A recurring theme this year has been the huge amount of trading advice, commentary, opinion – aka ‘noise’ – around a majority of my trading decisions in 2020. With major FX pairs and commodities drawing strong opinions from a range of people via newsletters, blogs, Twitter, and a host of other social media channels, it is difficult not to double-check yourself before making a trading decision. This noise bubble causes traders to begin to doubt their own ability and analysis, leading to missed trades and opportunities. And, unfortunately, with the spread of social media, this noise is only going to get louder.
Traders need to be fully confident when placing a trade and forget about the surrounding commentary and opinion. And if these commentators are so good, why are they telling you? The best traders in the market will not tell you their ideas or views on any trade as they have no need to be vindicated by the market; they just get on and trade. If you are confident of your analysis – be it technical or fundamental – and confident of your entry, stop and exit levels and you are confident of running that position over your preferred timeframe, then nothing else matters.
Jesse Livermore, one of the greatest traders of all time once said :
‘I trade my own information and follow my own methods’.
