Certainty...

...a continuing series...first a quote:

"The chief danger to our philosophy, apart from laziness and woolliness, is scholasticism...which is treating what is vague as if it were precise...

-E.P. Ramsey

Most here already know my feelings for (and arguments against) "technical analysis", but this column does nothing to dissuade me from thinking its so much useless nonsense.

Snippet:

When I was an institutional broker in a former life, I was a believer in the merits of using technical analysis. I found that it was a very useful tool that complemented the much more mainstream tools generically referred to as fundamental analysis.

Many don’t put much stock in technical analysis. I understand that. A former institutional client of mine once said: “At the bottom of the ocean are many sunken vessels, and in each one there is a chart room filled with charts.” But there is another perspective. The markets represent the aggregate interaction of many investors. Their attitudes, philosophies, and behavioral patterns on many levels are predictable….and repetitive.