It seems to me that which TA tool one uses does not matter. It is mostly a mental problem. If I assume that you want to be a discretionary trader then any TA tool will work as long as you use it to create an "accurate" mental picture of the market and act when the PA action fits or does not fit that picture. So what ever TA toll helps you build that "accurate" market picture is the best for you. IMO MP is a good toll to use. But try to see how a skewed distribution acts as far as VA is concerned. In a very skewed distribution the original MP VAH or VAL will not be lines where you should expect the price to rerun to the VA but exactly the opposite it will be a place where you would expect the price to run opposite of the POC. You could apply VAH and VAL and VA methods to a balanced profile and that could work OK. But you have to wait for that balance. There is tons more. I am just ranting at this point. Also I am still trying to make sense of it myself. Let's hope other traders will say more. I would like some comments on the fact that as new data comes in the distribution changes. For example a balanced distribution will change to a skewed one. It is a paradox that we have to act on a fact that is changing. Can we assume that the distribution is stable for some period and it is OK to trade it? Or should we trade it to the point that we see that the distribution has changed and adjust accordingly? The problem of adjusting, of being mentally flexible, of not expecting and hoping, of not freezing is the main one. Again it appears to be mental not technical. How much can one rant? Enough for now.
i use MP everyday daytrading ES, but in the same way i used to use it. i do not use it as a trading system or for actual set-ups anymore. when i first learned MP (from a thread here on ET...about 4 years ago) i used the standard MP set-ups and they worked for a while, but those classic MP set-ups died out a ways back for the most part. for the past 2 years or so i primarily use MP as a way to look at the market and help me see the longer term time frames ( i like to combine multiple days in a single profile for instance). my current ES daytrading set-ups (which are based on PA, and internals, and vol analysis ala marketdelta) sometimes go with the trend, and sometimes counter-trend....and looking at MP helps me to know which side to be on. it is not perfect, nothing is, but it works well enough for me.
MP and Daltons books (particularly Mind Over Markets) are well worth reading / learning IMO. I can't say I've ever used MP to build a rule based "strategy" because I do not think that is the best way to utilise information. Personally, MP is a great way to keep running tabs on the structure of the market, along with traditional charts w/ volumes.I can't really understand that you could use MP alone to trade, but the questions in MOM - "which way is the market trying to go?" and "how well is it doing it?" are excellent questions to be asking yourself, and the MP adds qualitative information to your overall market view. Overall, MP is a pretty good string to add to your bow. It will really make you ask yourself what you believe about the markets and how they work.
Just finished studying and my conclusion is abou the same as everyone elses. MP is a good tool but far from profitable stand alone. The funny thing is there are several vendors out there that would try and tell you it is.