Why so many do well on DEMO accounts? because, trading is: 10% analyses and 90% emotions. that is why a lot of traders use mechanical systems.
You are better off buying or building a robust system. For good info on what a robust system is visit the forums on Curtis Faith's web-site. http://turtletradingsoftware.com or Chuck LeBeau's http://www.traderclub.com PS. I do not work for these sites but I am a frequent visitor. do not spend too much effort and energy learning about TA as some of the ideas and practices will fetch you nothing. Most indicators are lagging and hance tell you what happened in the past. Some things you should learn are very easy, like MA crossovers, Support/resistance levels and trend lines....do not get caught up in the science of all this...cause you are not worth it
Excuse me, MA crossovers...support/resistance levels...trend lines... all the above when used to make a trade via waiting for confirmation... all lag the market. For example...you see price rising up strongly towards a key resistance trendline... you have two choices... 1. Anticipate a breakout above the trendline and enter early...no lag. 2. Wait for a breakout above the trendline...waiting for that confirmation is a lag. Now...which of the above lags the most or the least is a completely different story. In my opinion...the only way you are going to use any thing without a lag...is to anticipate the trading signal and enter early... to me this is not good trading. Here's another example...lets say I don't use any indicators...just price action only... Price is declining hard and reaches a key pivot point... do I go Long and anticipate a bounce or do I go Short and anticipate a breakdown below that key pivot point? A good trader will wait for something to confirm an entry in either way (Long or Short) at that key pivot point. Therefore...that waiting process is a lag or confirmation of an event (past) that has just recently occurred. Now...lets say the low price in a 3min interval was 950.00 and the open of that interval was 951.75...that penetrated below the key pivot point of 952.00 And I'm looking for a Long position...do I enter at 950.00 or 950.25 or 950.50 or 951.75 or 952.00...whatever... in hopes it eventualy rises back up and closes above the 952.00 area...and continues back upwards... or do I wait for confirmation to buy anthing that closes above 951.75 or 952.00 or whatever? Simply...you will always be lagging the market (indicators or no indicators) unless you are very successful at anticipating and entering early prior to the actual trade signal. If your good at that...your great at gambling. Something else to think about...what if a trader is using indicators and another trader is using price action only methods or whatever they think their using that doesn't lag... what if the guy that's using indicators and waiting for confirmation...is consistently getting a better entry price than someone via price action only method via a completely different trade methodology. Therefore...its obvious its a particualr trade methodology that lags another trade methodology...more about the trader himself/herself in applying the methodolgy. The above last statement is commonplace. Yet...one thing is for sure...with Technical Analysis deeply inbedded in proven mathmatical concepts and formulas...it's definetly a science... applying it successfully requires an artist as traders try desperately to simplyfy things...rightfully so. With all that's said about Technical Analysis, Mechanical Systems, Discretionary Trading or whatever... it all requires work, long hours in the beginning and hopefully someday you can relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. NihabaAshi
I like to view technical analysis as just one tool in a very big trader's tool chest, which consists of: * Capital * Psychology * Experience * Money Management * Position Sizing * Execution Methodology * Etc, etc. Like lescor, my technical analysis is very simple. I use price, volume, trendlines, and S/R only. While I HAVE read dozens of books on technical analysis and have attended many TA workshops, in the end, I found that price, volume, trendlines, and S/R are all I really needed to set the stage for success. But my TA methods would not be successful if it were not for having the other tools in the tool box. Even though TA is an important tool, it is NOT trading in and of itself as many struggling traders believe. It is easy to begin to believe that all one needs to do in order to become a successful trader is to utterly master TA. Quite simply, this is like trying to build a piece of furniture, like a wooden desk, with nothing more than a hammer in your tool box. It's like being a good carpenter. You cannot do a good job without all the needed tools. So to answer the original question: "My question is "Having realized that I will never have the detailed understanding of Technical Analysis necessary to to be a true expert in the field can I pay someone to do the analysis for me and still have success?" I would have to say that you should focus on the other tools first before over-emphasizing TA. Technical analysis will only get you so far. Sure, you can hire a technial analyst. But will that make you successful? Only if you have the other tools to go along with that. Best wishes and good luck. PEG LEG JOE