I started this little endeavor in August of 2010 for a number of reasons, but there are two in particular that stand-out. The first relates to my trading, a topic that I enjoy discussing with a number of friends and associates. After spending a lot of time doing this via email, starting a blog seemed like a better way to communicate my thoughts. If nothing else, it has tremendously cut down on the amount of time spent writing emails, and that's good enough for me.
The second reason I started this blog was to expose my friends and family to what I'll call, "the other side of the story", speaking specifically about what is happening in the world of finance and in the US economy that you won't typcially hear in the news. The simple truth is, the mainstream media as we know it today in America is paid to put a positive spin on everything. I won't spend a lot of time elaborating on this point here, as it has already been the subject of many of my posts, but the best example I can give you is the hype coming out of the mainstream media in the nine months prior to the collapse of the market in Sept 2008. If you go back to the articles and video clips from those early months of 2008, you'll see commentator after commentator talking about how solid the banking system was, how strong the housing market was, and how the stock indices were all headed to new all time highs. The only place you saw people talking about the housing market being in a bubble, or the impending collapse of the financial system as a result of leveraged derivatives, was in independent financial blogs like those listed in the links on the left hand side of this page. People like Reggie Middleton, author of the BoomBustBlog, was forecasting the collapse for months, if not a year, prior to Lehman Brothers folding in mid September 08, yet Reggie and those like him received little to no airtime from the major networks, and when they did, their commentary was often dismissed, if not down-right ridiculed.
Since I realize that my friends and family don't share the same enthusiasm for all things market related that I do, I know that they will be less inclined to parse through Reggie's blog, or visit sites like Zerohedge. In all honesty, the amount of financial data that these sites compile and discuss can be overwhelming and intimidating to those who don't work within the industry. That being the case, as I read through all of these sites on a daily/weekly basis, I try to pull out topics that I think are most significant and post them here. Most of the time I try to add my own commentary or explanation, but sometimes I'll just post a video or story as-is, giving credit to whichever site I found it. In this manner, I feel like I'm at least doing something to spread the word that all is not well in the financial world, and certainly a lot worse than you would expect, if all you do is watch the nightly news or listen to CNBC.
For the reasons cited above, some have labeled me a doom and gloomer, but I prefer to call myself a realist. I would honestly like nothing better than to believe that the US economy is improving, that the housing market is on the mend, and that happy days are here again. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The so-called recovery we have seen to date has been bought and paid for by Government stimulus packages, and money printing by the Federal Reserve, all of which is loading up the future generations of our families with an unheard of amount of debt that will cripple economic growth for decades to come.
But enough of that for now. Before closing this out, I just want to reiterate and elaborate on the caveat written in my blog greeting. I am not a Wall Street professional, nor am I a licensed broker or financial advisor. I have however received formal training in trading stocks, options, futures and forex, and I partake in these activities because I feel that it is important to actively manage my own wealth instead of relegating it a fund manager or broker who doesn't necessarily have my best interests in mind. Over time, I have had my share of successes and failures, but fortunately the successes have been more numerous and in some cases, very profitable, allowing me to overcome the bad ideas and keep trading. From time to time, I will post trading ideas and set-ups that I think look good, but please keep in mind that these are just my opinions, and we all know the classic saying about opinions, right? So if you do decided to trade along with one of my set-ups, consider yourself forewarned.
I hope that this blog proves to be informative and keeps you coming back for more, but if there are areas where you feel I'm falling short, or topics that you would like to see me cover, please leave a comment or drop me an email, and I'll do my best to accommodate.
All the best in your trading/investing activities.
SingleMalt Trader
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