I..like most of us..read a lot. Mostly about the markets, and a little about cars and golf. When i read...i see certain fundamental and technical analysis that i think are just a bunch of crap... First on my list has to be Elliot Wave. maybe i am undereducated, but it seems to be overly complicated and at the least. "we are in the fifth wave!! everyone run for the hills!" Fibonacci is something else where i scratch my head..."33.65% retracement from the top down head cone formation represented byt eh triangle synopsis.......WHAT?" On the other side of the equation...I see th pure fundamental analysts rating 80% of stocks a "stong buy"...dude...that is a homebuilder stock that has fallen 30% already...that is a stong buy???? you dont want a long career very long do you? What are some of the indicators or methodologies that you guys think are just garbage. and yes. i realize, it all depends on the person...what works for some, doesnt work for everyone. just curious.
Here's the thing about Fibonacci. Whether you believe it works or not doesn't really matter. What does matter is that many traders swear by it. It works because people think it does and trade accordingly. It becomes a self fullfilling prophesy. Therefore, its important to watch Fibonacci levels.
I used to think the TRIN indicator was the holy grail. After all, volume leads to profits, right? But after it lied to me repeatedly, I had dump it. It cost me a lot of money to realize the TRIN has very little use for day trading.
Fibonacci retracements, ( .382, .500, .618, etc. ) occur all the time in the S&P futures and most floor traders are very much aware of them . . . just as they are aware of how useful setting up the Daily Pivot is ( H + L+ C / 3 ) along with the accompanying support and resistance levels, S1, S2, R1, R2 which some charting platforms like Realtick automatically provide in intra-day charting. R1 = (2 * Pivot ) - Low S1 = (2 * Pivot ) - High R2 = Pivot + ( R1 - S1 ) S2 = Pivot - ( R1 - S1 ) I would suggest that you do some of your own research, and speak to some floor traders that have used these indicators for years. As your learning curve improves, you will notice which indicators are productive and useful as well as which ones reflect "noise" and have little significance whatsoever.
IMHO virtually all indicators are a lot like diapers. Everyone starts with them on. As you get better and learn some "control" you realize "hey, I don't have to crap my pants". Then they start to come off. I just hope I survive the training.
Markets often generate "signals" that cause traders using any and all systems to move in lockstep, and everything works for a period of time. The asynchronous - chaotic - periods are something else.
Let us all know when you've stopped reading and started trading. And just a small point about all the preparation first: do the data assembly, research, analysis, study & trading model planning and testing before you start actual trading.