I have no argument with this, thanks. I agree Chart reading is a subjective art--- prior to PC's and clean data flows it was really all traders had to work with-- but now, to use a PC's power to draw charts makes little sense when that power can be directed to order flow, tape reading----things that happen prior to the print on the chart-- edge is structural not guesing from the past. Many traders are stuck in the past---
You may be right, but only in relation to HFT. As for longer-term plays, confirmation of past trades can and does provide very good information about what is likely going to happen next. I am sure you are aware that no large orders are executed all at once and that many large traders act in a very similar manner to the information they get prior to their trades.
Surf, what you are missing is that "what happened" provides clues to what may happen next if price moves to a particular level. Life is full of levels beyond which people who held onto a conviction will either say "F*ck it, I'm outta here" or risk serious injury or death. Price charts show places where one team is likely to say "f*ck it" and either join the other team or run away. This reaction is likely to produce a strong directional price movement. Anyone with solid pattern recognition skills and a superb work ethic can learn to recognize these high probability pattern/context combos, and any of these people who then master a trader's mindset can profit regularly from trading them. I started this thread to get feedback from experienced traders who've entered orders from a DOM as well as from the chart itself to get comparisons of the methods and alert me to some things I may want to watch out for trading directly on the chart (which I'd not done before until this weekend in sim). As a CL scalper the single-click of the DOM is a huge plus, but the ability to immediately see key levels when I pace an order on the chart is very helpful. My first trade this morning was a loser only because I was focused on my procedure and missed a contextual clue that would've immediately been apparent if I'd gone to place my order on the chart itself. I'm intrigued by the on-chart trading, but will need quite a bit more sim experience before making a decision to change.
Very interesting, NoD how we seem to evolve towards each other. I used to trade from charts for years, now so happy to use DOM to enter NQ orders (still adjust already placed orders/stop-losses on open trades from charts though), cause on the DOM i quicker see the exact price levels and don't have to second-check if I place the order where I want, just need to remember the number and click it on the DOM. Voila!
Yes, I'm really programmed to keep the numbers in my head and single-click the DOM. Not sure how badly I want to reprogram myself, ha ha!
I trade the TF on multiple tick charts. 144 being the shortest which I use only for entries. DOM trading is the only way I will trade. Averaging 2 points a day with 2 trades max within an hour time frame - so I'm not a scalper.
Your post is copied from an interview in a Market Wizard book. You should have the decency to make the appropriate attribute.