yep i started out with them. did not do well, not Bollinger"s fault but i do not think any indicator can be used without some idea of price action, ALONG WITH A HEALTHY DOSE OF idea of market pulse,which you can only get with experience. But volatility is an important characteristic of market and i think they are volatility bands.not sure though
Yes....they are useful. Here are a few scenarios. With daily data, previous month was a 12 month high. Daily close is below the lower Bollinger band. There is a strong probability that the previous high will be tested. Another: With daily data, previous month was a 12 month low and was below lower Bollinger band. The prior two weeks were down. Todays close is up big. There is a strong probability that there will be a good sized bounce before further selling.
John's a good guy. He maintains a private email discussion group for those interested in Bands. You can ping him if interested in participating.
Maybe this is your problem you want to know a little of everything and not a lot of one thing. “Chase two rabbits catch none”
The utility of *any* technical indicator depends on 1) the constancy of the market, with respect to history [the market-lagging inputs] 2) the intention of the indicator to draw attention to trend or to trend-breaks (as in, BBs) 3) the look-back parameters (which 90% of traders leave as God-given and fixed) 4) how the indicator is used: whether as an auto-trading trigger or for discretionary support. That said, "Are Bollinger Bands any good?" Yes.