Friday Market Analysis

I am following CNBC regularly (via their web site) these days. I see many of the pundits advocating panic and doom. I suspect they all want to be able to claim they were right when we finally do experience some type of pullback.

However, these braying naysayers of doom really don't have much of import to say. All they really do is act as large forces on the emotions of market players. Everyone is appropriately skittish due to the massive bear movements over the last year or more. It's only natural.

All of these fools who only imagine one direction for the markets will be right from time to time. What they say is not important. What's important is to understand the volatility, or level of price fluctuation, and the amount of risk that this implies when you are trading.

For example, the odd negative number here and there doesn't mean all that much. This doesn't mean the market won't throw a tantrum, but it does mean that there could be a spate of good numbers in another week or two. These trends have variations in them as well. Perhaps because the media jumps on whichever bandwagon has the most passengers the market sentiment gets rapidly overblown.

So, sure, we could see some type of sell-off coming soon. So what? So, don't risk all your money on the notion that the markets, carry trades, risk appetite, GDP growth, corporate profits or whatever will only go up. In fact, cushion yourself by assuming a mini-panic could be right around the corner. Seriously, hasn't everyone been hiding under their sheets due solely to the fact that we're in September?

What am I going to do? I'm going to move more capital into my account. Any serious downtown represents a good opportunity to scale in. So, let it rain, I'm going to wait until all the overextended or panicked fools get forced out, then I'm going to take a peck at an opportunity here and there. Again, just make sure to nibble your way in at appropriate times.

Remember, fear and downward movement provides opportunity, but only if you don't assume you can predict the bottom and thus assume too much risk. When you aren't being pushed into making decisions by market movements you can make much better decisions.

So, early next week, fresh capital into my account. I can apportion this to my robot trading army (I know, but it sounds more fun this way) in small chunks as we come up to significant resistance levels. Unless the world collapses, and if it does my trading account will be the least of my worries, there will eventually be another upturn.

As a side note, I'm planning to make opposing robots this weekend. They will trade long and short positions in different sub-accounts. I expect that one of the two will be earning during up or down movements. I expect both of them will earn during periods that the market is moving sideways. You can't see it but I'm rubbing my hands together in a greedy manner -- think Mr Burns.

Good luck out there.