
There are times when the market is flying high and other times when there are corrections. What the sub-prime financial crisis has taught us is that traditional economic indicators are poor predictors of a stock market trend. One of those indicators is the news. It will increase emotional reactions among investors but it will not predict stock market trends. The news may focus on periodic market slowdowns during vacation periods, such as summer. It may focus on a market meltdown when the stocks rally in a bull market (when stocks are rising). Often the articles are developed by special interest trading groups who look to influence the markets to buy or sell investments through the emotions of fear of greed.
The hot topic of the day is fake news or news that can sway elections via Facebook or Google. Voters may have been manipulated by foreign news which is being assessed carefully.
It is important to read well-balanced financial articles as I seek to present in my newsletter. If an investor is overly influenced by the news media — causing emotional swings –fear can set in resulting in bad decisions. Media gets bits of news out quickly but can miss the overall big picture, that markets will rise and fall in a normal cycle of supply and demand. Markets can go down, and back up in two or three day periods appearing as a roller coaster ride to the average investor.
Always seek the advice of a financial consultant rather than the daily media.