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.....
//-----

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.....
//------

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
//-------


Screenshot 2025-04-13 113507.png
 
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?
 
//-----

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.....
//------

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
//-------


View attachment 32105
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?
//----

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......
//-------

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

//-------

Screenshot 2025-04-18 220118.png
//-------

Screenshot 2025-04-18 222545.png