complete bullshit article.
you are confusing front-running to technical analysis and are only referring to day traders whereas most technical analysis works for swing traders.
Chartism has to do with reading behavioral finance, the charts are tools to make decisions based on pure mass psychology.
In no way, shape or form does it work 100% of the time, it is only a tool to make an educated guess about where the market will go. It also allows you to put stops to limit your losses, and more importantly your psychological loss.
Price is the only true information that can be trusted in a market and TA is just that... analysing the price and its past to anticipate the future.
Big banks and hedge funds do indeed manipulate the market but not based on chartism, there is no way to code visual shapes from a chart, it is all based on statistical analysis, which is different (think: MACD, RSI, etc.).
I have been trading equities for years and learned TA from the best in Europe.. I am telling you it works, it is just an constant internal fight with your own ego and greed. TA helps you deal with it if you know how to use it.