Is price action just astrology for traders, or is there real edge in naked charts?

Why would naked charts be astrology? If you don't discard technical analysis as a whole, price action or naked charts definitely have potential. The fact that you aren't using an indicator to analyze a chart doesn't make the method unworthy. Ultimately, it's up to the trader's preferences whether to use indicators or to analyze bare price action (I do both for example).
 
is price action just astrology or is there a real edge in naked charts.....
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lol....... that's a good one callahan...... i hear ya loud and clear........ lol....

a macd crossing the 0 line is a definable moment in every country in every language.... the already agreed upon math forces all of us to see it......

price action is radically different..... there is no world order in it......

can it be an edge..... yes, i believe so but for only a few that can both envision and react......

those few must have incredibly creative minds...... they can envision indicators on the chart without them even being there..... this reduces the screen clutter...... they can both see and react..... reacting appropriately in a timely manner might be more difficult than the seeing part....

for an simplistic example, at the risk of offending a successful price action trader, consider the first chart below.......

do you really need the alma, hma, rsi, stochastic, wpr, ao, sms(10, sma(20), macd on the chart......

most of us could draw them in mentally......

true successful price action traders might be doing much much more than that..... it's their intensely creative minds...... even without knowing a single indicator, they might be creating their own versions mentally.....
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some of us, even with 2 good legs, still might prefer the indicator crutch and place them all on the chart.......

just in case our minds are out to lunch.......h
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Why would naked charts be astrology? If you don't discard technical analysis as a whole, price action or naked charts definitely have potential. The fact that you aren't using an indicator to analyze a chart doesn't make the method unworthy. Ultimately, it's up to the trader's preferences whether to use indicators or to analyze bare price action (I do both for example).
Absolutely, price action gives a clean, direct read of market behavior. For me, it's all about understanding structure and momentum without the extra noise. Do you have a favorite setup or pattern you look for?
 
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lol....... that's a good one callahan...... i hear ya loud and clear........ lol....

a macd crossing the 0 line is a definable moment in every country in every language.... the already agreed upon math forces all of us to see it......

price action is radically different..... there is no world order in it......

can it be an edge..... yes, i believe so but for only a few that can both envision and react......

those few must have incredibly creative minds...... they can envision indicators on the chart without them even being there..... this reduces the screen clutter...... they can both see and react..... reacting appropriately in a timely manner might be more difficult than the seeing part....

for an simplistic example, at the risk of offending a successful price action trader, consider the first chart below.......

do you really need the alma, hma, rsi, stochastic, wpr, ao, sms(10, sma(20), macd on the chart......

most of us could draw them in mentally......

true successful price action traders might be doing much much more than that..... it's their intensely creative minds...... even without knowing a single indicator, they might be creating their own versions mentally.....
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some of us, even with 2 good legs, still might prefer the indicator crutch and place them all on the chart.......

just in case our minds are out to lunch.......h
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Totally get what you’re saying; price action does demand a different kind of thinking. It’s less about fixed signals and more about interpreting context, structure, and flow in real time. For me, that creative freedom is part of the edge. What helped you most in developing your own read of the market?
 
What helped you most in developing your own read of the market?
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hey callahan....... i would not know where to begin...... so many things..... indicators for sure.....

perhaps what helps us most is a positive attitude towards trading in general.......

in either event, it has always appeared to me that,,,,,,

when the moving averages are moving down, a high percentage of the time the price is also.....

when the stochastic is moving down, a high percentage of the time the price is also.....

when the psar is falling, a high percentage of the time the price is also.....

and so on and so on......

when muti timeframe is put into the mix, it paints a better picture for me...... one that might be worth a wager......
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getting back to your original question on price action, which is a huge subject, a weakness of mine is to always be scratching around for new things to learn......

i have just about scratched the hide off price action...... still scratchin...... i can not bring myself to buy or sell based simply on support or resistance.......

not really sure if i can read the markets or not.....h

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hey callahan....... i would not know where to begin...... so many things..... indicators for sure.....

perhaps what helps us most is a positive attitude towards trading in general.......

in either event, it has always appeared to me that,,,,,,

when the moving averages are moving down, a high percentage of the time the price is also.....

when the stochastic is moving down, a high percentage of the time the price is also.....

when the psar is falling, a high percentage of the time the price is also.....

and so on and so on......

when muti timeframe is put into the mix, it paints a better picture for me...... one that might be worth a wager......
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getting back to your original question on price action, which is a huge subject, a weakness of mine is to always be scratching around for new things to learn......

i have just about scratched the hide off price action...... still scratchin...... i can not bring myself to buy or sell based simply on support or resistance.......

not really sure if i can read the markets or not.....h

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S/R alone feels incomplete to me too. I’ve started focusing more on how price reacts at those levels, not just the levels themselves. When you say you can’t trade off pure S/R, is it more about trust or just needing more context?
 
