A veteran trader rates nine trading concepts from 3 to 10. Volume Profile, Footprints, and Price Action score highest for showing real market activity. Elliott Wave ranks lowest at 3/10 for being too subjective in real time. VWAP gets 8/10 for institutional relevance, while ICT, Bollinger Bands, MACD, and Wyckoff fall in the 4-5 range.
ICT. 5 out of 10. Right idea, flawed execution. You're tracking smart money without volume or order flow. Bollinger Bands. 4 out of 10. They measure volatility, but by the time the bands widen, the move is already happening. It's a filter, not a signal. Volume Weighted Average Price. 8 out of 10. All institutional algorithms use VWAP to enter trades. That's why the market respects it. Elliott Wave. 3 out of 10. In hindsight, the waves are always there, but in real time 5 traders will count the same chart 5 different ways. Volume profile, 10 out of 10. The only tool that shows you where the market actually did business, not where price went, but where volume traded at every price level. MACD, 5 out of 10. Lagging inputs, and by the time the crossover signals, the move already happened. Wyckoff, 5 out of 10. The logic is sound, but the limitation is identifying which phase you're in, and it requires too much interpretation. Footprints, 10 out of 10. They break open every candle and show you exact buying and selling at every price level. Paired with the volume profile, you get the full picture. Price action, 10 out of 10. Legitimate foundation, but always add volume and it will become much more reliable. Follow me for more trading tips.
