I suppose it depends on how you use them, and the nature of your overall method. I imagine that they can keep a trader on the right side of a trend in his time frame, but I think there are simpler, and perhaps better, ways of doing that. Just my own opinion, of course.
I don't have a beef with people who use channels. My beef is with Jack, who has appropriated trend/channel trading and tried to pass it off as something new by giving it and many of its parts new names. Indeed, SCT traders would be better off studying trend/channel writings other than Jack's. The other problem with Jack is that he has done a lot of marketeering: appealing to greed (3X daily range) and traders' insecurities (he offers comfort, support, confidence, etc.), which, if anyone will read, i.e., do the real work, is not found in the writings of respected authors on trend/channel trading.
Well, it has better risk management, profit targets and margin requirements than Puretick that's fer sure, but I think both the SCT and TA enthusiasts can do better. JJ
Funny you should mention that, Nkhoi. I keep a three filter rainbow up for the occasional breakout fast scalp. It sfailures also indicate good entry points for the two-filter longer term system.
Thunderdog, indeed there are simpler methods, called S/ R and trend rules, but often I used to be shaken out of a good trade by them. For example, say I am short in a long run. Then a higher low and a higher high appear. The temptation is to reverse. Maybe right, maybe not. It has been a common pattern at mid-day in NQ recently. A properly tuned two-filter system tends to screen that out.
code word: rainbow triggers another thread, starting third post down; http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6793&perpage=6&pagenumber=2
I understand your point and readily concede that I find myself in similar circumstances. Perhaps my testing of MAs was less thorough and systematic than yours, but I remain unconvinced that they necessarily provide a net benefit over and above what you correctly refer to as trend rules. Has your testing confirmed that your MA filter screens out false "trend rule" setups more so than it filters out true reversals? I realize that the outcome of your testing is dependent on the MA values as well as other system criteria, including the exact definition and execution of "trend rules." Even so, I am curious.