Quote from Landis82:
To me ( as a Trader ) it means that the market is a "buy" whenever it looks like it is about to go to ZERO because the sentiment gets so "thick" that you can cut it with a knife. In fact, you can literally fade the "World is Coming to An End" crowd here on ET and have your TV tuned into CNBC and gauge when the perma-bull announcers start to choke on their words and are unable to speak.
You OBSERVE the sentiment and can "position" yourself accordingly buying selected stocks that you have a good "feel" for and sell them back up on the RIPS.
Every push down to new lows snaps right back up. It's like someone in a swimming pool trying to push a soccer ball down underwater.
It can only go "down" so far, before coming back up.
People here like "S2007S" keep complaining about how "the market didn't go LOW enough" yesterday, but to me those are words that reflect an attitude that is most unsuccessful for someone that is a TRADER because it shows a built-in BIAS.
If you are CLEAR in your ability to OBSERVE, you will be successful as a Trader.
If you trade day-in and day-out for a living, I think that such a "motto" ( Observe what is happening and assume it will continue ) can really ring true for you because it allows you to TRADE moves ( such as LEH and GS today ) without "rationalizing" your way out of trading.
So many people here are so "biased" from the get-go that it literally "paralyzes" them from pulling the trigger when something moves contrary to their belief system.
That, to me is a most unsuccessful approach.