✅ The Madness of Crowds
One way to view the market is as a disorganized crowd of individuals whose sole common purpose is to ascertain the future mood of the economy—or the balance of power between optimists (bulls) and pessimists (bears)—and thereby generate returns from a correct trading decision made today that will pay off in the future.
🎯However, it's important to realize that the crowd is comprised of a variety o individuals, each one prone to competing and conflicting emotions. Optimism and pessimism, hope and fear—all these emotions can exist in one investor at different times or in multiple investors or groups at the same time. In any trading decision, the primary goal is to make sense of this crush of emotion, thereby evaluating the psychology of the market crowd. Understanding Herd Behavior
The key to such widespread phenomena lies in the herding nature of the crowd: the way in which a collection of usually calm, rational individuals can be overwhelmed by such emotion when it appears their peers
🎯 The Risks of Following the Crowd
The key to enduring success in trading is to develop an individual, independent system that exhibits the positive qualities of studious, non-emotional, rational analysis, and highly disciplined implementation. The choice will depend on the individual trader's unique predilection for charting and technical analysis. If market reality jibes with the tenets of the trader's system, a successful and profitable career is born (at least for the moment).
🎯 So the ideal situation for any trader is that beautiful alignment that occurs when the market crowd and one's chosen system of analysis conspire to create profitability. This is when the public seems to confirm your system of analysis and is likely the very situation where your highest profits will be earned in the short term. Yet this is also the most potentially devastating situation in the medium to long term because the individual trader can be lulled into a false sense of security as their analysis is confirmed. The trader is then subtly and irrevocably sucked into joining the crowd, straying from their individual system and giving increasing credence to the decisions of others.
🎯 Inevitably, there will be a time when the crowd's behavior will diverge from the direction suggested by the trader's analytical system, and this is the precise time at which the trader must put on the brakes and exit his position. This is also the most difficult time to exit a winning position, as it is very easy to second guess the signal that one is receiving, and to hold out for just a little more profitability. As is always the case, straying from one's system may be fruitful for a time, but in the long term, it is always the individual, disciplined, analytical approach that will win out over blind adherence to those around you.
One way to view the market is as a disorganized crowd of individuals whose sole common purpose is to ascertain the future mood of the economy—or the balance of power between optimists (bulls) and pessimists (bears)—and thereby generate returns from a correct trading decision made today that will pay off in the future.
🎯However, it's important to realize that the crowd is comprised of a variety o individuals, each one prone to competing and conflicting emotions. Optimism and pessimism, hope and fear—all these emotions can exist in one investor at different times or in multiple investors or groups at the same time. In any trading decision, the primary goal is to make sense of this crush of emotion, thereby evaluating the psychology of the market crowd. Understanding Herd Behavior
The key to such widespread phenomena lies in the herding nature of the crowd: the way in which a collection of usually calm, rational individuals can be overwhelmed by such emotion when it appears their peers
🎯 The Risks of Following the Crowd
The key to enduring success in trading is to develop an individual, independent system that exhibits the positive qualities of studious, non-emotional, rational analysis, and highly disciplined implementation. The choice will depend on the individual trader's unique predilection for charting and technical analysis. If market reality jibes with the tenets of the trader's system, a successful and profitable career is born (at least for the moment).
🎯 So the ideal situation for any trader is that beautiful alignment that occurs when the market crowd and one's chosen system of analysis conspire to create profitability. This is when the public seems to confirm your system of analysis and is likely the very situation where your highest profits will be earned in the short term. Yet this is also the most potentially devastating situation in the medium to long term because the individual trader can be lulled into a false sense of security as their analysis is confirmed. The trader is then subtly and irrevocably sucked into joining the crowd, straying from their individual system and giving increasing credence to the decisions of others.
🎯 Inevitably, there will be a time when the crowd's behavior will diverge from the direction suggested by the trader's analytical system, and this is the precise time at which the trader must put on the brakes and exit his position. This is also the most difficult time to exit a winning position, as it is very easy to second guess the signal that one is receiving, and to hold out for just a little more profitability. As is always the case, straying from one's system may be fruitful for a time, but in the long term, it is always the individual, disciplined, analytical approach that will win out over blind adherence to those around you.