INTRO
Please don’t get me wrong with what I am about to share in this post. There are (not a lot but a few) good and well respected traders on social media stream but I am speaking in general sense. You can disagree with me because I am not here to please anyone but to speak out my opinion on this subject as I have been observing social media traders almost 1 year period of time. I am sure there are many of you who resonate with me and if so, this post is for you.
TURNED OFF
It’s been over a week now since I completely refrained myself from browsing through social media trading streams and I can honestly say that my brain is much less cloudy without bunch of non-sense that goes around in that jungle. Seriously, that’s what I call it. A jungle with bunch of lunatics calling out things everyday and every hour to somehow gain their fame in this world of “how many followers you got” era. Or “I want to be a hero!” by calling things because I can see the future! (sarcasm)
“I call that” “I nailed that” “I told you so” “Boooyah!!” “Kaching!!!” “Yatzee!!!” “BOOOM!!!!” (oh yea you can’t forget about those thousand exclamation points on these tweets so make sure everyone hears about it). How pathetic and pitiful that is something I can’t even begin to articulate.
Isn’t it sad that we are the only generation in the history of business that feel the need to screen shot our paycheck (trading account) and boast to the world how much money we’ve made. I have been to many business social gatherings and not once I see someone coming out to me with their paycheck and showing me how much money they just made last month.
But as a human being, somehow and someway you get influenced by that and what’s happening around us. That’s what we call “fashion” or “trend”. We like to wear what’s popular and do things what is popular by the majority. But I’ve come to realize is that if you follow the majority, you will only learn what the majority is all about and it limits yourself. You want to achieve something greater than the majority, you will need to come out of that box and work.
I am certain that truly great traders/investors in the world does not rely on information that goes through social media streams because they can stand alone and stays alone. At the end of the day, its you and the market and no one and nothing else.
Of course, in your beginning stage of trading, you will need to seek counsel and teachings so you can learn to play this game. But what I can say is that there aren’t much to be learned by just following some people on these social media and very tough to find legit and seasoned trader you can learn from. Trading is like a business. It takes YEARS of training, work, failures, pain, suffering, and dedications to make it work (and yet no one is willing admit or talk about the pain of trading). Even then, most traders fail and leave the market with bitterness.
Statistically, only 20% of businesses (in US) survive first 5 years and out of that 20% business that survived first 5 years, only 20% makes it to another 5 years. So after 10 years, most businesses will die out.
Trading is similar, statistically. Someone can make money playing it like casino (gamblers) but if you look at them over the years, they are no where to be found. I’ve heard, first 3-6 months, most new traders blow out their entire account. I’ve also heard that many great traders in history blew out their account 1-3 times in their trading career.
So you see, this is no joke. This is serious business and brutal. Its a war out there and traders who make this comical does NOT understand this business.
Conclusion
Everyday I strive to become a better trader. Doing an analysis and actually placing trades are completely different ball game because analysis doesn’t cost me anything but trades does. I recently called out $SPY target to $188 and the thing is that it doesn’t cost me anything if I am wrong. I am going to lose my followers? LOL (funny). My biggest challenge is not to have more followers nor get the most fame in this world of social media. My biggest challenge is to make consistent income month in and month out. Year in and year out. That’s what most important thing for me in trading. What’s most important in my life is serving my God, family, and friends. Not serving my twitter followers or being famous.
11 thoughts on “Why I Quit Browsing Social Media Streams”
Nice post, I completely agree. Al though I sometimes made money by finding a idea and than doing some more research on something and acting on it, I noticed I made the most money when I was paying attention to the market, patiently, waiting, like a lion in the grass to leep out when the moment is right and than go back into hiding until another “prey” or stock opportunity shows itself.
What an awesome, EPIC, EPIC post Kim! I totally agree, and yes, what you are saying absolutely does resonate with me. There are a handful of decent traders/investors sharing their analysis and insight, and the rest is just complete garbage. It has driven away many good traders and if Howard and company over at stocktwits don’t do something to curb the worst offenders, it’s value will only diminish over time. Personally I hope they do institute some kind of monitoring system, b/c when you have a lot of great traders coming together and sharing opinions, the social aspect of it is really invaluable, and helps to expand my perspective and trading toolset. Sadly in its current state this just isn’t the case as time goes by. I do tend to look at a site like ST from time to time to find the “good ones” but honestly it is a lot of work, LOL.
You nailed it. As a newer investor in the market (6-mos with real money) I know I have a lot to learn. With all the social media hype by a gazillion traders voicing their opinions and how they are smarter than the market it gets very exhausting to say the least. I have found a few traders that I follow on ST that seem to know their stuff (just started following you) and have also found a lot of useful info on stockcharts. Would you be able to point me in a direction to further my knowledge? I would like to know how to fish for myself. I’m finding my style to be more on the TA side but I like to take a macro view of the industry as a whole to confirm a trend I see. Any help would be much appreciated.
Excellent Post. Not only are you a great trader, but a great writer as well. Kudos.
haha… someone pissed off sir Kim 😉
I agree 100%. It’s just loads of crapsicles.
Hi Kay, thank you so much for sharing knowledge in trading. Also Just checked out your Mid Week Update video for the first time. I got to admit, lots of good stuff there regarding price action, primary trend, usefulness of MAs (10/20), and fib level/extension. So again thanks a million!
One small request, can you touch on volume analysis in your next video and what are your thoughts of the market since bottom in 2009, Do you think it got out of secular bear market after 2011, or should we expect another correction like +30% before starting of new secular bull market.
Like you I like how all indices, US and global, confirming each other bullishness, which makes me as trader feel much confident with long positions, but we all know that market’s goal is to inflict the most pain.
Anyway, Keep up GREAT work and wish you best of luck in trading.
-Wayne
Wayne0708 Hi Wayne, thank you for your kind feedback; it always refreshes me.
There is actually a reason why I do not touch on volume.. because its irrelevant. Market has been moving higher without volume since the 2009 crash. If you check your monthly chart with volume, you will see what i mean. Even in intermediate term runs, it will run higher with declining volume. I don’t think volume analysis is important concerning the indices. I do see the value in individual stocks but not on the indices. That’s the reason why I do not touch on volume on the indices. Again, its irrelevant.
I do not think we are going to see any kind of correction in 2015. We do not have any technical data to conclude that its coming. We’ve had certain insinuations and concerns on the Russell in 2014, but that has been completely nullified which I have been advocating since late 2014 in my videos.
This market isn’t going to just roll-over one day. It will give us a warning signal of a primary-term topping pattern which could take up to 6-9months to build. And when that happens, we will know about it. But as of now, its bullish and I expect this market to continue higher until summer.
Stocktwits is the absolute worst for this. It is the cesspool of social media. I stopped going there about a year a go. Stocktwits is full of nothing but garbage posts with people thinking the more they post the smarter they are and the more followers they will get.
Just yesterday AAPL was down $2 and people were calling for $100 on the stock. Today it is back over $130 and people are calling for $200 by April. Absolute clowns!
Then there are the people on there who promote their services for a fee. They seem to post anything they want with impunity and Stocktwits does nothing to censor their abusive posts when other users question their ethics. Stocktwits is just a group of idiots trying to pass itself off as the premier investor’s site. It is nothing more than a bunch backyard wannabes.
tuckerthewestie Yes I agree.
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