Haha, definitely not astrology! Naked charts can give a real edge sometimes, keeps things simple and clear.
Though it’s funny how many still don’t buy into it. I guess without lines and signals, it feels too abstract for some.
 
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S/R alone feels incomplete to me too. I’ve started focusing more on how price reacts at those levels, not just the levels themselves. When you say you can’t trade off pure S/R, is it more about trust or just needing more context?
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price action requires more thought and interaction than i am prepared to give it.... it's non stop reassessment..... also seems support and resistance almost always fail....

my least favorite youtube videos are price action, support, resistance and those types..... the terms, the concepts, the definition, the applications and all just burn my mind..... it seems so vicious..... it seems so new york.....

i'm better suited to a hand full of moving averages on multiple time frames.... it seems like a lazy river..... it seems like tom sawyer......
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it would take an entire room full of people to do all the price action concepts on the dow, s&p, nasdaq, rty, gold and so on .....

where a single person could watch the moving averages..... the terms, the concepts, the definition, the applications and all are simple.....

which is better..... who can say....

maybe i'm just lazy.....h
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the first chart is the new york open, mym 5 minute...... the opening 15 minutes of the mym, mnq, mes, and m2k were quite different..... would that be a smt example......

just shootin from the hip, but i'd say there are at least a dozen widely excepted and followed price action terms in those charts..... we could all possibly name them correctly......

it's not the seeing that's a problem for me, it's the trusting....... concepts are easy to see......

a true successful price action trader must be the type that can walk his own way....... he kinda leads the market..... he trusts his view.....

where a indicator type trader must be the type that is more comfortable with the crowd....... he kinda follows the market..... he rather have his view confirmed by others.......

which is better..... who can say.......

both are interesting, at least to me...... h

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asian session low offers some support....... at least so far......

top dashed yellow line is fridays high, lower dashed yellow line is fridays low...... concept says if fridays high is not broken, odds favor a move towards fridays low......

so......h

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price action requires more thought and interaction than i am prepared to give it.... it's non stop reassessment..... also seems support and resistance almost always fail....

my least favorite youtube videos are price action, support, resistance and those types..... the terms, the concepts, the definition, the applications and all just burn my mind..... it seems so vicious..... it seems so new york.....

i'm better suited to a hand full of moving averages on multiple time frames.... it seems like a lazy river..... it seems like tom sawyer......
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it would take an entire room full of people to do all the price action concepts on the dow, s&p, nasdaq, rty, gold and so on .....

where a single person could watch the moving averages..... the terms, the concepts, the definition, the applications and all are simple.....

which is better..... who can say....

maybe i'm just lazy.....h
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Haha, I get it—price action can feel like herding cats sometimes. If moving averages give you that lazy river vibe and keep things simple, why fight it? Trading’s hard enough without overcomplicating it.
Ever mix in volume or momentum just to see how it plays with your MA setups? Or do you keep it strictly Tom Sawyer style?
 
Ever mix in volume or momentum just to see how it plays with your MA setups? Or do you keep it strictly Tom Sawyer style?
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not so much volume but do stay focused on the momentum indicators...... momentum indicators lose some of their value in trends though......

my best results is just the multi timeframe lazy river approach...... the more timeframes agree, the better..... it's mandatory , for me, the 1, 5, 15 and 30 agree......

smart risk has some good price action type videos...... i've downloaded and saved on my computers everything of theirs..... watched several times......

looks like a trendy night is in the forecast.......h
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ict algo concept in pdf below...... seems to me worth studying.......

ict gets drug thru the mud by many...... he has somewhat an abrasive attitude.... sometimes a persons negatives out weigh his positives.....

black and white price action is interesting ...... little color never hurts......h
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