One of the biggest things I want to stress out is that all of the elements described in the above question require a lot of foresight. Many forecasters will look back at the past to try and make their picks even better. And this is perfectly reasonable, but all too often these predictions will be wrong. And for swing traders, all it takes to determine your “best indicator” is your past performances, but not necessarily the current one.
As a side note, it is also important to understand there is no one way to pick indicators. There are different “styles” (ie., trading styles) that have been successful and “bad” options have been successful but they do not guarantee you a great trading style.
Here is a quick list of some of the things to think about for your indicators:
When do you expect to receive the signals from these tools?
Do you know how often your competitors will do you a disservice?
Is there a “gold rush” mentality driving all of this investing?
Are you willing to wait before accepting information?
Do you have a strong network of traders who can provide help when a new tool comes along?
Are you willing to share technical analysis with your “big” trading clients?
Will all of your clients look for similar signs in the data?
How often do you “jump the shark”?
If you have never previously heard about a trend you consider to be “new”, do you believe in the trend itself?
These are great questions and they can help you make a decision when you see one. Knowing any of these things doesn’t magically make you a better trader!
Lastly, I think it is important to know when to look at the indicators in isolation. You are likely going to hear these questions several times when you are trading and it’s likely they will all come back to bite you. Here are a couple different ways to look at them:
Traded through a broker: While a professional forex broker may not offer any indicators, a large portion of your trade will be through brokers. If you are trading on their platforms and you find something wrong by chance, you will be able to get some very quick help if you send out a question/email to their support team. A good start would be to ask how often this indicator is updated.
When on platform: If you have any issues that could signal some technical trouble you need to look at this number