DislikedI'm a bit confused as to whether I should be doing research or whether I should be looking at charts and look at price action / patterns.Ignored
Traders who use FA, or are otherwise aware of the factors that drive prices, i.e. that operate 'behind' the candles, are possibly more likely to think in these terms. Myth #22 lists some potentially exploitable inefficiencies. However, traders who use TA profitably might simply trade the price patterns that the inefficiencies create, without knowing why these patterns occur. For example, climax volume candles that close in or around supply/demand areas (as seen by the technical trader) frequently signpost the accumulation of orders by heavyweight (or "professional") traders (as seen by the trader who understands orderflow).
Another example might be something as simple as turncoat or flipover S/R (that's when support becomes resistance, or vice versa). A technical trader might simply look at this pattern, and perhaps wait for some confirmation before entering. The fundamentalist understands this in terms of trapped trader behavior and (if the breakaway is fast) cascading stoplosses, i.e. in terms of where (large volumes of) buy and sell orders are.
One more example: extreme overbought or oversoldness. The technical trader's indicators inform him of this, while the fundamentalist understands that the subsequent retracement as an inefficiency that's caused by profit taking, and some counter trend traders entering the market.
I suppose it goes something like this: the fundamentalist understands how a car's engine works, but the technical trader can still drive the 'car' perfectly well.
You might also enjoy this well-known and controversial post by Joel Rensink, especially the part where he talks about professional traders understanding the nature of their edges.
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