Don't be nice to your ego

We have discussed this issue multiple times before. When you are trading, you have to let go of your ego. This also applies to the kind of news a trader reads or the kind of chat rooms and forums the trader is taking part in. Some websites always bring bullish news and opinions. Others are always bearish. Most often this is not high-quality journalism, but more like someone with a loud voice claiming all sorts of things.

If a trader likes to take part in a very strongly biased website, bullish or bearish, you can be sure that this will influence his judgment. What you will see on those websites is a constant stream of strongly one-sided (bullish/bearish) news items and opinions. All participants try to find the most extreme news items that will fit the website's profile and support the general opinion on that website.

All opinions will only be pointing in one direction and all opposing news or opinions will be ignored. That's something our ego likes very much. It likes to be right and it likes confirmation of what it already knew. Ego doesn't like information that's conflicting with something it 'knew for sure' or forces a change of opinion. Sometimes, an ego can be so strong, it will qualify everything it doesn't like as 'false information', 'market manipulation', or some other kind of conspiracy theory. It will be encouraged to do so as other participants 'know for sure' that the manipulation will come to an end, or know for sure the market will turn around soon, etc. These are the places where you will find the so-called perma-bears or perma-bulls.

In the environment we're in, you should always distrust a person who 'knows something for sure', even if that person is you..... Nothing is for sure in the markets. Thinking that something is absolutely for sure is a false feeling of security and can be very devastating to your trading account.

But most of all, don't trade the news! News translates into economics and politics, which is a great subject to discuss, but it's definitely not the same as trading the financial markets as we've seen so often. Don't hold on to your economic and political opinions when short-term trading. And also think about this: who's spreading the news? Could it be that you are not the first one to hear about this?