Why does TA not work (for you)?

[TheBlackHand]

Quote from NoDoji:

Big institutional players and self-fulfilling prophecies.



Why would institutional traders and professional money managers tell the world how they trade?

They don't give that away with words.

Like all large animals, they do, however, leave footprints quite visible to the naked eye.



How many of those posting to this site are institutional traders or professional money managers who have to trade into and out of very large positions?

We're not the "pro's" you're referring to. We're the retail traders who learn to use the footprints of those large animals to identify where they're most likely headed in the next [insert your trading time frame here] and if that likely destination is attractive enough for us to follow along. We also learn what the footprints look like when the herd is spooked or decides to move to a different watering hole instead. That's called a stop loss, something us dumb amateurs use to prevent getting trampled when that happens.

Why do so many people posting here have this irrational belief that small retail trader has to trade like large institutional traders/investors? The big boys have to outsmart each other; they don't have to outsmart Joe and Jane Baby-Pips.

Actually, they must state what strategy they use. Regulatory demands this. Besides, if they did not, they would be a black box, and NO ONE will ever put money in a black box.


Would you really invest in a fund with no idea of how they will trade that money? Of course not. No one said they give their trading strategy away in terms of tactic, but if you read their marketing material, its quite clear how they are looking to trade, what their objectives are and general details of a strategy.

You may believe all the rubbish in Edwards & McGee, Pring et. al. but believe me, these guys go to great lengths to hide what they are doing. You may think your volume climax is some 'big boy' as you like to call them coming into the market, but it aint. Its your brethren.

Like I said, money moves markets, not silly patterns. And that my friend is why you should ignore your charts and learn about how the markets actually work.

No body is saying you have to trade like an institutional investor as you seem to think, (that would be silly as their objectives are too small to satisfy a retail trader or - probably). But if you're looking for their 'foot prints', your better off understanding what sort of animal youre after - and you wont find him in a chart. Thats silly. 70% of the volume is probably your animal. He IS the chart. Does that help you any more?



Of course not. Ditch the silly chart and magic lines.

 

[cornix]

Quote from TheBlackHand:


Of course not. Ditch the silly chart and magic lines.

Doesn't the chart show the result of those "big boys" activity just graphically presented?

 

[BSAM]

Quote from TheBlackHand:

...money moves markets, not silly patterns. And that my friend is why you should ignore your charts and learn about how the markets actually work.

No body is saying you have to trade like an institutional investor as you seem to think, (that would be silly as their objectives are too small to satisfy a retail trader or - probably). But if you're looking for their 'foot prints', your better off understanding what sort of animal youre after - and you wont find him in a chart....

So, brother Black, this "money" that moves the markets; are those trades reflected on the chart?

A. Yes

B. No

 

[BSAM]

Quote from cornixforex:

Doesn't the chart show the result of those "big boys" activity just graphically presented?

Me and you...we seem to be thinking along the same lines, brother Corn.

 

[cornix]

Quote from BSAM:

Me and you...we seem to be thinking along the same lines, brother Corn.

What did they say about "brilliant minds"...

 

[marketsurfer]

Quote from BSAM:

So, brother Black, this "money" that moves the markets; are those trades reflected on the chart?

A. Yes

B. No

This is faulty logic, although it "seems" to make sense on the surface.

 

[pythontrader]

Quote from jack hershey:

At 8:27 your post time and before I was short on bar 12. Bar 12 ws a yellow box that went from a FBP to a hitch.

My first trade was from bar1 to bar 8. I went short on bar 8.

Jack.., trading is done in the NOW. Do not use imperfect. Do not get too exited about your call. It was still 50/50 pal. How about " I will reverse on bar 56 and loose a lot of money on bar 57..? Dare to do that?

 

[marketsurfer]

Quote from cornixforex:

Doesn't the chart show the result of those "big boys" activity just graphically presented?

Once you grasp why this is irrelevant, you will have taken the first step to understanding how markets really work.

surf

 

[cornix]

Quote from marketsurfer:

Once you grasp why this is irrelevant, you will have taken the first step to understanding how markets really work.

surf

Could you please elaborate? The chart shows nearly all trades being executed in the given market, including institutions, insiders etc. Or it doesn't?

 

[BSAM]

Quote from marketsurfer:

This is faulty logic, although it "seems" to make sense on the surface.

Really?
So the chart doesn't tell one what is happening in a market?