Too much information running through my brain
Too much information driving me insane
It’s interesting to think Gordon Sumner (better known as “Sting”) wrote this song in 1981, many many years before the creation of the world-wide web. What would he say today?
When have a few weeks like this past week-plus in the markets, I find myself humming that tune from the Police. We have seen an ungodly amount of volatility, from seemingly out-of-nowhere.
What are the reasons behind these moves in the market? Everyone involved in the market – whether professional or individual investor – has reasons why the markets went up one day and down the next. The reasons you hear seem very real, very plausible. But it is honestly too much information.
In fact, we just posted a video over on the mother ship (www.mullooly.net) about some of the ridiculous headlines we’ve seen lately. Remember, everything written by the Wall Street media machine has an agenda behind it. You have to remain steadfast in your mind that you are on the right track.
Because it is FAR too easy to get pulled off the track you are on by the headlines. Some of the financial news written can be hard to ignore. These articles are written in a certain way to MAKE you want to click. They will begin with an enticing headline, and each line is written in a method of copywriting to make you want to continue reading.
And that’s precisely what these financial websites want you to do. Click a few stories, stick around. The longer (more time) you spend on a site, the more they can charge for advertising. Google tracks this and gives the information to website owners. Website owners know how quickly those visitors who came to your site abruptly leave, or close the browser window, or hit the “back” button. They also track how long visitors remain on your site (and remain active on your site). There’s big bucks in web visitors.
But how much information, is too much information?
When markets are on the move, even a little bit of news can be too much information. For me, the point of “too much information” arrives when I start to get foggy on my original decision. Meaning, I’ve read, heard or seen enough differing information to make me begin to second-guess myself. Early on in my career, this happened a lot. This is just one of the reasons we have an approach and stick with it around here. And we detail (write down) and discuss our work.
Frequently.
I am not a scientist of the mind. But I know the brain works like a heat-seeking missile. Our brains continue to search for logical arguments that “sync” or align with our thoughts, actions, or beliefs. Too much information taking us away from our original thoughts get waved off. We summarily dismiss concepts that “don’t jive” with our thinking. But then we “latch on” to someone who seems to be singing our tune.
And then we follow them on Twitter.
When we construct a financial plan, a path for clients, we want to factor the possibility for good markets, bad markets and sideways markets. Will it be perfect? Probably not. But planning for “straight up” markets is foolish. Warren Buffett has said, “The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.”
And riding out some of the short term drops in the market, while frightening, can often work out. Cutting back on information overload can only help us become more laser-focused on what matters most.