Technical Analysis: Read the Stock's Chart and Free Yourself from Why
By
Michael Cintolo, Vice President of Investments and Editor of
Cabot Market Letter and
Cabot Top Ten ReportMost emails from our subscribers are about one of our recommended stocks. A common question when sellers are in control of the market: "Why is XYZ stock falling? Is there anything fundamentally wrong with the company? Has there been any news?"
In other words, people want to know why such-and-such is happening. Why do they want to know why? Because it makes them feel like they understand what's going on, helping them feel on top of the situation. It takes away uncertainty, which, for most of us, is an uncomfortable sense; when you don't know why your stock (in which you have invested real, hard-earned money) is falling like a rock, you feel more like an observer (hoping your team hits the homerun) instead of a participant.
Ironically, however, the best investors in the world generally free themselves from the question of why a stock or the market is going up or down. In other words, these top investors believe what they see, as opposed to trying to understand what is often unknowable, and then putting their faith in that supposed understanding.
See the difference? I know that sounds a bit professor-ish, but it's true—the best growth-stock investors believe what the market is actually telling them. If a stock is falling on triple its normal volume, breaking down through support, they sell...and then they look for reasons afterward.
When answering subscribers' question, we usually answer with something like this: "Well, there's no news from the stock or any firm in its sector. But it appears as if the market, which has been trending lower, is finally taking down some of the leaders with it. And this stock was among the leaders." It's better to approach these things from a student-of-the-market perspective—understanding the how the market really works, regardless of why it works that way.
Thus, I suggest you start believing what you see, instead of arguing with or ignoring the action of the market. If you stop trying to understand WHY something is happening, you can spend more time simply observing WHAT is actually happening, which is sure to make you a better investor.
More general investing advice
Receive investing tips via email every week. Sign up for our free e-newsletter,
Cabot Wealth Advisory.Cabot HomeYahoo FinanceGoogle Finance