Following your gut in the market …

I sent an email this morning at 7:13am to one of our readers stating … “My gut tells me that today is going to be a good day in the market.  Nothing to base it on, just a gut feeling.”

I always get a kick over ‘studying’ market and investor behavior.   I think there is a lot to learn from this never ending study, and I think we can learn about general life by watching how people react to the market.  Part of my ‘studies’ involve watching my own reactions.

Bookstores are littered with famous market stories of people betting everything on their gut instinct and making millions in a day, yet as I said a few days ago that there is no place for “gut” feelings in the market, you will go broke quick acting on it.  It is as close to gambling Las Vegas style as you can get without being in Nevada. 

It is an interesting irony, that I firmly believe that in ‘real life’ following your gut instinct is very telling and usually the correct path to take, yet here following it usually leads you down the path to failure. 

Needless to say, I didn’t act on my gut instinct, but it was a challenge to not do so.  Sometimes I think there is a balance between true analysis and gut feelings, but I have yet to find it and as a result try hard to quiet those inner bullish voices when they happen.