Overloaded

When I started in the market years ago, one of the biggest challenges was getting reliable information on listed firms. I remember having to queue for photocopies of the latest reports and having to bring them to different traders. Even something as simple as the day’s stock quotes was a chore as the data would only be available by mid-afternoon.Nowadays though, the shoe is on the other foot as market participants are constantly bombarded with loads of information.  In fact, we have gone from a situation wherein people have been unable to act due to a lack of information to one wherein people are paralyzed by too MUCH data.

Take today’s trading for instance. Prior to the opening of the market, you had two articles giving two very disparate images. The first place talked about the booming Chinese market while the second painted a pretty gloomy picture of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

So, in that situation, who do you follow?

Both sides have their points but if you are to actually invest then you MUST take a stand. All the knowledge and information in the world becomes pretty useless if you don’t apply it to real life.

So what do you do? Well here are a few suggestions.

1. Build a database of reliable sources for news AND analysis. The former is easy — Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Bloomberg etc. The latter is much harder as it will entail reading PAST articles to determine an analyst’s skills. Word of mouth can help here so ask others who they believe is good.

2. Once you have that shortlist, develop the habit of checking those sources on a regular basis. Whether daily, weekly or whatever, the point is to always keep yourselves as informed as possible. It also helps to read other people’s comments to see potential weaknesses.

3.  Put it into action. It is VERY easy to read and understand an analysis. It is a TOTALLY different matter to actually place someone’s own money based on another’s suggestion.

4. In the long run, it would be best for you to develop your OWN analysis based on the works of your favorites. This way you can make decisions faster and not have to rely on someone else.

As we always say in PESOS AND SENSE: #aralmunabagoinvest