A brief moment of humility is due right about now. After I reread what I wrote yesterday about “getting it right” as to what the market would do the day before, I realized that despite my disclaimer about “not tooting my own horn,” I was, in fact, tooting my own horn. I wonder what the heck the whole tooting of horns maxim means. I suppose if I think about it, I could figure it out, but I have other business to get to today.
Anyway, all puffed up yesterday, I again “predicted” where the Dow would end up. I said it would likely close somewhere at or just below -100. The last 20 minutes killed that prediction. In those minutes, the Dow flirted with -100, but it just couldn’t hold it, and in the last 10 minutes, the sellers wrested control and took the Dow lower, but not to its lowest level of the day, which is a good sign. The buyers are out there, but they are still a bit too timid in the face of those grizzly bears and their penchant for dumping on fear. Bottom line, it is hubris to think one can accurately predict the market on any given day.
Stock index futures fell on Thursday as a rise in Spanish bond yields renewed concerns about the euro zone’s financial health, and as investors awaited report on jobless claims.
Jobless claims are in and the pattern of lower joblessness is holding. Will the market go with this as good news, or will Spain, the new whipping boy, take the market down again. I expect a bit more of the same today, especially since the headlines have basically rerun yesterday’s news, but as to the actual landing place, I cannot say. What I will say is, we will see …
I have a few functions with TraderPlanet. Pushing any particular product is not one of them. I have a free hand to say what I will in the matter of discussing products. You see, I receive a lot of requests from folks wanting to know which product is good for this or that. I rarely, if ever, give my opinion. What I will do, and have done, is tell people what I use and why, which is exactly the question I recently received from a reader.
Ed, your word and suggestions are well regarded by myself and others. When you refer to Quality Trading Software, do you have any personal suggestions you could share with us, along with your reasons, etc.?
First, thanks for the compliment. I do hope folks find value in what I write. After all, my goal matches the goal of TraderPlanet – to help traders and investors become better at what they do. We both believe education is critical to success in the highly competitive and often difficult world of “playing the market.”
As to the quality software issue … I have written before that I tried lots of trading software before I settled on VantagePoint. I like it because it is simple, efficient, and it works for me. It took some time, however, before I figured out how to make it work for me. First, I had to become good at reading the market and second, I had to figure how best to utilize the myriad tools VantagePoint offers.
Remember, a tool is only as effective as the craftsman wielding it. There are no magic bullets. Making money means work, with or without VantagePoint, or any trading software for that matter. If you want to check out VantagePoint, there are numerous successful traders on Traderplanet.com willing to share how they use the software to achieve success, and they will have more details to offer than I on the matter.
Trade in the day – Invest in your life …
