In the world of financial spread trading, in my opinion, there is just too much information. And unlike many other professions where a glut of information can only help, in a trading environment it can do the exact opposite. As a general rule of thump I ignore it all. There is just so much information out there – on the internet, in the forums, and on the TV news channels you are just never going to be able to make an informed decision of your own.
Believe me when I say, that so many conflicting opinions are not going to help your financial spread trading career. In fact, they could ruin it. I decided a long time to ignore much of the information out there as I was finding that I was ‘paralised’ by a kind of information overload. I was unable to look at my potential trades objectively which led to me being unable to ‘pull the trigger’.
One of the few exceptions I will make to this rule is director dealings (when trading shares).
The directors of a business are, or should be, in the best position to know what the real state business is. So I watch out for how the directors, and other key employees, buy and sell shares. There are many internet sites where you can find this information.
Beware when directors say they are selling shares to create ‘liquidity’ in the stock. It may just be a ‘smokescreen’ and an attempt to hide the true state of the business. On the other hand, when directors buy shares, it can be a good signal that the business is in much better shape than the market is predicting.
For small and medium sized companies, be slightly sceptical if the directors don’t own a stake in the business. If they are not shareholders themselves, their motivation to grow the share price could justifiably be questioned.