Never happen unless they wish it and I really doubt that happening. I could name an individual you know by name and see his name in the news and business advertisements year in and year out associated with another business-to-business venture but he makes the bulk of his income from being a chartist. Don't ask because I won't tell you. You just don't understand that most that have achieved that level of success don't want the notoriety.
I think you'd be surprised, it may not be that common but I'm sure it's not that unique either. It's just that most who are in this position keep very quiet. I personally know of two other traders in a similar position as me, and they never go on ET or other trading forums. Guess I am just less focused than they are
My story sounds very similar. We even started around the same time. You're right about the dedication and hours put in. Most have no clue what it takes going in. I know I sure didn't.
I doubt anyone is 100% pure either TA or FA. Here are the definitions of TA and FA: Technical Analysis - using any data created by the act of trading (such as price or volume history) regardless of how the data is manipulated (statistics, probabilities, indicators, supply/demand levels, pivot points, spreadsheets, etc.) in an effort to predict movements of the market. Fundamental Analysis - using data not created by the act of trading such as news, earnings, rumors, politics, legislation, litigation, world events and weather in an effort to predict movements of the market. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now that we have our definitions I doubt anyone trades 100% TA without considering at least some of the fundamentals. Maybe the TA person is a day trader and the Jobs Report is due out in a few minutes so they exit their trades and sit on the sidelines waiting for that report. Maybe they are trading corn futures and are watching the news to see if that super cell storm is going to hit some major corn fields. They may still be 90% TA but I doubt 100%. The closest thing to a pure TA traders is most likely the 100% automated systems at big institutions. You don't really think they have someone that is making thousands or hundreds of thousands of trades per day on fundamentals do you? The same is true for FA traders. I highly doubt anyone trades 100% FA without considering some amount of price action history. Doing so would be just as stupid as trading 100% TA. I have already shown you what happens when good earnings reports come out with a stock just below major historical supply levels. A 100% pure FA trader would get crushed. So I guess we can say, based on your logic, that Fundamental Analysis = Crap and that you can't name someone who trades on 100% pure FA.
IMO, TA is not some "magic indicator". Rather skill set, which is very close to traditional definition of tape reading, but using price, volume or some indicators as tools, instead or in addition to T&S (aka "tape"). I am pretty sure magic indicators do not exist, but even more sure that a trader can develop skills to read the market participants behavior accurately enough to acquire some edge and make consistent profits. It is more of an art, not exact science. But nobody would say arts "don't work", only because they are not exact sciences.
I didn't either, until I really got into it and realized how much there was to learn and how little I really knew....glad I stuck with it though!
Beauty of life is that it's fair. You don't need them if you put enough efforts into seriously learning profession of a trader.