For anyone who is carousing the web looking for information and direction in the equity markets the pitfalls are numerous. But, the wolf in sheep’s clothing can be hard to discern for a beginner trader. Perhaps he or she does not have access to a higher level of information. Perhaps something from these news sites has actually helped, and there are many instances when this is the case. Being disappointed with many of the “bad” news alerts that come from finance news generators is not a surprise for most, but it was a surprise for me recently.
Maybe if some of these articles took a bullish or bearish position on a trade it would be an interesting read. Maybe if they had insight on the stock market that your grandfather hadn’t already told you as he pegged you beside him on the couch for the holidays they would be an even better read. Sure, by now you know I am not talking about the reputable news staples, but the multitude of dynamic news sites that manufacture their news.
Although I would trust a robot to trade my account, I wouldn’t trust one that I did not program. There’s really not much that irritates me more about understanding the stock markets than the lack of understanding that attempts to teach us.
Maybe I don’t click on this stuff often, and I’m naive to its a very regular occurrence. As naiveté wains to a greater understanding however, I think that there is room to share the frustration that arose. Duplicate information is the wolf I’m speaking of. Furthermore, its duplicate information that is mechanically derived. Yes, there are news sites that get top postings on finance news generators, that report mechanically derived “bad” news.
The story your grandfather tells you over and over during the holidays is being told again. But this time, someone is telling it for him. And every time they do, they insert a cookie they know you will enjoy- a new stock ticker. This satisfies your interest enough to sit on the couch hoping that the story is new, but it is not. Nothing in a lot of these news feeds is news.
Specifically, there are news sites that generate news on a template. It’s the same article, different stock, different day. How many stocks go through earnings? They write one article about earnings, and insert “x” number of stock tickers according to their release date- and somehow this is news for the finance news generators and for us.
I don’t use much news for my investing decisions, and maybe thats what makes me question news “goodness”. I have mentioned in the past the use of information like this as lacking, and I still believe that to be the case. For me, nothing can replace the information gained by the tick, tick, tick of price motion of the stocks themselves.
The point is for the unobservant reader of these financial news prints, perhaps myself included until recently- “bad” news is everywhere. I think its worth mentioning for the sake of a beginning investor or day trader. This type of news, if you get reeled in by it, can be nothing but a lot of economic quicksand when making decisions about your investments.
You can create your own day trading or investment strategy. This, at the very least, will allow you to notice the “bad” news from the good and I think reinforces the case for building your own source of trading information from price.