Home
>
Stocks & Mutual Fund
>
How Eating Bitumen Made Me a Better Trader

How Eating Bitumen Made Me a Better Trader

Trading is a fascinating activity.

There are so many layers to it. And so many paths that you can go down.

Soon after we first got interested in the stock market I became captivated by technical analysis. I finally felt that I was in control. It gave me great confidence to have all these tools to use.

We bought some expensive charting software and I started playing with the hundreds of indicators that it contained. Exotic sounding devices with impossible to understand mathematical formulas.

So, armed with all these new tools, I was sure we would be making a killing in no time. Because now we had science on our side!

And so I spent night after night, weekend after weekend trying to understand them. Backtesting. Trying one and then another.

But still we struggled to pick the winning trades.

I can remember buying this add-on to our software that gave us even more indicators. And I was convinced this would finally make the difference.

So I tried yet more indicators. Using different settings and different combinations.

But success still eluded us.

And it took us quite a long time before we understood why.

But before I explain what we discovered, let me tell you about eating bitumen.

My office is close to home. So some years ago I decided it was silly for us to have a second car. And so I traded it in and bought a scooter.

Now the only real problem with scooters or motor bikes [apart from getting wet in the rain] is that you are fairly likely to get hit by a car at some point!

It just stands to reason.

So I am always careful to watch cars to see which way they indicate they are going to turn or whether they are stopping.

But this one day I was in a bit of a hurry.

And as I approached an intersection a car was parked at the stop sign on my right. I was going straight through and the driver was indicating to turn left.

[At this point I should remind some of our overseas friends that we drive on the left side of the road!]

So I knew it was OK for me to keep going straight through the intersection. Or so I thought!

Next minute I am slamming on my brakes as the car accelerates across the street immediately in front of me. As my scooter hits the fender I go flying across the front of the car and land on the pavement on the opposite side.

For anyone who has experienced such an event you will know what I mean when I say that it was like the whole thing happened in slow motion. Quite weird!

I can remember looking at the car as it headed for me and not believing that this was really happening.

Because I was convinced it was going to turn left. The driver had indicated that he was turning so what was he doing on my side of the road?

But there he was. I couldn't believe my eyes but eating bitumen convinced me that this was indeed reality!

Ever since, I don't trust car indicators. Instead I have learned to look at the front wheels. Because this is the true indication of which way the car is actually going to go.

And you can't rely on looking at the driver, even if you can see them. Because they often don't seem to know where they are going, either!

But the wheels don't lie!

The car can only go in the direction they are pointed.

Now what on earth has this got to do with what I was talking about before?

You remember I was telling you about the problems we were having with technical indicators? Well what finally dawned on us was that we were not taking enough notice of price action.

And so we started to study the chart before adding any indicators.

And suddenly we saw what was really happening. It was like looking at the car's wheels instead of its blinkers.

You see, technical indicators are just what they say they are ? indicators. Not reality. Not price action.

But an interpretation of price. A filter.

And so you need to look at a stock's price chart on its own to get a picture of what is really going on.

This is not to say that technical indicators are not useful. But the critical thing is to only use them after you have analyzed price action. Not before.

Just remember ? the wheels tell the truth!

David Chandler

Ordinary People Making Extraordinary Profits!

For free mini-course on stock and options trading click the following link:

http://www.stockmarketgenie.com

Or visit our blog at:

http://www.stockmarketgenie.com

The above comments are offered for educational purposes only. We are not providing you with financial advice. We are simply sharing with you what has and hasn't worked for us personally. If you wish to trade or invest in the stock market you should obtain advice from a registered licensed advisor.

tidy up service Glenview ..

In The News:

Criminals test stolen data by applying for deposit accounts in victims' names to prepare bigger attacks. Learn why banks won't share fraud details.

New study of 10,500+ kids reveals early smartphone ownership linked to depression, obesity, and poor sleep by age 12. Earlier phones mean higher risks.

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

How Eating Bitumen Made Me a Better Trader

Stocks & Mutual Fund