The Daily Dow
FOOL GLOBAL WIRE
by Robert Sheard
***Announcement: Today's numbers do
not reflect the actual closing prices for Friday. I'm on my way to the airport
and posted this report with the prices as of 3:30 p.m. (Eastern). The summary
files I update each weekend will be posted Sunday evening and will incorporate
Friday's closing prices.***
LEXINGTON, Kentucky (January 10) - Lest you were having trouble generating
excitement heading into the weekend, Wall Street decided to turn up the
electrical power today. After plunging 70 points right at the open, the Dow
made a continuous recovery, actually activating program trading curbs in
both directions during the session. (If that's not an argument for revising
the curbs to make them based on percentage moves rather than point moves,
I don't know what is. In fact, at 6600, neither move represented more than
1.1%.)
The down-draft was triggered by a stronger-than-expected employment report
released this morning, but the negative sentiment in the bond market didn't
last long and by mid afternoon, the bulls were in the china shop again.
It is exactly days like today which are the reason we advise new investors
(and experienced ones, for that matter) not to get wrapped up in short-term
market manias. The speed at which these surges and dips occur is sometimes
dizzying, and certainly all but unpredictable for any mere mortal. So, treating
them as noise instead of pure signal works well for the investor who can
adopt a time horizon measured in decades rather than cups of coffee (or the
new caffeinated water traders have taken to drinking on the floor since coffee's
not allowed).
Unless the actually act of trading constantly is your pleasure in life, you're
probably better off setting up a consistent and disciplined strategy which
requires a minimal time investment and then implement it with the precision
of a Swiss timepiece. Go nuts on the basketball court, become a monster at
the bridge table, dominate and punish your golf partners, but a kinder, gentler
approach to investing is the Foolish way for most of us who want investing
to be a part of our lives rather than our entire lives. Have a Foolish weekend. |
The Current BTD 10
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The Dow Approach
