But that not the edge the retail traders are looking for , i will tell you what i consider an edge : if you have billions then you have edge , if your servers are nearer to the exchange to get the flow faster and to front run you have an edge , if you are an insider then you have an edge , looking at the charts to predict whats gonna happen is not an edge , the market is very efficient , if a certain setup is going to make money for sure then algos and everyone will jump in to take advantage which will make this setup obsolete immediately , so to say there is an edge in market profile or TA ... etc is counterproductive !
A marketmaker has an edge , instead of paying 0.25 they get 0.25 , but they have to fight for it take risk manage their books pay money wait for the flow ... etc just to make the spread ! lol
I agree in general, but let's try to go through this in a logical manner, i'll start with this question. Q) Is profitability possible using the basic market data? (exchange traded products only for now) By this i mean charts, T&S, LEV2, DOM.
I think it's safe to say that profitability is possible using basic market data. Q) Why is there a variance in how individuals mentally compute/process the basic market data?
But your question is not right , there is no variances , 90-95% lose overtime , so the normal is to lose ! why ? because you pay spread and slippage and because of your limited financial abilities plus the emotional side so it is the normal to lose and that's what the data shows 90% or 95% or whatever lose . So lets go back to what i've said if you are well capitalized you may make it , if you are emotionless because again you are wealthy and you have other sources of income ... etc then you may make it , if you earn the spread instead of paying it ( pit traders/MM ) you may make it , if you have the 3 you may make it . If you cheat ( insider , libor scandal ) you may make it . Thats why many hedge fund managers make it , first because they are well capitalized , so if they made 20% annually they will live the best life , second because of what they spend on data , information , traders ... etc .
You didn't read or understand his post, short term asymmetric volatility expansion can be traded by most traders, you don't need a billion or have a Gb link directly into the exchange.
You didn't get my posts then , i didn't say u need this to make money , i just gave an example of what can be considered an edge , i am discussing the edge aspect and how there is no such thing as an edge to exploit as a retail trader ....