The reason I dont use any indicators

Scataphagos said:
The "best/good" signals from indicators are not random at all.
More...

Problem is that your indicator, which has been designed for certain market conditions, wont work consistently in all market conditions.
Simplest one I can think of is a moving average - only buy when price is above 200MA. Works great in a trend but get stuck in a range and you get carved up. And its no good saying that its a successful indicator when used with common sense because then whats the point of having the indicator in the 1st place? May as well remove the indi and use common sense :)
 
I think we have to stop this discussion of indicators "working" Indicators work because they express the information they are intended to. 20-day MA works because it accurately reflects the 20-day simple moving average. RSI works because it reflects relative strength of blah blah. They all work by producing a set of data.

How does that information help you to trade.

Has nothing to do with working or not working. This is the biggest flaw in these discussions. Here are 4 pieces of data (indicators) overlaid on the price, now analyze/interpret it for your decision.
 
Grantx said:
Problem is that your indicator, which has been designed for certain market conditions, wont work consistently in all market conditions.
Simplest one I can think of is a moving average - only buy when price is above 200MA. Works great in a trend but get stuck in a range and you get carved up. And its no good saying that its a successful indicator when used with common sense because then whats the point of having the indicator in the 1st place? May as well remove the indi and use common sense :)
More...

You revealed your lack of understanding. More research and study required on your part. Not a knock on you personally.
 
Grantx said:
May as well remove the indi and use common sense
More...


This was my own conclusion, after trading with them for quite a long time. I did (eventually) find ways to trade profitably with them, but they were much more helpful to me when I combined their inputs with spending a couple of years' full-time work learning about the details and practicalities of price action (which had always been my instinctive orientation anyway, and a few thousand hours' additional work and experience with them gradually prompted me to appreciate that once I'd come far enough with that, the indicators weren't actually adding anything much helpful to what I was doing and how I was making my decisions.)


El OchoCinco said:
I think we have to stop this discussion of indicators "working" Indicators work because they express the information they are intended to.
More...


Exactly so.

But there's a tendency in forum discussions for people to talk (at least to some extent) at cross purposes, because they mean different things by "work". I agree with your perspective on this, but some people mean "have directly predictive capabilities" when they say "work".

(To be fair, the word "predictive" also causes confusion in some of these discussions, partly because some people apparently confuse individual trades with a more collective statistical analysis and don't inherently or instinctively see "predictions", within our context, as probability-functions.)
 
Last edited:
Scataphagos said:
You revealed your lack of understanding. More research and study required on your part. Not a knock on you personally.
More...

You're absolutely right, I dont understand. I really didn't intend to start an argument on the matter, its just how I trade. Id be glad to show you what I look for in a chart and you show me how an indicator would improve my analysis?
 
Grantx said:
You're absolutely right, I dont understand. I really didn't intend to start an argument on the matter, its just how I trade. Id be glad to show you what I look for in a chart and you show me how an indicator would improve my analysis?
More...

LOL! Why don't you just ask me to send you a check for $1,000,000?

Let's be fair. If you admit you really "don't understand", then should you be claiming "indicators don't work"?

This is a common discussion on ET.

Some don't get it and claim "indicators don't work".

Others say, "You're full of shit. They work GREAT if you understand".

One of those statements is wrong.

I leave it to you to figure out which.
 
Scataphagos said:
Let's be fair. If you admit you really "don't understand", then should you be claiming "indicators don't work"?
More...


Well, if you really want to be fair, let's note also that Grant started the thread with the title "The reason I don't use any indicators".

I haven't said anywhere in this thread (nor in any others) that "indicators don't work" but I've tried to explain why I don't use them, myself (even though, as i mentioned, I have pro-trader friends who do), and I think my reasons might be pretty similar, overall, to Grant's.
 
Xela said:
Well, if you really want to be fair, let's note also that Grant started the thread with the title "The reason I don't use any indicators".

I haven't said anywhere in this thread (nor in any others) that "indicators don't work" but I've tried to explain why I don't use them, myself, and I think my reasons are pretty similar, overall, to Grant's.
More...

HOGWASH! Grant said, "I don't use indicators because ______" (Don't give me what I want/expect). I say the reason they don't is because he doesn't understand their proper use.

You've inferred "indicators work, but you don't use them"? Is that smart?
 
Most of the time indicators are just delayed depictions of what the charts are already telling you. In my opinion its not that they work or not, its that they are behind. The one exception being an exit strategy based on diversion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top