Technical Analysis is a part of trading. Arguably the easiest part of trading though some do get it wrong.

I think the OP is already on the right track on what other aspects to look for and the other comments here have added to that. The only thing I would add is you can look at correlation as that has helped me quite a bit. This involves looking at correlated instruments and making sure they are all giving you the same technical picture. This provides a greater edge and helps in finding more meaningful moves.

From my experience, the most difficult aspect of trading is what most refer to as trading psychology. Basically, we are not programmed to lose, but successful traders take losses all the time. The key is to have more winners than losses. OR to have bigger gains on winning trades. A combination of the two works as well. I find new traders will often put on a really big trade after losing a bunch of trades in hopes of 'making it back quickly'. This IMO is the greatest risk to a trader.