I’m not saying I’m in love with trading stocks, but...

... Here’s something I love about trading stocks:

It’s a much more straightforward game than managing people.

I think that’s partly because money doesn’t give you false data ... it’s truthful.

That sort of implies that people will give you false data, which they do all the time. I don’t mean to say that all people -- or even most people -- are liars. I think most people are generally trying to do the best they can.

But people also lie to themselves, and that spills over to others around them.

Thus, sometimes giving you false data.

With trading -- and especially trading the system that I use -- it’s more about finding the setups that fit my plan, taking the trade, and then waiting to see how that goes.

If the trade goes for me, then I make money fast.

If the trade goes against me, then I make even more money fast.

If the trade starts really going against me, then I have ways to rescue that trade ...  and keep making money along the way.

It might be the most incredible thing I’ve ever learned and I’m so blessed to use it to siphon money from the markets week in and week out.

Speaking of the markets, let’s go ahead and take a gander at today’s headline...

The report comes as investors stay alert to how much Trump's tariffs are starting to affect consumer costs.

Yahoo Finance

Why it matters …

This headline is a bit ominous… Is the sky actually falling? If inflation is accelerating then the market should be red because the Fed will need to raise interest rates, not lower them and then, yes, the sky is falling!

But, not so fast …

The number ticked up 0.1% and three paragraphs into the article we have the following:

“On a headline basis, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 2.7% on an annual basis in July, matching June's number and slower than economist expectations of a 2.8% rise. Month over month, prices rose 0.2% compared to June's 0.3% increase, on par with economists' estimates. The monthly drop was driven by lower gasoline prices and moderately softer food inflation.”

I hate misleading headlines. No, Chicken Little, the sky does not seem to be falling. In fact, it is just a slightly different shade of blue within a rounding error.

Comments: The markets have opened green, tempered a bit by the CPI. Bitcoin seems to be taking a breath after its push upward yesterday. Remember, there is no Fed meeting in August, so that bogey won’t surface again until September. 

August usually means more vacations and lower volumes. Drifting and chop are generally the norm. Take conservative entries and count the premium, baby!

My new scan that I’m testing out gave me a setup for a stock I hadn’t seen before for 1.25% premium into this Friday...