Saturday, August 08, 2009

DONT FIGHT THE TAPE

Every time we find the stock market in an unexpected run to the up or downside and the pundits are wetting themselves with glee; Eventually some old relic from the crash of 1929 gets on the air and reminds us of the only important information a trader needs. Hence the old stand by quote for times of so called irrational market behavior... "DON'T FIGHT THE TAPE!!!"



The market is what it is! Standing by in unbelief never made a trader a dime. The market is not Mr. Spock. It doesn't have to act logically. Moreover it doesn't have a mind, let alone "a mind of its own." Prices on a ticker tape. You as a fortune teller have one of two methods for calling the market direction ( you can use history or you can guess at it) if you use the past, or "the tape"- go with the trend and make a profit we call it a win. Some traders use the latter method and still call it skill when they win. The day you let the tape tell you where stocks are headed, AND trade accordingly; you will finally start to get in on the right side for consistent returns.