"TA incorporates all the information out there, including fundamental analysis" – how do the fundamentals get into TA? Serious question. All the products I've looked at only require daily trades. In that case TA can only measure changes in sentiment or fundamentals after they have already happened.
"to think we have an edge over fund managers based only on public information that we read is absurd" – agreed, especially for for any stock that is on the fund manager's radar. And you don't have to invoke "leakage" for this. Fund managers have analysts looking at market conditions, competitors, technical innovations, global developments, and the economic environment to a degree that most of can't possibly hope to match. Luckily you don't have to compete head to head with fund managers. As an individual you can move into or out of a stock with a speed that a fund manager can't match without crushing or ballooning its value. And if you invest a proportion of your funds in small companies where you understand the business deeply that aren't being watched closely by fund managers you can get the edge on the fund managers.
"I think it is most useful when there's no news released" – agreed again. In fact I believe that this is the only time that TA has anything to add.
SO4 Price at posting:
39.0¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
