Call me a young naïve trader drunk on a bull market, but I don't think it's necessary in today's world to blow up in order to learn.
Hear me out.
Back in the '90s and early 2000s, you read a book and experimented with your account through trial and error. But today, we have widespread democratization of financial information that just wasn't around back then.
Given that this new generation of traders have endless routes of online resources and a completely transformed avenue of education, I don't think there's any real need for that.
Those who've been cynical on this trend have been dead wrong.
Retail has been the big winner.
The hedge funds got Tesla wrong. When TSLA didn't meet their standardized Wall Street mold, they didn't give a second look and proceeded to miss one of the best trades of the last few years.
And what about Bitcoin? It was retail that got to the party early on that one, too. For a symbolic change, you had the institutions chasing retail, not the other way around.
I only began trading, charting, and researching just a few short years ago - so it's only natural I become victim to some rookie mistakes.
Seeing my trading account up by a decent margin has given me this attitude that I'm some wonder kid, and that I've somehow cracked the puzzle only being a teenager.
But this couldn't be further from the truth.
If this rally has got you thinking you're a superstar, consider that 87%, a near-record high, of the Russell 3000 have outperformed the broader market in the last 3 months. That's right, 87%.
Assuming you've held stocks over this period, statistically speaking, it has actually been more difficult to underperform the S&P 500 than it has been to outperform.
It's one thing stacking up all the topics you need to learn for the test, but it's another to take on lasting knowledge that'll carry you for the years ahead.
Shooting through the textbooks and lectures reinforced that despite all the charts I go through, the process I use represents only a very small proportion of the way people interpret technical data. Seriously, there were dozens of indicators, ways to plot price, and even basic assumptions on why we do technical analysis that I had never come across.
This was all so great to learn.
While I might not use these tools on a day-to-day basis, understanding how people look at markets differently and expanding my knowledge and skills can only be a strength.
It's always hard for us market nerds to level with others who don't share our obsession for Finance.
And that's important because, with all the noise of today, I think there's a very real barrier to finding sound information. While I'm by no means an authority on this subject (in fact quite the opposite), whenever I talk to people about Finance, I always hear two complaints.
I'm back with a brand new edition of the Louis' Look column to share some lessons I'm learning as an intern. You can find my last post here, where I share a handful of obscure charts most people have never seen.
Let's crack straight into it.
My first year of University is now officially over! Woop Woop!
While celebrations would normally be in order, it's a bitter-sweet ending to my freshman year.
This whole virus situation meant that I only spent a few weeks of the year on campus and in the 'University scene' - a time where you're supposed to leave home, grow out, and meet new and interesting people.
Welcome to this week's edition of Louis' Look where I give you the inside scoop on what I'm learning as an intern at All Star Charts. Last week I wrote about having a sense of humor in the financial world with a reference to the infamous John Cena pattern in stock of Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment.
Today I thought it'd be entertaining to step back from the lessons and bring five charts you have probably never seen, thought of, or come across.
I had a lot of fun writing this one, so let's get into it.
Welcome to this week's edition of Louis' Look, where I walk you through what I'm learning every week as an intern at All Star Charts. Last week I discussed how information is most valuable when it remains hidden; you can read the post here. Today, I want to explore how the market continually reinforces the necessity of a game plan.
