I have used indicators for over 30 years and have done extremely well for myself. So you saying what indicators indicate is your lacking of understanding what they offer by not studying them. I don't use stops when I day trade, but those who have much less experience would have no account if they didn't use them.
One mistake in mechanics and one mistake in judgement contributed to my loss today. CL was still very jittery, so I played on sim for the morning. I was careful to make sure my stop was beyond the signal bar in most cases. Did pretty good, so I decided to play with real money. CL Trade #1 This was a rule violation by not letting a bar close before I put a trade on. CL made a nice drop through the EMA after failing to make a HH. On my signal bar, I watched the 07:35 bar make a double top with the previous bar, then start down. It made a bottom at 96.94 then moved up slightly and sat there. There was about 3 seconds left on the bar when I put my order in. Price dropped violently, filled my order then pushed higher for a full stop. Very impressive. -12 ticks. CL Trade #2 The bar that stopped me out didn't break the EMA, and the next bar was a small red inside bar. Went short below that bar, but was stopped out. -10 ticks. The Euro had been in an uptrend, and the first short pullback entry was right at that 60 minute ascending trend line. I pasted on the trade, but it was a winner. 6E Trade #1 Price didn't make it above the EMA after the previous leg down, and was now below the 60 min trend. Got in on a pullback off an inside doji. Only had 5 MFE so I kept my stop in place. -8 ticks. I'm OK with my 6E trade, but it wasn't too smart to play in the oil patch today. Can't say I wasn't warned.
I liked when 6:40 hit the EMA to go short after. WOW, huge volume at the lows, bet they were buying down there.
CL Trade #1 CL was finding support at 97.50 but was showing weakness. Put sell stop at 97.49 and got 2 ticks of slip on the entry. Was looking for at least 97.20 but it found support at 97.26. Moved my stop to BE+10 to get something from the trade, but got 1 tick of slip. +9 ticks. Lots of overlapping bars on 6E. 6E Trade #1 Took the first clean pullback entry but only got a scratch. Had to leave the office after that. +1 tick.
Today was a wash. Only Mirus is getting richer. The 60 Min chart on the Euro was had some overlapping bars, but the trend was up. 6E Trade #1 Got a couple of big green bars, then a slight pullback. Entered above the doji. No real follow through. +1 tick. 6E Trade 32 Didn't like the look of the 60 min chart - lots of overlapping bars. However, this setup was correct. After a leg down, got a 3 bars up and just touched the EMA. Stuck with the trade for 2 more bars, but didn't get the follow through I was looking for. The 08:45 and 08:48 bars formed a double top, so I thought it would be safe to move my stop to 1 tick above that. Got stopped out on the next bar. -5 ticks. Oil was in an uptrend that looked tired. The 07:45 leg up failed to make a HH, then there were some red candles that pushed it under the EMA. The 08:15 bar closed at the EMA. The 1 min chart had been skimming along under the EMA. Entered short and was looking for a test of the 98.09 pivot low, but didn't get it. +2 ticks. Today was a wash. Only Mirus is getting richer. The 60 Min chart on the Euro was had some overlapping bars, but the trend was up. 6E Trade #1 Got a couple of big green bars, then a slight pullback. Entered above the doji. No real follow through. +1 tick. 6E Trade 32 Didn't like the look of the 60 min chart - lots of overlapping bars. However, this setup was correct. After a leg down, got a 3 bars up and just touched the EMA. Stuck with the trade for 2 more bars, but didn't get the follow through I was looking for. The 08:45 and 08:48 bars formed a double top, so I thought it would be safe to move my stop to 1 tick above that. Got stopped out on the next bar. -5 ticks. Oil was in an uptrend that looked tired. The 07:45 leg up failed to make a HH, then there were some red candles that pushed it under the EMA. The 08:15 bar closed at the EMA. The 1 min chart had been skimming along under the EMA. Entered short and was looking for a test of the 98.09 pivot low, but didn't get it. +2 ticks.