The thing to remember about the stock market is that the stock market is an ever changing collection of people, ideas, emotions and reactions to the world’s endless supply of external stimuli. Yes, you have fundamental analysts and technical analysts and quantitative analysts all directing traffic based on the way they see the traffic, but a far better choice for help in understanding this market, or any market, is a psychoanalyst!
Market moves–be they by the day or by the nanosecond–are a reflection of the way people collectively feel about the market at any given moment. Did you ever wonder how emotions and reactions can change so rapidly on those days when the DJIA can start the day 500 in the green and end up 500 in the red ? Three and four figure swings are starting to become commonplace, so ask yourself if you really want to be a stock picker in this environment.
If you do, God bless you.
You may want to move past the psychoanalyst, and go straight for a priest!
“Money matters are treated by civilized people in the same way as sexual matters—with the same inconsistency, prudishness and hypocrisy.” –Sigmund Freud