I don't pay attention to news. The only nod I give to it is I will not hold a position into a FED announcement. As a day trader, I can't be figuring out the meaning of life every time I consider a trade. I have a valid technical signal or I don't.
I bet if you're in the middle of a trade and the SWAT team showed up at the house next door to you...you'll either quickly close your trade position and be consumed for the remainder of the day about the shoot out next door.
My point,
we all pay attention to the news beyond a FED event.
I remember when I first lived on the west coast...an
earthquake hit...the first week I moved into my condo. First time I ever experienced an earthquake. By the time I could figure out what was going on, I was suddenly down 3 points on a 25 contract position and then got disconnected.
Many years later, I was in a chat room with several users located in New York and I was in Quebec living in a condo...getting comfortable in my new trading chair while my new house was being constructed at the ski resort. In fact, I was schedule to fly out the next day back to Chicago.
One of the users in the chat room that often wrote he had one of the best views in New York...on that particular trading day he wrote something different.
That day he wrote
something hit our building. He thought it was an
explosion. It looked like to him that
debris was falling out of the sky (from above). I turned on to CNBC and Bloomberg radio...lots of confusing news about a plane just hit one of the towers.
Sadly, never heard from that user again in the chat room after his explosion comment. Strangely, a few more users logged into the chat room...they usually open trade positions one hour before the open. They start asking if anyone knew what's going on ?
I was so glued to the TV watching CNBC and Bloomberg...the rest of the trading day became an blur/ugly history in America and the world.
The chat room was called #IndexFutures on the FinancialChat IRC server.
Unfortunately, news
does matter to a daytrader and ever since 911...I don't trade without a financial news channel on in the background (TV or radio). Another reminder is here at ET too...I remember a handful of active members at this forum recently were complaining about President Trump tweets about China / Tariffs during the trading day.
Most common complaint by them (traders that don't believe in news events that impact the markets) here at ET was about the impact those tweets were having on their trade positions.
My point, I hate ugly surprises while I'm trading especially when I see some crazy
volatility spike out of nowhere. Good traders
react to the news...they don't anticipate the news nor trade the news.
I've seen some crazy shit during the trading day that has severely impacted the price action by some key market event...you gotta be
blind and deaf to ignore the news.
Don't misunderstand, I'm
not talking about
trading the news...I'm talking about news that rocks you...shakes your soul...makes you question what the hell is going on before you put on the next trade. News that makes you think about life...makes you go to your kids school to pick them up instead of letting them take the bus home.
Do you remember what trade you were in on April 20th 1999, April 16th 2007, December 14th 2012 or February 14, 2018 ? Unfortunately, I do and how some weird out of nowhere volatility spike caused me to get a trade loss to learn minutes latter that I had no right to be complaining about the trade loss.
While I'm talking about key market events...things not just fundamentals...were you in any trades before the Opening bell, earlier in the morning on September 11, 2001 ?
I was.
Something else to not misunderstand, there's other news
or key events that occurs to you
personally that many do
not disclose to others during their trading day (e.g. news about death of a family member, phone call from the nurse at your child school that he broke his leg, wife calls you from the mall to say her water broke and she's in labor, headon car collision in front of your house in which one of the cars catches on fire in your front yard, roof repair guy falls off the roof and suffers a head injury, school calls you from a school outing in another city to tell you your 9 year old son is missing/lost, WTO riots outside your home / your auto set on fire)...
A lot of weird stuff can happen during the trading day that can easily impact your trading day because there's a lot more stuff happening beyond fundamental news especially stuff we can't control but
it still is news and it does impact our trading day. It just may shake up your soul although its not fundamental news.
P.S. School found my kid...three hours later in a bathroom at the museum (he had gastro/vomiting). Actually, a teacher from another school group found him...lots of different schools that day at the museum.
wrbtrader