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Comment by BobbyTables2

2 months ago

I too don’t understand why technical analysis isn’t classified as a genre of fiction…

Ugh. I vividly remember when my stepfather tried to get me involved. He was retired, and had a nice nest egg built up from a small business. He was a smart man.

But he was paying thousands of dollars per year for a monthly newsletter that contained <some brand of analysis>. And he patiently showed me how he started with a row in the table that met <his criteria> then followed to the column that met <other criteria> and that was the choice he made in the market.

And I'm thinking, whatever information he's getting in that newsletter is at least a month old by the time he gets it. And he's not doing anything a program couldn't do, with the information in digital form. And he should know that -- he was a computer programmer earlier in life. As far as I could see, there was zero chance he was beating anyone or anything with that technique, and starting in a several thousand dollar hole.

Maybe I was wrong, but I don't think so.

The market is a mind game. If enough market participants care about it, then it defacto becomes a signal to be aware of.

In fact if you're a trader (not a long term investor) that manages to make money in the markets you will by definition use some form of technical analysis.

I think some make money trading just that or am I wrong? I’m not talking about youtubers

  • Some people win the lottery.

    You should still be skeptical if they try and sell you on their patented lottery number picking strategy.