I've come to the Keep It Simple Stupid conclusion as well in my futures trading.
First thing I did was turn off CNBC during the day. That alone helped my profits.
NOTE: This is what "works" for me NOW. That's not to say it won't "work" for me in a month or six months, at which point I'll see what will work for me at that point.
Second, I started to focus more on and trade off of the price action and index relationships than on indicators and such. Indicators took a secondary or tertiary role in my intraday trading activities and information flow.
Right now, I trade the ES and ER2. My current setup is one chart with the following:
- ES (or ER2) candles
I also overlay the DAX futures contract on the top chart as a subconscious 'indicator' of sorts, and monitor the Dow cash index (not futures) just to get a "feel" for how things are going.
And to confirm my price analysis, I use trend and momentum indicators at the bottom. I don't take them as signals or stare at them constantly, but when I sense a possible trade set-up, use them as confirmations - especially if there's a divergence.
- ADX/DMI
- StochRSI
On some ranging days I'll throw up a Keltner or BB but most times I don't use them.
I've given up trying to take signals from indicators, or such. Trading off of price action and market relationships is working well for me right now, and it's "real time" as opposed to "lagging."
As a result, my charts are cleaner, there's less data and visual noise, and I can focus on the action in the here-and-now.
Knocking on wood, I hope this continues to be a reliable trading strategy....