Not really. You can use TA to describe or take the temperature of the market so to speak, i.e., a bull market above the 200 MA or a bear market below the 200 MA. This is entirely descriptive using past prices. Nothing controversial about that. The question and where controversy begins is if historical prices/volume can be used to infer something about the future, i.e., is a 200-MA touch a good buy signal?
I see the phrase 'We are in a bull (or bear) market' a lot. In that context it sounds predictive, even if subconsciously.
Technical analysis as applied is the problem. If you have 100 stock traders, chances are good that if you asked each one to trade using technical analysis only, there would be 100 different ways they would do so. I do not rely on news because everything you see in the stockcharts including, future news already known by insiders and their buddies are old news. In purest form, a stockchart contains are the trades of all market participants happening in that particular stock. That is why technical analysis, applied correctly, can put the odds in your favor of being right and making monies.
%% Good points; but really depends on market being traded. I read my contract this month, racing, or anything like it \or demo derby cancels the contract/even on private property/LOL Guns and AMMO companies do tend to like hi velocity; but even there many exceptions apply..........................................................................................................As far as ''losing on evert trade'' that would bean amazing feat, but not a goal/LOL. Back to my 200dma.... charts
Without reading through the thread, anybody has pointed out that the premise of the question has nothing to do with the second half of it? It is like: If a bear shat in the wood, why did my house burn down? 2 completely separate premise/questions. TA itself has nothing to do with the def. of bullmarket. I amnot sure the exact %, but if the market gains year over year X%, that is a bullmarket, where X is probably > 5. But seriously, my house is in smokes, where is that damn bear?
%% Good; + good thing a 200dma works much better than a broken clock. But with the exception of a clock running an hour slow or hour fast consistently i dont use a broken clock radio for main time frame.............................................................