-- Posted Wednesday, 24 May 2006 | Digg This Article
| Source: GoldSeek.com
Rick’s Picks
Wenesday, May 24, 2006
For investors who’d rather be smart than lucky
Sometimes I’m thankful I’m not Scott Patterson, the Wall Street Journal reporter who has to explain each day why the stock market did what it did. His lead on yesterday’s market wrap-up showed promise: “A victory lap by stocks turned into a run for cover by day’s end.” But by the end of the next paragraph, he was threatening to run off the rails: “Higher most of the day, thanks in part to stock rebounds in Europe and many emerging markets, stocks tumbled in the final hour of trading, dogged by worries about rising oil prices and the instability of overseas markets.”
In fact, oil prices went no higher yesterday than they were for most of last week, and overseas markets were no more unstable than they’ve been for, oh, maybe the last five years. But don’t get me wrong, for I do not mean to criticize poor Scott, who was only doing his job. In his defense, I should note that if there is one thing that eases the stress and anguish of trading, it is knowing each night before we go to bed just what it might have been that “dogged” us that day. So thank you, Scott, even if you’ve got to stretch the truth occasionally to find a compelling story in something so abstruse and inscrutable as the stock market’s behavior.
But don’t try telling it like it really is, since you could eventually lose your job with a lead like this: “Stocks gyrated wildly yesterday for no apparent reason. There was speculation in some quarters that a program trader had gone postal. However, informed sources said the day’s action was completely normal, driven as it was by the mood swings of men and women whose job is to look for the investable significance of virtually every news item that hits the airwaves, even if it concerns only Brad and Angelina, or something muttered by the Fed chairman at a cocktail party.
All kidding aside, we salute you, Scott, for the skill with which you balance meaningless clichés and fact each day, piling them up without causing the more thoughtful of your readers to veer toward presumptuousness. Indeed, any investor or trader who claims to truly understand the stock market’s behavior is as clueless about it as Pompeii’s victims were about volcanic whim.
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Australian Seminar?
Quite a few of you have indicated you are likely to attend the hidden-pivot seminar in New York this October. I’ve also heard from about a half-dozen Australian readers and subscribers who said they’re interested but that it would be too far to travel. However, I’m willing to come to Sydney or Melbourne if I can fill a class, so let me please hear from you if that would work.
The New York session will be a no-frills version of the course that I gave in Denver, offered at a significant saving over the original price. After that there will probably be just one more session offered – in San Francisco, late in 2006 or early 2007 -- but that would be the last for a long while.
The course includes post-grad mentoring via a chat group that some of my former students have set up. If you’ve been impressed with the accuracy of my forecasts, this is an opportunity you should not pass up. Please let me know via e-mail if you are serious about coming.
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Information and commentary contained herein comes from sources believed to be reliable, but this cannot be guaranteed. Past performance should not be construed as an indicator of future results, so let the buyer beware. Rick's Picks does not provide investment advice to individuals, nor act as an investment advisor, nor individually advocate the purchase or sale of any security or investment. From time to time, its editor may hold positions in issues referred to in this service, and he may alter or augment them at any time. Investments recommended herein should be made only after consulting with your investment advisor, and only after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company. Rick's Picks reserves the right to use e-mail endorsements and/or profit claims from its subscribers for marketing purposes. All names will be kept anonymous and only subscribers’ initials will be used unless express written permission has been granted to the contrary. All Contents © 2006, Rick Ackerman. All Rights Reserved. www.rickackerman.com
-- Posted Wednesday, 24 May 2006 | Digg This Article | Source: GoldSeek.com
