signal in a different context
might not be a high probability signal. Only after you have identified the trade-able signals are you ready to develop a trading plan -- entry, stop loss, how to manage the trade, exit -- around each of the signal you identified for a particular context. No step in this process can be skipped. These steps should be repeated for all the contexts you have identified using your framework.
After you have completed the above process, reflect about randomness and markets - possibly you will acquire a deeper understanding of how markets work, the patterns they form, and thereby really appreciating Hayek's work, should you chose to read it!
When @
Redneck bets $5.00 that he can take a losing "
trading plan" (within quotes and emphasis added to distinguish the use of this word in a traditional sense from the one I outlined above) and make it profitable, my guess is, he will use his framework for context and determine the context in which such "
trading plan" can be used so as to make it profitable. In other words, he will make the "
trading plan" context-aware (and thus into a trading plan, without quotes and emphasis, as described above). But it is just my guess; I could be totally incorrect.
Also, "technique" (trading plan developed as described above), although is necessary, alone is not enough. There is more to trading than a trading plan.
All the best.
Regards,
Monoid.