During this holiday season, I hope you are grateful for the things that are great in your life,
that you choose what you can use from the things weren't great …
and that you invest those lessons in your future.
The hardest part of finding a better way is often just remembering that there might be one.
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Best wishes to you for a healthy, happy, and prosperous new year.
- Howard
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Browse through some of the best pictures from 2008. A picture is worth a thousand words; some that come to mind are beautiful, shocking, and surprising ...
It took me way too long to put this list together. Why? Because I started browsing and enjoying myself. Hope you do too.
Here are some Best Photos-of-the-Year sites worth looking at as we close out 2008.
Here are some that are just for fun.
Here are some others that are from "artier" sources.
In 2008, many traders felt "over their heads" ...
It was scary for much of the year ...
Still, here is what I'll leave you with ... Winter always comes before Spring.
Best wishes for a Happy New Year.
Overwhelmed by too many photos? Too busy to sort and tag them? Try this.
Photology helps you navigate the flood of digital photos on your computer by finding photos using simple and intuitive filters like faces, sky, color, location, and time of day ... automatically.
Can't find the photo of you in that pink silk jacket from the 4th of July party on the beach a few years ago? No problem, even with seemingly endless folders of random photos. You know the expression, "finding a needle in a haystack," right? Thanks to Photology, haystacks of photos will get a lot smaller, making it much easier to find the "needle" you're looking for – even if that needle is an a pink jacket.
How do you do it? Well, like this.
First stop questioning why you own a pink silk jacket. Then start remembering what you can. It was a few years ago (probably 2006). The photo was of faces. It was outside. You were wearing pink. And It was sunset.
You can also combine, mix, and match any or all of these tidbits from your memory to find your photo. It is fast, fun, and very easy to use.
Try it yourself with this online demo. After the demo launches, try the filter options on the left.
I paid this software - and it was worth it. Now it is free; an even better value proposition. I'm still going to use Photoshop Elements for the heavier lifting ... Still, Photology has its place in the toolbox.
So click here to download the software.
I put together a short photo album and holiday card. I hope you'll click this to watch.
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| Make a Smilebox photobook |
Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a terrific 2009.
Things Aren't Always What They Appear To Be
Obviously I picked this series of photos to illustrate a point. Just because we perceive something, doesn't mean it's true.
That point is even more true during emotionally trying times, when we're looking for confirmation of our worst fears. In this market environment, it's not hard to find data to scare you.
We don't just make things up, though, we also notice things and infer meaning from them. I suppose there was an evolutionary benefit to our ancestors who were able to infer danger before it ate them. Nowadays, it's probably better if we temper those instincts a little.
Why Do We See Patterns In Random Data?
The human mind is especially good at finding patterns in data.
Often, I believe that I see a pattern in random data. OK, I understand that I don't really see patterns in random data; but to me it seems to me like there are patterns in the random data.
This happens because we don't look at data neutrally. That means when the human eye scans a chart, not all data points get equal weight. Instead we tend to focus on outstanding cases, and we tend to form our opinions on the basis of these special cases.
In other words, it is human nature to pick up the stunning successes (or failures) of the method and to overlook the more common performances.
So, for example, when I am investigating a new pattern, I see many instances where that pattern works. And that is precisely the reason that we use a computer; because it will find every instance of the pattern and confirm how often it truly works, and whether it provides a reliable edge.
I suspect that the desire to find patterns is the same element of human nature that leads people to become superstitious, read their horoscope, or go to a fortuneteller. It is also the reason so many authors and speakers sell access to their chart patterns that supposedly work. The successes are much more startling than the failures. So the successes stand out.
The Last Time I Felt This Bearish:
Here is a picture of my S&P chart analysis from August 2003.
I was painfully bearish, and wrong. Yes there was a giant downtrend, and many of the technical trading chart patterns that I knew indicated that the market was likely to plunge yet again. But it didn't.
That points out a very interesting aspect of trading; every trade happens because of a disagreement. The buyer thinks prices likely to go up. The seller thinks it's likely go down. If that wasn't true, neither one would take their side of the trade.
The point is that it's important to see each trade from both sides of the fence. In order to remove some bias, learn to visualize the trade from the other perspective. Then you can re-evaluate and decide if you still want to take that trade.
The OOPs Trade: When a well-known pattern fails, the response is often dynamic. In fact there's a name for this, it's called an "OOPs Trade". This often happens with obvious, high profile, situations like a "Head-and-Shoulders" pattern, the break of long-standing Trend-Line, violation of a clear Price Channel, crossing the 200-Day Moving Average, at big Round Numbers (like Dow 10,000), or even at key Support and Resistance Levels (like these recent lows). The violent reversal happens when the crowd realizes that it was wrong and has to get out of the trade. This is very similar to a short squeeze; and the move is often violent and prolonged.
The markets are oversold here, lots of people know that we just made new lows, and we have been bombarded with bad news recently. So, I'm not predicting that the market will reverse here. I am just suggesting that it is possible. OOPs.
Posted at 03:29 PM in Current Affairs, Ideas, Market Commentary, Pictures, Trading | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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