From what I remember of it, having read the book years ago, the first step is a breakout meeting some predefined criteria. Beyond that, protective stops are based on lows or highs or retraces into ranges, depending on the specific setup. Further, the whole structure can be used as an "overlay" for another method. Sounds fairly TA to me. My understanding is that TA has to do with basing trading criteria principally on price action, however that may be determined, rather than underlying "price drivers," be they economic or otherwise. Therefore, the operating principle is one of reaction rather than prediction. Of course, the Welles Wilders et al of this world added unfortunate clutter and nonsense, but I don't think that detracts from TA's basic premise. As for your comment on surf, let's not forget he was a full-on Gannster, which stems from the dark side of the moon. So he may well have gone the way of Ayn Rand, seeing that one extreme is not good and deciding that the answer must be at the other extreme.
So it's not JUST chart based TA you have contention with, as you stated a few pages back. Got it, you've circled back to all TA now after being trapped.
BY the way, I checked out the Combine chat room today. There are MANY traders who are trading their own account simultaneously with the COMBINE. Why can't the TA jokers on this thread do the same thing? I guess the obvious is true, sadly, they really can't trade and live in a delusion. surf PROVE ME WRONG!
Maybe for you, not for me. I agree, most HFT uses the book prior to execution for decisions, just like the price drivers. In fact, Price Drivers are based on HFT strategies without the frequency.
Really? So based on the book at time of entry, you take multi-day positions and allow them to go deeply in the red?
By the way, looks like your chart reading TA guy ( austinp) blew out today-- at least that's the early indications. No wonder the other chart readers are afraid to be tested. http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3643465#post3643465