Don't let your opinions get in the way of making profits

Our natural human instinct is to flock to those who agree with us. This phenomenon is called 'herding'. And it's precisely where we go wrong as traders and investors.

All of us have gut feelings about our favourite markets sometimes strong ones.

For example, many people, myself included, are convinced that the euro is destined to implode. After all, Greece and Ireland had to be bailed out with huge loans and guarantees (with Germany holding its nose in the process). It's only a matter of time, surely?

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John is is a British-born lapsed PhD physicist, who previously worked for Nasa on the Mars exploration team. He is a former commodity trading advisor with the US Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and worked in a boutique futures house in California in the 1980s.

 

He was a partner in one of the first futures newsletter advisory services, based in Washington DC, specialising in pork bellies and currencies. John is primarily a chart-reading trader, having cut his trading teeth in the days before PCs.

 

As well as his work in the financial world, he has launched, run and sold several 'real' businesses producing 'real' products.