Human Indicators (compared to Technical ones)
Believe it or not, there is no âtheyâ who âmanipulateâ the market. But that is what many people choose to believe, particularly when they have lost money in a trade. Itâs always âthem.â But that is a bit convenient, donât you think? Almost as convenient as looking out the back window and seeing the patterns of the road behind? The truth is, there is no âthey.â Itâs all âus.â The market is made up nothing more than people like us. True, some of them have larger accounts than the average day trader, but still the âlarge accountsâ are swimming in the same ocean and are still trading âagainstâ each other just as much as they are âwithâ each other.
To illustrate, you need look no further than some of the leading market indices such as the S&P, Dow, or Nasdaq. Instruments based on these indices are some of the safest to trade because they are made up of a large âbasketâ of underlying stocks. They also tend to be more liquid. Futures and their âminiâ equivalent â the eminiâs â are the most highly leveraged, but you can also trade their ETF versions â individual tracking stocks that are pegged to their âparentâ indexes.
In theory, it should be possible for âthemâ to manipulate a particular stock just by placing a sudden sell order at volume, to force the price downâ¦then judiciously buying back at the lower price. That is what many traders call a âbreak-out fake-outâ â the market drops, then suddenly it lurches in the opposite direction, befuddling all the technical analysts who were following their indicators and channels and support pivots. âEverything was lined up, then âtheyâ came in and started playing games. I hate it when that happens!â
As a parent, manager and sometimes coach, I always suggest that people look at themselves before they start blaming others. Ever notice how itâs always âthat bad teacher?â Ever notice how the referee makes calls that favor the other team? Ever notice how the teacher is only bad when you got a bad grade, or the ref was bad only when you lost the game? Are we starting to see a pattern yet?
To manipulate the S&P 500, one would have to literally manipulate all 500 of its underlying stocks - or, at least, the ones with the highest weighting. Is that possible? Sure. But not likely. Rather than complain about "them" moving the markets against us, it is far more profitable to take a look at what "we" do as traders - what signatures do we have? What breadcrumbs do we drop behind us as we trade, that could lead us back to profitable turning points?
Next: more on human indicators
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