I found it interesting from many angles. http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnnav...n-interview-with-michael-harris/#74e995e75e79
With more computers, free data, easier coding softwares etc. etc. TA is gaining more and more relevance in both trading and investing. Top market beater hedge funds like SAC, Renaissance etc. use heavy loads of TA and QA to gain edge over others. Sorry Mr. Harris, you need to look forward IMHO.
TA in my opinion are nothing more than me looking at a chart. I scalp and I seek out patterns that are not doing what they normally do, so this causes retail or HFTs to be trapped briefly, takes retail more time to realize as they have to "think" and thinking usually costs them money. Markets are like market profile, I don't use MP but have studied it and can see where price/volume accumulates, traders like to huddle around areas as they "feel" they are taking safe trade, where there is really nothing in day trading that is safe. I find it so amusing that many go into day trading siting that it has less risk than doing over night and yet is they do ten trades and risk $100 each, they risked $1,000 for the day, day trading by far, I risk much much more than long term trade risk. Many inexperienced can't wait to open accounts and get to it, it be better to pick New England and Chicago in football and Bears getting plus 34.5 Programming wise it is easier to stick numbers in systems than chart patterns, but once you get the handle of that, it is a breeze. Automation has far greater memory than I and speed. New traders lack knowledge and have little memory and lack speed cause of lack of knowledge, and takes years of study to gain. But go ahead and open those accounts as fast as you can, maybe you can be than 1 of a billion that get it right off the bat.
Of course "some technical analysis may no longer be effective." I doubt anyone disagrees. Off-the-shelf TA is arguably a one-size-fits-none proposition. The author discusses generic TA, not proprietary methods.
Basically, imo one should focus on grabbing profits when you get them and taking the stop loss when price gets there. Patterns can still be used regardless of who is making them (htf's ..algos..or people..etc). A pattern is a pattern. All htf's ..algo's ..computer systems etc are all designed by humans and all reflect human behaviour. AND human behaviour won't be changing any time soon LOL. Nevertheless, computers remove for the most part the emotional aspect, but even then "how" they trade is still a design of human behaviour. I.E. Human behaviour but expressed by computer logic....So,....markets intraday have alot of mean reversion (excuse the pun) so grab profits and enter again when indicated.
Now that you have attacked TA is a very low manner, here are my simple and humble advises to increase the odds of success in trading markets: a) Until and unless extremely confident about system/strategy/trading abilities, REFRAIN from trading on margin or leverage. Drawdown is one thing but Blowing up account is something that comes with trading the margin. b) Give back to the environment that we live in, i.e. give a good portion of profits to charity or donations. Most importantly to those entities that are in much higher needs like animal shelters and animal rescue causes, little children hospitals, orphaned children, abused women etc. Heck, regularly sprinkling some bird feed in the backyard or tossing bread crumbs for birds and squirrels etc. can add up to good deeds. c) Stop eating meat and drop all addictions. If can't drop meat all together then stop eating red meat atleast and depend on chicken or fish for occasional taste. After 35, going veggie is a very healthy move. Bottomline is to get in tune with the ENVIRONMENT via good Karma. When the Environmental finds that you are helping in sustaining its elements, the environment will give back to you.....................MORE !!
More claptrap per paragraph than I have seen in a goodly while. Contradiction, hyperbole, reducio ad absurdem, all awash with red herrings. Shameful, that such crap would appear in Forbes, but I guess Forbes hasn't been what it was for some time, eh? A bottom line?? For someone who espouses that TA doesn't, won't, *can't* work, he surely does make a lot of money off of it. ("Clue!")
Who Cares ...about debates and labels and trading methods or combinations thereof...these kind of topics have been debated since the beginning of time, and will continue to do so. Just show your bottom line trading % returns/results -- and if it works for you...More Power to you I could care less if you hear voices in your head, or if you see some kind of divine light or sign to trade. or go to a palm reader or practice voodoo, or have sold your soul to the devil.