Yeah, I'm so "anti-TA", I even developed my own velocity indicator. There are none so blind or deaf as the willfully ignorant.
I would suggest keeping an open mind about indicators. I have discovered a couple of cases where "lagging" indicators actually lead at times but not in the primary function they were designed for. That saying about more than one way to skin a cat applies to everything about the markets.
optionpro007, Are you still even reading your thread? It's deteriorated, as per usual ET, into a stinkfest, but among the dribble and sniping is some great stuff. First, and forgive me if this has already been pointed out, there is no "best". What you wanna do is read a couple of the comprehensive primers, like E&M, or Murphy, or Pring, or Schwager, or Farley's "The Master Swing Trader". Understand the big picture of TA. Then you can start experimenting and narrowing things down and you eventually will find your own way. I believe that anything can work for anybody, but this is both blessing and curse, because no matter how much you read or study somebody else's techniques, a trader has to develop their OWN. (So many in TA are always so quick to trash something that didn't work for them, but which may very well be successful for someone else.) Anyways, eventually you'll find TA is only part of the program, it's only a piece of trading. You have to be able to use it in a viable overall trading philosophy, w/risk-and-money-management, and you have to have the psychological discipline to stick to your plan when you should and the smarts and talent to let it adapt and evolve when it should. I would suggest first ignoring the "bottom-pane" indicators, except for volume, and start out with Price/Volume interpretation, including spreads and OHLC, along with support/resistance, tl's, retracement levels, and the cycles of trend/consolidation (high-volatility/low-volatility), because these are based on supply and demand and will always govern the behavior of any auction market. Then you might wish to experiment w/bottom-pane indicators, MACD, RSI, what have you, as confirmations, or to look for developing opportunities, or take it as far as you wish. These kinds of indicators are also great for scanning for setups once you know what you're doing. But first try to understand the supply/demand behavior that moves the markets, revealed thru PV analysis. This is TA from its most pure, relevant, and opportunistic perspective. H
This is not a case of intelligence, rigidity and ego or blocking. Baggage has been systemmatically acquired before any venture into making money came into the picture. This guy has created a drama on his "Broadway" that has been running one long time. You cannot imagine how difficult it is to chuck his script and bring down the curtain on this self created drama. He is so "safe" by running his play night and day. Often a person doen't make it past reguritating facts. In lifee there comes a time when facts are "processed" into newer conclusions that forward the facts to new domains. No processing or forwarding can occur in this drama unfolding..nada... People around the medians and means, have a real challenge when they are situated in a skewed environment as in "choosing the hardest college I can get into so I graduate at the bottom of my class". Only going to a state college can prevent this. This guy has a way perfected for generating long lived biochemicals that outlast his spurts of drama. His curtain is almost never down even though he is very tired. When you think about ego, this kind here is causally directed fully to antagonism. The singular departure thus far, drew immediate responses from sensitive rational others. When given spectrum of considerations, the spectrum is not considered ever; there is only a simplistic unbased deflection. This is where no rigidity can exist; there is only surface treatment, in fact. To be rigid he would have to have a rational full orientation. Its missing so far. This is an average guy who got by on his good looks and never acquired reasoning skills to process facts in a real environment (especially one where the truth in money making shows on the bottom line). He does seek a money making scheme avidly and he cannot ever trust one if he ever did see it in his face. He would always find what he knows best and has most experience in with his drama. That is failure. It's time for him to start jogging several times a day.
Hi Hcour: Yes I have kept up with the thread. Thank you and all others who have posted information. Your analysis and some others have been right on target and am sure very helpful to beginners. TA is an art. So there is no right or wrong. The reason I started this thread was because I came to the conclusion that my whole trading system was based on trading tops and bottoms i.e. divergences. I eventually realized that such a system even though profitable if well executed will not work in the case of uncle trends. Like 1999 sort of. So I wanted to get information to set up a system of continuation of trends and which indicators would best fit that model. I have ordered several books that have been suggested here and other threads which I think will help me devise this second trading system. I plan to use both systems at the same time for risk diversification purposes. Thank you again for your help and very thoughtful advice !!