"Why Technical Analysis is Nonsense"; Views?

[marketsurfer]

Quote from ProfLogic:

But you put yourself out there as an authority on what others do successfully that you do not or will not understand or comprehend. Why?

where are the TA traders, true believers yachts? to borrow a phrase.

all i have ever seen is pontifications, anecdotal evidence and rants by those whose livelihood is directly linked to "teaching" TA in one form or another.

an earlier poster says "millions of succesful TA traders", others scream TA works in long, drawn out, well written statements of faith which sound like religious fundamentalism ( pardon the pun)

who are these succesful TA traders, and where is the evidence?

surf

 

[El OchoCinco]

Quote from marketsurfer:

where are the TA traders, true believers yachts? to borrow a phrase.

all i have ever seen is pontifications, anecdotal evidence and rants by those whose livelihood is directly linked to "teaching" TA in one form or another.

an earlier poster says "millions of succesful TA traders", others scream TA works in long, drawn out, well written statements of faith which sound like religious fundamentalism ( pardon the pun)

who are these succesful TA traders, and where is the evidence?

surf

A lot of the Market Wizards interviewed used Technical Analysis. I consider them successful TA traders. But then I expect a response that dismisses their performance I am sure.

TA is a set of tools, nothing more. You use a set of tools to determine when to enter and exit the market. Same concept. Many who fail in trading using TA do so because they expect it to act like a black box giving BUY or SELL signals which it was not truly intended.

TA is a set of tools. Does TA work? Yes in the sense the tools produce data as expected just like a screwdriver works to push in a screw. Whether someone can make money using these tools has nothing to do with the tools and everything to do with the trader.

 

[StillStanding]

Hi

can you drop some hints at what TA you are referring to? e.g. MA,MACD,Stoch,etc? Intraday as well?

Thanks

Quote from Buy1Sell2:

TA works and works well. Thank you for your time.

 

[FanOfFridays]

Quote from marketsurfer:

who are these succesful TA traders, and where is the evidence?

Evidence? You have been hammered over the head with the evidence in this thread.

I don't think evidence would sway you, surf. Faith-based beliefs aren't amenable to change, and any evidence can be explained away. In the end you can simply deny that what TA based traders are doing actually has anything to do with TA. You would say that TA is a crutch and that they are really just reading the flow of the markets.

You would be wrong, but that's what you would say.

Since there does not exist any evidence (cars, yachts, notarized statements, blotters, anything) that would prove to you what most everyone here already knows, can we close this thread now?

 

[JSSPMK]

Surf wants evidence that TA works, but Surf doesn't provide any evidence of his own profitability and if we apply his own criteria for figuring out what works and what doesn't we can conclude, using his own merits, that Surf's own prop system doesn't work, because there is simply no evidence

Surf, btw, you keep talking about dis/ability to code TA, well, can you code your own stuff?

 

[FanOfFridays]

Quote from JSSPMK:

Surf wants evidence that TA works, but Surf doesn't provide any evidence of his own profitability

Actually, as I keep saying, he actually provided evidence that he was unable to trade profitably after years of trying. He did this earlier this year when he posted to that effect. I checked out his blog site where he was tracking his forex trading systems.

It is certainly odd that he says this on one hand but then speaks as if he knows something about what makes a successful trader.

As I have said, I believe that he was burned buying canned systems that were TA based (and useless, naturally) and can't accept that others can use the tool to do what he couldn't.

Surf actually provides the template for the type of mindset that will fail in trading. Appearances matter above all, and he will stubbornly hang on to a losing argument even though he knows what's happening.

 

[ProfLogic]

Quote from marketsurfer:

where are the TA traders, true believers yachts? to borrow a phrase.

all i have ever seen is pontifications, anecdotal evidence and rants by those whose livelihood is directly linked to "teaching" TA in one form or another.

an earlier poster says "millions of succesful TA traders", others scream TA works in long, drawn out, well written statements of faith which sound like religious fundamentalism ( pardon the pun)

who are these succesful TA traders, and where is the evidence?

surf

I know many. I travel, talk to and see the results of their labors. Can I go where or see what you can not? No! The difference is that you choose the company you keep.

If you believe it and can validate it . . . use it.
If you deny it . . . it simply doesn't exit.
If you are searching for it . . . continue the journey but keep an open mind.

 

[marketsurfer]

I'm heading to a meeting but will address the posts in detail later.
HOWEVER TRADERNIK PLEASE STOP POSTING ABOUT A FOREX SYSTEM BLOG OR ANY PURE TRADING BLOG BY ME.

IT IS NOT ME....YOU HAVE ME CONFUSED AS I DON'T HAVE A BLOG SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU REFERENCE.

UNDERSTAND?????



sent via ip830W not edited

 

[Paulds11]

Hi guys I notice here again the same old people making the same old comments that fly in the face of fact..

I believe the likes of Market surfer and perhaps employed in order to create such antagonism as to stir debate.

In almost every thread he is the antagonist to any protagonist.. its ridiculously tiresome.. we seek consensus with like minded individuals in the main, but to have his kind stir almost every thread with complete nonsense is off-putting.

as a tesult this was the first time back for me in about 3 months and at once I am reminded of why I avoided this site.

I have come to realise also that after several meet ups with people.. there are a lot of wannabe Traders who are absolutely not trading, which isn’t ordinarily a problem.. its just that they assume without proffering the same to the rest of us, that they somehow have more validity than most in their nonsensical argument.

How utterly ridiculous and soporific that we are somehow led to defend ourselves against the likes of this idiot ... because he believes that technical analysis doesn’t work?.. This is surely one stupid person or the individual has a hidden agenda.

ET is so transparent its lost its edge amongst sites..

Im not even sure many true traders frequent these boards anymore....its full or ridiculous statements, people who cannot necessarily argue their point succinctly and without bashing the feelings of their colleagues.

even Clinton and Obama have a way of keeping things above board and that should be an example to all.

I would like to see the doubters here come to a formal Professional forum or round table in person, stand up amongst us and say exactly what they have said here... believe me when I tell you theyd be laughed into submission and either leave from the shame or shut up completely as they are ripped apart with logic and redicule...

My days amongst such fools on ET AGAIN are numbered..


This thread IS DEAD...
Paul

 

[timcar]

If a fundamental trader is smart he does include some TA into his analysis such as volume, moving average and studying the chart pattern. Thereby understanding what are possible price movements of the stock.

If a TA trader only looks at the TA indicators would the TA trader be caught off guard when something really bad fundamentally changes or would his reading of the indicators get him out of the trade.

An example would be CFC. Some of us try to buy at $20 only to lose 3 points and buy again at $10 only to lose 2 more points. With CFC something fundamentally changed about the underlying business and now CFC is gone. Would TA investor looking only at the indicators been able to avoid this so call "value trap"????