Wishful thinking

I started this blog so that I could reflect on how I play the market. The very first words I wrote described conditions as ugly. It is not a market that suits me very well. I like to use fundamental data to find undervalued shares. That is impossible at present. But since I am not temperamentally suited to sitting on the sidelines I try to engage. It is hard to play but I have the tools and the understanding to do well even in the present circumstances. But my ego gets the better of me. I believe that market should go down and that blinds me to what is staring me in the face.

Just look at today's chart and what I said yesterday when the UK market closed. The DJI chart shows that the market is being supported by that line I drew days ago but it is reluctant to rise so I put my money, but not much of it on a continuing fall. Or is that spike in volume on Thursday the harbinger of a change in direction? Everything was telling me to bet the other way except for my arrogant belief that down was the right way to go. Too late now. But please, please let me learn from my mistakes and go with the odds.


Gold and silver are another story. The charts are no help here. It is just a best guess on whether the fall is over. I've put money down in the hope that I have not caught a falling knife but instead I have bought myself a bargain.

I am writing this to the sound of Madeleine Peyroux. I have only just discovered her lovely voice. She is described as a twenty first century Billie Holiday. The throatiness of her singing is reminiscent of the magnificent Billie. But Madeleine's is a little softer. She spent some years living with her mother in Paris and sings in French as well as in English. She began singing in the streets of the Latin Quarter as a busker. What a way to start a career. Some of her songs come from Edith Piaf's repertoire. I am currently listening to her wonderful rendition of J'ai deux amours.