Hey friend,
The January employment report came out this morning.
It showed the U.S. added 130,000 jobs in January – more than double the expected 55,000.
The unemployment rate also ticked down slightly to 4.3%.
Let’s see how the markets have been moving.
The Daily Direction
Note: All indexes closed higher again yesterday but have been moving lower today. Still, no change in any index directions.
The Daily Nugget
Remember that pollyanna “good news” headlines can be just as dangerous as the fear-mongering ones.
We’ve talked a lot about the importance of ignoring the fear-mongering clickbait headlines…
Because they will cause you to miss out on the opportunities right beneath your nose – which makes them dangerous.
But just as these fear-mongering headlines can be dangerous…
So too can the pollyanna “good news all the time” ones – because they can make you complacent and blind to the risks.
Remember, markets usually bottom on pessimism and peak at exuberance.
And these kinds of headlines tend to encourage that exuberance…
Resulting in many trades buying in at the top – and then selling low when things flip.
Most traders are susceptible to these kinds of headlines…
Because they want to believe – and that’s possibly even more dangerous.
Like most things, the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.
Except that in the markets…
You won’t get the truth in any news article – no matter how fair and balanced.
You’ll have to dig into the price action and really dig to get under the surface of the market.
That’s hard, skilled work.
But if you know how to do it – it can pay off handsomely.
Because while everybody else is getting whipsawed around by the headlines (that constantly flip between fear and greed)…
You’ll be the one with a cool, calm head – carefully picking your shots and coming out on top.
Just something to keep in mind the next time you scroll through the financial news.
The Traders Agency Team
