Sorry, I was rudely interrupted by a trade there. Back to your reply:

At the end of the day all any indicator is doing is translating what's already on the chart and explaining it to me in it's own way.[/quote]

And, that's the point. It depends on what inputs were used to construct that Indicator, as to precisely what it is showing you in real terms. Another point is the fact, that markets can and do change. Ergo, the Indicator's old indication will also change. This is why trying to trade with just one Indicator might present some problems for people. Its like having a one trick pony.

This is also why I always tell people that if you are going to use Indicators for Trading, then you might want to consider having Indicators that cover all the bases in Trading which are Timing, Direction, Magnitude and Probability. Any "trade" whether for 5 pips or 500 pips, unless you stumbled into it by accident, will have been successful upon fairly accurate measuring of Timing, Direction, Magnitude and Probability. Moreover, the more secure trades, those that have the highest potential for reaching a specified target will always benefit from Timing, Direction, Magnitude and Probability.

So, an Indicator should "indicate" something about one or more of these factors. When you have Indicators that are supportive of these four (4) key factors, you get a lower risk trade entry by definition. This has long term payback in the form of being able to grow capital as opposed to "just trading." The real goal, of course, is to grow capital. Anyone can "trade" - click a mouse button from home. No problem. However, the real Craft here is learning how to consistently Grow Capital and build wealth.

Having said that, there are some Traders at the Retail level who are comfortable with just paying bills and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that approach. It all depends on the individual. That's one of the things I love so much about this Industry. You can use it to just pay bills, all the way up to building your own financial empire. It just depends on how deep you want to go and how much work you are willing to put into the process. The rest is skill, knowledge and expertise acquired along the journey.



It sounds laudable and it is factual. However, it is predicated upon a misunderstanding about what an Indicator actually does. For those of us who have actually researched, developed, engineered and designed bespoke Indicators (those that do not exist in the public domain) and those that are different than typically average based Indicators, we know that you actually design your "thoughts" into an Indicator. So, if done right, you end up with a more efficient "thought process" as the Indicator will always perform the same function, whereas the human mind will be subject to real-time distractions and increased margins of error as a direct result.

When you intelligently integrate and combine Indicators that contain your "thoughts" about Timing, Direction, Magnitude and Probability, you are literally augmenting your brain. You are leveraging your brain in ways that are simply impossible without the aid of the microprocessor. For example, in the Panel shown above, you see six (6) Indicators running inside their own System Module. There is an Indicator for each Time Frame and each indicator has its own unique variable output. So, you are looking at a level of functionality with a total of 6*9 + 8*9 + 15*9 + 12*9 + 11*9 + 8*9 outputs. Or, 540 independent outputs based on individual calculations and logic driven functions.

I can't do that in my mind. No matter how hard I try, I will not be able to run that many calculations in real-time while trying to make a trading decision. So, in my case, the System is a supportive tool in that it does the thinking I would normally do on my own but can't do as a strict matter of lack of brain power. I just don't have the ability to run 540 independent calculations in real-time. If I carefully place my "thoughts" into each individual calculation and carefully insert my logic into the system, I can leverage my brain with that same system. This is why Computers exist. They are there to help us leverage what we are already thinking and would like to do, but cannot run in parallel within our own brains.

So, when done right, the Indicator should be a helper not a hindrance to making good trade decisions. (when done right).


I agree. Yes, you can reach a point (after 17 years for me personally) where you literally can take a simple Line Chart and nothing else to make money. No question about that. However, I think a well designed System can help you see what's developing in the market and within market data not seen inside Price Action alone (if that System is built for that express purpose).

Cheers and all the best with your trading.