On indicators vs. price action – you're doing it wrong if you're not solely focused on PA
Been seeing a lot of chatter lately, especially from newer traders, about complex indicator setups and how they're supposedly key to unlocking market secrets. And honestly, it's just noise. If you're not focusing 90% of your energy, at minimum, on raw price action, you're missing the forest for the trees. All those indicators? They're lagging. They're derivatives of price. The market is telling you what it's doing right now with its candle formations, its volume profile, how it's reacting to key levels.
Take something like $NG right now, trading around 5.135, seeing that daily range from 5.075–5.235. You can layer on all the Bollinger Bands and MACD lines you want, but the true story is in how it's respecting or failing to respect that 5.075 support. The indicator will just confirm what price already told you 20 minutes ago. It's just unnecessary clutter that overcomplicates decision-making. I get it, it feels 'safer' to have something to confirm your bias, but it's a crutch. Am I completely off base here? Tell me why.
While pure price action certainly has its merits and is foundational, completely dismissing indicators seems a bit extreme. They can offer a different perspective or confirm what price action might already suggest, even if they are lagging.