The stock market was in high gear yesterday than about an hour before the open the news hits that the President’s Attorney’s office was raided with document seized. Down we went.
As I have said, we are in a news driven market. I wonder who is taking advantage of the advanced knowledge of when these events are going to take place:) There is a fortune to be made by people in the know, and I imagine they are making it.
But after the close we learn that China is capitulating on their tariffs for incoming goods to the U.S. That means this entire Tariff scare was exactly a scare. The White House negotiating tactics are working. China is coming to the table. The barriers to sell in China are going to be eased.
And the markets are reacting up about 1.5% 90 min before the open.
And its only Tuesday:) I imagine there will be other shocks this week. Top on the burner is Syria. It remains to be seen what will happen there. If you’re interested in Syria I suggest you listen to the first part of Tucker Carleson Monday night. His comments and his first part of the show interviews are very educational.
He remains one of my favorite commentators. He gives about as objective analysis as you will find, while also allowing others on his show that have opposite views daily. Something you rarely find on the news these days. Logic and reasoned analysis while his compatriots in the news are spinning 24/7.
If you are an ideologue with a dogmatic agenda on either the left or the right I doubt you will like his show. But if you are open to reasoned analysis that sometimes agrees and sometimes disagrees with your thinking, then he fits the bill.
Right now he is the best in the business for a cable news commentator.
Let me digress for a second on the stock market to discuss this a bit further.
The comments you will hear about Tucker is “But he is on Fox”. I will never watch Fox News:)
The did a Harvard study recently as to the bias of the various news outlets. Much of the mainstream outlets were skewed an amazing 90% one way (liberal). While Fox came in around 50/50. This is from Harvard!
The idea that fox is some right-wing outlet is a fiction that is being propagated by those that want the media that is 90% skewed to be the media of choice.
I had a close relative told me recently that she just divested all her investments in anything related to guns. In addition, she indicated she just subscribed to the NY Times! And to make it clear in no uncertain terms ” We never watch Fox”!
This, unfortunately, is the mindset of many now where they seek news outlets that reinforce there already skewed views of what is going on around them. It reinforces their worldview rather than challenge it.
So what happens then is they adopt the views of the 90% media they are getting their information from rather than learning there are actual issues here that are not black and white.
For an individual who adopts this approach, you are going to go through life in the dark as to what is actually happening. For an active investor its worse. You are going to be making investment decisions on completely false information. Or I should say a false sense of the investing environment you are in.
I could go on and on with this subject. But if you want to learn, most likely more then you want to know, I recommend Sharyl Attkisson. She is one of the best investigative reporters in the business. She gives a number of lectures on “gaslighting”. She also has a new book ” The Smear” which discusses this in detail.
Once you read this you will have a different understanding of the media and how they attempt to control what you think.
If you’re going to be an active investor you have to rid your mind of these bias and get reasoned analysis and facts. It’s as simple as that.
Now back to the markets. I now have a 100% position in AMTX. So far no new mean reversion trades. With the market gapping up this morning that will move us away from that trade.
As I discussed yesterday this is not the time to be casually trading in and out. The swings are big and its a news driven market.
If I take any trades this morning I will post them
Good Luck Today Trading
If you want to follow some of my trades along with my thoughts typically given after the open you can go to @rickjswings. Typically I talk about the overall day expected with the markets and also give some levels on the ES and NQ for failed breakout scalping.
It’s my private twitter feed for the stock market and its free. Sports Handicapping is the subscription-based part of this site. But considering the cost of joining it’s almost free:)
Good Luck Today
RickJ
RickJ’s Handicapping Picks
https://rickjshandicappingpicks.com/investing
Skype: riccja
