Bloggers Relevant?

Finished my computer project. The computer build went smooth as glass. Had a slight conflict problem after the first set of tests. But, the problem was quickly solved. Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the new computer. And the first test of my weekly system simulations were amazing. Took a job that ran over 6 hours down to 1 hour. Not too shabby. If I had to do it over again...I would probably go with a stronger AMD cpu. That's just because the rest of the system is so high-performance. And I didn't take that into consideration with my cpu considerations. But, hopefully due to purchasing the 939 board...I can pick up a dual-core sometime in 2006 after prices drop somewhat.

Portfolio updates...

My Dow trade is still under water. No fun there. But, my Nasdaq system trade is doing wonderfully. I knew the trading system would kick my tail. :-)

As far as the oil service stocks...I'm taking it on the chin. And almost sold them all on Monday. But, if you take a look at the price declines from their recent highs...you can see their recent downward move is extreme and we should get some upturn soon. But, if not...asta la vista to those babies! And if we do get an upturn, I'll look to liquidate close to break-even on those trades.

What's next? Well, the media-avoidance experiment is still on-going. Has it been hard to avoid all financial media? You bet. What has my performance been like since the experiment? I hate to say it...but much better than when I followed everything. Will I make this experiment a habit? I find the following quote most appropriate...

"My views on markets always seem to be completely against the weight of the best academic research and the most astute political commentators. Invariably, I find these learned commentators know infinitely more about the subject at hand than I do. I find their views compelling but, invariably, a ticket to the poor-house. That's why I tuned out of all media except the National Enquirer..." -- Victor Niederhoffer in The Education of A Speculator

I think not only do we typically fall prey to someone else's argument...but find ourselves lodging a stand against the person stating the argument as well. Or we take the other side and move like sheep in our desire to belong with others of our own viewpoint. All this clouds the mind and takes our eyes off the ball.

I have found from this experiment that my time is now focused on studying the market and its behavior versus listening and reading to what others pontificate. And really, isn't that the most important job of all...studying the market? Rolling up our sleeves and getting our hands dirty by using our own brain to decide what the market is doing versus synthesizing gobs of information thrown at us from pundits and prognosticators alike?

What does that say about us bloggers? Are we relevant? Are we truly helping investors out there? Or are we just giving our readers something to do? Or more importantly...giving ourselves something to do? Great question.

Later Trades,

MT