Hi Brandmtrade,
Welcome to T2W.
Indicators were all the rage a few years ago, but they are out of favour now - as evidenced by the reply from PS, above. That said, lots of traders still use them to some degree, although they tend to do so clandestinely!
The real issue with indicators, is not the tool itself, be it MACD, stochastics or anything else, it's the trader. Traders use and abuse indicators and then wonder why they 'don't work'. For more details on how to use them well, check out this sticky:
Essentials Of Technical Analysis If you don't want to read the whole thing, scroll down to this heading:
Indicators and the Mechanics of TA.
This article may also be of interest:
The Stochastic Indicator: When it Works, When it Doesn’t & Why by Steve Palmquist. It was much slated at the time it was published and, to be fair, those doing so do make some interesting points. The bottom line is that
if indicators work for you, as evidenced by a your PnL, then stick with 'em would be my advice. If your results aren't what you want or hope for, is it because you're not using the indicators correctly, or not using the information they impart wisely? Neither of which are the fault of the indicator - its your fault!
One thing is for sure, tweaking the settings an any one indicator is highly unlikely to be the solution that enables a trader to magically traverse the divide from making a loss to making a profit. It's not like a combination lock to a safe - there are no settings that 'work' for all traders, just as there's no service style that works for all tennis players.
Tim.
