No effort is futile. But one should quickly learn what makes sense and what does not by applying objective reality based evidence. surf
Can you explain why you believe chart-based trading (or using information contained within a chart) doesn't work?
I don't enjoy fruitless discussions, but I must point out that, at the right hard edge of the screen, in the moment of now, the map and the territory are one and the same. And whatever forecast of the future one can make is the only thing that can give an strategical or tactical edge. I wouldn't expect for someone to give me one, but I can tell you that the realtime chart sings a song that some can hear better than others.
since it can't be quantified by any reasonable standard. 1. How many moves/ bars or series of moves /bars in one direction increase the odds that the next move or series will be in the same or different direction? If u can't answer this, price charts go into the realm of mysticism. 2. Charts don't show the future after u enter the trade.
Science is how we attempt to understand and explain what is. A chart is price behavior, the understanding of which helps us to understand what is more likely to occur in the future. Only the comically vain would guarantee a future outcome.
And one should not plant rose seeds in a sandbox in winter, and when no roses bloom he should not say "Ya see, gardening doesn't work".
The market is not random, it reflects all of the economic output and has long term trends. However, on a day to day basis, it is very noisy. Charts/graphs/patterns reflect the outcome of things that happened and there are relationships, so, charts are useful if you know where to look and what to look for. Many had tried but only a selected few could pull useful information out of all the noise and became profitable traders.
Sure, intuition can be a valuable thing. But i prefer to deal with quantified objective reality and in all cases the chart is the past. Not one and the same with the future.
The market is not random in objective reality,in other words if we were all knowing--with all information. but it is random within parameters to our reality/perception if it were not, it could not exist.
Every time you drive a car or walk across the street, you make not one but a series of predictions. It is the same with trading a chart, you look to see what side is going to lose, and help them achieve their desires. Pretty simple really.