"So to each his own, and let the market prevail"Agreed, the...

"So to each his own, and let the market prevail"

Agreed, the market usually gets it right.

I use charts simply to confirm direction and at which price points there have been heavy increases in volume.
I know plenty of TA's that can read the left hand side of a chart but I have never met one that can read the right hand side especially with the unknown possibility of a major announcement.

As for fundamentals, I hold shares some companies that I wouldn't have a clue what they do. The only time I research is when I decide to pyramid buy some more stock in the same company.

What I have found is that a pending announcement is usually preceded by an increase in volume. How does that work you might ask yourself but we all already know the answer.

I trade on volume increases without news and it does more than the job for me. I use a live data platform called turbotrader from http://turbotrader.net.au and I swear by it.

My four essential tools are:-
1 - TurboTrader for early volume based entries
2 - E*Trade as my trading platform and intraday charts
3 - Hotcopper for research once you sort it all out
4 - Metastock charts for trends and supports

They certainly work for me.