I know this is an old post, but I can attest that TA is NOT a scam.

Using tools like moving averages, trendlines, fibonacci retracements, gann fans will absolutely offer clues for where support and resistance will be, especially when they overlap. Chart patterns are another tool but in my opinion, fall short of any of the others I listed.

I'm a short term trader, primarily selling weekly options. Fundamental analysis is no help if you're trying to capitalize on short term movements. My mentors who taught me how to trade use the approach of what's called "fading" ie. I short the stock when price is really really high (overbought) and I buy the stock when price is really really low (oversold).

So the million dollar question is "How can you tell when something is overbought or oversold?" and to that I have a billion dollar answer that I can prove with TA.

I detailed this in a post I did a while ago in another group for option sellers the link is here

TEST ON SPY FOR OVERBOUGHT/OVERSOLD

but for those of you that don't like to read I'll offer a brief summary.

The missing ingredient in most technical analysis trying to predict price is volatility. Volatility is to charts what "relativity" is to physics. The best way to measure volatility is by using (multiple ) standard deviations to classify how "deviated" price is relative to its normal range. A higher deviation from the mean can be interpreted as "oversold" when the price is going up "overbought" when price is going down.

To plot standard deviations use what's called Bollinger Bands. Its just another way of saying standard deviation but it means the same thing. MOST people just go with the standard input values (2,-2) but MOST people aren't wealthy so we're not going to do what MOST people do.

Instead you're going to plot (3.25, -4) and then look at the data on a WEEKLY chart.

The simple rule from here until death is this:

If price goes ABOVE the top line- SHORT IT. If it goes BELOW the line, BUY IT.

If its in between the lines DON'T TRADE IT.

Now scroll back in time and just look at the evidence. Using this basic simple principle, how many times would you have been right and how many times would you have been wrong? Look at your own trades. If you used this principle would you have entered that trade? How many bad trades could this have kept you out of? Crazy right.

That's just one piece of technical analysis. TA is just mathematics; everything in the universe must obey the laws of physics even something as abstract as price.

The best trades are the most obvious trades. Keep it simple.