Indicators in practice

The failure modes. Redundant confirmation, fitted settings, repainting, and the limits of what any chart-based tool can see.

1. 01
   Why stacking five indicators still gives you one readAdding indicators built from the same data adds confidence without adding information. The two feel identical from the inside.
2. 02
   Correlated indicators and the illusion of confirmationThree oscillators agreeing is one opinion said three times. Here is how to tell which of your tools are duplicates.
3. 03
   Settings and periods: why a default is just a default14-period RSI. 20-period Bollinger Bands. 12/26/9 MACD. None of those numbers came from a study of your instrument.
4. 04
   Repainting, and how to check whether an indicator does itA repainting indicator changes its own history. Its chart looks excellent and could not have been traded.
5. 05
   Curve fitting: making anything look good in hindsightGiven enough parameters and enough attempts, any set of rules can be made to fit any history. That fit predicts nothing.
6. 06
   What an indicator cannot seeThe boundary of the tool, stated plainly. Knowing what is outside it is more useful than another setting.

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