The media’s influence has more of an effect on you than you might realize. By listening to someone else’s opinion on a trade setup you have just delayed the development of your trader gut.
Trading from your viewpoint is the place you want to trade from to obtain the most rewarding results. Sure you won’t always be right but this is how you learn to develop and grow as a trader. Stop handicapping yourself by seeking out others’ views on a trade idea, because most present their views purely for personal gain. Once I stepped away from the media and tossed the TV out of my trading office I fell in love with the quiet. Your brain does not function well with mixed messages and has a difficult time making a decision once confronted with two different viewpoints.
CONFLICTING MESSAGES
The following is an example of a trade that had large conflicting media messages: After the Herbal Life (HLF) sell off in December of 2012, I began to focus on it for a potential retracement short into $46.00. I called the trade to my Swing Newsletter subscribers to get short on 01/23/203 at $42.70 with a stop over $47.50. After the trade triggered, one of my subscribers began to email me all the media bliss on HLF thinking I was crazy for being short from all the media bulls on CNBC.
My response to him was, “I trade the technical and don’t care what others say about our position.” I must admit being aware of the information he sent me did create a little battle in my mind about being short, however, I chose to tune out the noise and stuck to the trade. We were rewarded in just eight trading days with over $13.00 gains per share on our position.
Learn to develop your trader instinct and trader gut by tuning out outside forces. You will discover a new journey of learning and introspection that you could not purchase anywhere.
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[Editor’s note: Troy Peterson earned first place in the 2012 TraderPlanet Live Trading room Star Awards. Learn more about Star Awards here and visit Peterson’s website here. ]
Peterson’s recent story: Don’t Lose Out Because of Tight Stops
