The Stock Market Reminds Me Of…

Posted in Real World, Stocks

This morning, I found myself stuck in some serious rush hour traffic, and being in a hurry to reach my destination, I was switching lanes constantly (not driving too aggressively, mind you), attempting to navigate my way into the fastest lane. However, I found the harder I tried to get past the traffic, the more I ended up in a mess, stuck in the lanes that were not moving at all. It just seemed like every time I tried to switch lanes, I was always a “day late, dollar short”. By the time I switched lanes, about ten other cars would have also switched into the lane, ultimately causing me to get stuck in a jammed lane, when the lane I was previously in would suddenly start moving, and the car that was once behind me ended up ten cars ahead of me.

It hit me that driving during the rush hour jam is a lot like trading in the stock market. If you’re trying to squeeze your way into the (at least what seems like) faster lane, you better act quick and decisively, otherwise you’ll be too late and you’ll just end up even more screwed then you were in the “long” lane. Same exact principle applies to day trading. In order to make money off high volume, ‘in the news’ stocks, you better get on the bandwagon before the stock reaches its high for the day, otherwise you’ll end up losing money you could have made had you held onto a less risky, solid growth stock.

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and nobody cares if you’re late when your on the road, except yourself. Likewise, if you’re the emotional, indecisive trader in the stock market, nobody is going to try to help you when you start losing your hard-earned cash. Either take the risk boldly and cherish (or suffer) the rewards (or consequences), or don’t get yourself in the sticky web of chaos in the first place.

Well, there’s my rant for the day. Time to jump on some trades, so I don’t end up a dollar short like I was this morning. What does the stock market remind you of?