The Master Manipulator
The stock market is a master manipulator. It conditions us to think a certain way over and over and over until we are convinced of a pattern. Then, just when we think we have things figured out, the market magically changes character. Keep in mind that a pattern can continue for a long time before the market eventually changes. The reason I bring this up is because something very interesting happened last week. For the [...]
The American Dream
“In 1923, seven men who had made it to the top of the financial success pyramid met together at the Edgewater Hotel in Chicago. Collectively, they controlled more wealth than the entire United States Treasury, and for years the media had held them up as examples of success. Who were they? Charles M. Schwab, president of the world’s largest steel company; Arthur Cutten, the greatest wheat speculator of his day; Richard Whitney, president of the [...]
The Worst Four Letter Word That Starts With “F”
I get emails all the time from readers of my blog, but something very interesting happened last week. I received 5 emails in a row all having the same theme: FEAR. Random people wrote to me saying: "I'm horrified of this market," "I'm scared that my stocks will collapse," "How do I overcome my fear?" etc. etc. I would like to discuss what creates this fear and how to possibly overcome it, but first I [...]
Cash is a Position
One concept many traders struggle with is that their ENTIRE account doesn't have to be invested at ALL times. There are times (like the correction we're going through now) when you should have at least some of your money in cash in order to protect capital and to protect confidence. 1) One of the main reasons I keep a larger than normal cash position during corrective markets is that 4 out of 5 stocks move [...]
No September Rate Hike
This Thursday, September 17th, the Federal Reserve will announce their decision on interest rates at 2PM EST. I don't think they will raise rates for the following reason: 1) Since the financial crisis of 2008-09, the Fed's number one priority is to see a strong recovery in the economy. They have done this by keeping interest rates low and pumping money into the system through various forms of accommodation. Has the economy recovered since 2009? [...]
More Negatives than Positives, but…
Part of my investment philosophy is to look at the positive and negative signs in the market and adjust my investment levels accordingly. It is important to keep an open mind when doing this. Don’t get too caught up in what “you think the market should be doing.” Flexibility is important but being stubborn gets you nowhere. Here are some observations: 1) All the major indexes are below their 10-week moving averages. This is important [...]