I would never trade without charts!. At least for the first 10 yrs of my trading career till I got good enough not to, but why ignore what the rest of the world is looking at?
The word "Trade" is ambiguous, if you are refering to Swing then the answer is yes. Ultimately we are all trading Price Action in one form or another, but there is far more to successful trading than Price Action. The way to understand what is occuring, requires a person to cut out the Noise, in order to "cut out the noise" I've found that I had to cut out charts. Interestingly, of all the successful traders that I know,(most have made their living exclusively from trading for anywhere up to 30 years)none of them have more than a passing interest in charts, work it out for yourself! I can't say that charts won't work for anyone, but rather that the smartest choice in trading that I've made so far has been to focus on the bare bones of the markets, by getting rid of distractions such as CHARTS,NEWS,BROKERS OPINIONS etc. Ultimately, we all end up responsible for our choices, so good luck in the battle. Best Regards Johno
My personal experience is different. I'm a price action only trader but I rely on charts to help with my day trade decisions. I'm also from a family of traders (stepfather and cousin were floor traders in their professional careers prior to moving on to government jobs) and several of my personal friends are current institutional traders (futures)... All are successful price action only traders that rely on charts for trade decisions or verification (confirmation) prior to making a trade decision. My cousin would look at charts only at night (never at work) to help with finding what he consider to be key price areas of interest. The smartest choice is to continue using whatever is making you money. There is no only one way... Let those losing money or trying to make a fashion statement jump from one method to the next. Yet, on the flip side, I do know personally a few guys that use only price quotes (no charts) for trade decisions. However, even they admit looking at charts prior to the trading day or after the trading day has concluded. Simply, if using charts is noise...don't use it. If not using charts creates noise...use charts. Yet, if your not making money...that's when you explore something else. With that said, I do know that the longer time frame of the trade (e.g. holding a position for a few months)... I often don't use charts for my trade management decisions after the entry. Mark
Both ways work and depend upon what kind of trading that you are doing. With one method, I'm getting a 93% success rate and the other is 88% success rate.