As day traders ponder what they should do next via their speculative wagers in the broad marketplace, now is a good time to remind small speculators stepping into the casino of global assets that a lot of the production value they are offered is part of a show. Entertainment is literally being produced to entice people to trade. A large amount of retail traders are constantly being misled. Your adrenaline high is being counted upon to keep you a participant. The thrill you get when you are trading should not be more important than the outcome of your trade.
Large money machines like the Nasdaq 100, S&P 500, U.S Treasury yields, Forex, commodities and even the cryptocurrencies have plenty of descriptive words and definitions trying to interpret and predict values, trends and outlook, but quite frankly a lot of the words are nonsense created to entice and fool. Making retail traders willing participants in the circus is important because it keeps a lot of the the entertainers employed.
It should be remembered that a lot of the folks on the institutional side of financial markets do not care about day traders except as an example of what not to do. They use day traders as a touchstone to point to failures and convince you why you are out of your element, while hoping you will stick around to create volumes that are often needed in some speculative assets. Are you being taken advantage of as a small speculator?
It is Much Better to be the Bank
A lot of people in the institutional financial industry know one thing for certain, while some make money investing by themselves or produce outstanding results for funds, many do not. There is an old saying among veterans in the arena, “it is much better to be the bank”. Transactional costs from commissions, carrying charges, exchange fees and taxes make money for the institutions and government regulators.
Many folks are involved in the financial markets because it provides a solid pay check, it remains a good career path for those who want the comforts of modern society. However, being a day trader while working another job as a blue collar employee, or business owner, or while being a professional in another endeavor and dreaming about wealth creation via speculation is alluring, but it frequently does not produce steady profits like it does for the people working in financial institutions collecting a paycheck.
Confirmation Bias and Investment Outcomes
Economists for instance are relied upon to decipher inflation and decode data for devoted audiences. The believers are told why certain assets are reacting and what might happen in the future by the influencers. But this also can manifest into self-fulfilling prophesy that may not actually be connected to real economic outcomes, except that outlooks get fulfilled because of emerging behavioral sentiment.
For instance when yesterday’s U.S Core CPI was released and hit its expectation, what did markets do exactly, what were investors reacting to? The markets reacted to what the perception of mid-term outlooks will now do, based on how they think the Federal Reserve will act in September and the coming months. Reactions to anticipated results are a key factor in market dynamics. Large positions are shifted by financial institutions which have the ability to to absorb short and near-term losses of capital while they wait for their mid-term outlooks to be confirmed. Confirmation bias remains important in the marketplace as results get generated via intraday results as big players thrash violently with massive piles of cash causing technical perspectives to drive algo trading.
Inflation is Not a Joke
Btw, why did god create economists? To make weathermen look good. While that may fray the feelings of economists, the joke holds water. Because observable data and printed results often do not correlate. Just ask global consumers in various nations what they think about their government’s stated inflation data compared to what they are spending on a monthly basis and rising costs. People on the street often feel their national currencies feel like they are losing money no matter what central banks are proclaiming.
Inflation is an important measurement for consumers and investors. But real inflation is often not a desirable talking point for many governments. Often excluded data includes products like food, energy, and mandated medical and pension costs via payments to government social programs. Increasing rent or mortgages via rising interest rates inside of certain government inflation reports are frequently avoided too and would look atrocious. Central banks are supposed to fight inflation, but which inflation exactly? I am digressing I know, this may have nothing to do supposedly with everyday speculating in the marketplace, but actually it does.
Because the Forex market, gold, equity indices are reacting to sentiment generated by the second based on what outlooks will be in vogue in a few months and inflation effects. Our age of social media and fast communication makes the markets vulnerable to fear and optimism equally. Speed matters even if it sometimes causes pain for day traders via lightning quick results in the marketplace as outlooks change constantly.
Make no mistake, market forces are always in play as investors look for value. Sentiment caused by folks like central banks and their policies play consistently important and volatile roles as large players and financial institutions react to tea leaves being read. The USD/JPY is a case in point, the Japanese Yen has been dramatically weak and losing value long-term.
The intervention by the BoJ and U.S Treasury which was coordinated a couple of weeks ago didn’t fix the problem that Japan has poor monetary and fiscal policy. What it did was serve as a warning to day traders and large players (including banks) not to bet too strongly against the JPY too consistently even if their perceptions tell them otherwise, because the Japanese and U.S government can wreck havoc and create unforgiving momentum which can kill the infectious trend upwards when they desire.
The BoJ and U.S Treasury definitively put on a show for traders to watch and contemplate before they consider stepping into the casino again. Sometimes it is better to watch the entertainment instead of being an actor within the drama.
Thrill of Risks and Solid Tactical Strategy
Why do speculators insists on chasing markets without having proper guidance? Why don’t these same smaller traders just let professionals manage their assets and put some money away when they can and accept the returns? Maybe because many speculators are skeptical about the real returns and know they are being made to endure a magic show of sorts.
Day traders should only risk what they can afford to lose via a speculative allotment of cash. Fund managers for financial institutions, pension funds for example, are often mandated to put 2 to 3% of holdings into speculative assets in order to seek bolder returns. This is one of the reasons why hedge funds and speculative assets flourish in a cyclical manner. Large financial institutions allow for wagering on asset classes they know are dangerous in an extremely limited manner, but with a huge amount of money. Can you say Bitcoin? And it is widely accepted that these speculative positions can be wiped out and destroy capital. Institutions often do not mind losing on limited speculative positions, the same cannot be said for retail traders.
Smaller retail traders should not view themselves engaged in a battle against financial institutions which are filled to the rim with employees who are often unsympathetic about the outcomes produced. The world of speculative betting by retail traders is not about to change. Day traders should study momentum and behavioral sentiment.
Traders need to understand how to manage risks and emotions. While speculators can dream about making illustrious profits to impress friends and partners, if they do not take into the consideration the costs of the risks they are likely going to fall into a deep hole. Strategic tactics are necessary. Retail trading doesn’t have to be a game if it is conducted wisely.
