My Upside Targets For The Indexes Are….

By Jeff Pierce

Who cares. Targets can be a distraction when you are specifically talking about “upside” targets, like when you're entering new high territory. Downside targets are different because you have areas on confluence points of support, moving averages, or whatever you indicator of choice is.

At best an upside target will give you an opportunity to look like a wizard among forecasters – oh the glory of saying “I was right, I was right”.

At worse, it will make you look like a fool.

Even worse…you'll become so attached to that bullseye you won't execute your trading plan and you'll overstay positions that you should of exited because the market was giving you topping signs.

I never concern myself where I think a market is going to go because then you're not trading in the now. You're trading in the future, which is just as bad as trading in the past. Stay focused on what the market is doing today. Stay focused on your trading plan and how are your positions working out.

Having a string of losses, then it may be time to scale back because something isn't working. Having an extra ordinarily good month, then it also may be time to scale back due to the markets getting frothy.

But if you're trading is outperforming the indexes and your positions are behaving correctly, then there is no need to try and guess where the market is going. Leave that to the pundits.