The vast majority of traders follow technical indicators - which are excellent for confirmation of market behaviour - but not that great in terms of forecasting what may happen next.
So, this begs the question - how does a trader not do what 90% of the market is doing? The answer lies in following or gauging market sentiment. Below is sentiment data for the XPTUSD pair, i.e.: The price of Platinum, expressed in USD [$], courtesy of the Sentiment Analysis page from the Lionheart Funding Program website.
The first thing youâll note, is that a substantial amount of traders are 97% long! So, in theory, such a large proportion of long positions, should drive the price up.
However, when one views the chart below [a screenshot of the same instrument, taken during the same trading day as the sentiment analysis data], youâll note the market is actually moving against all of those traders. Courtesy of TradingView.
How then, is it possible, that so many traders could be wrong? The answer is simple - theyâre all using the same tools. Tools that are good for confirmation - but not so good at predicting price movement.
There are instances that I have noted though, where a vast majority of traders in one direction [long or short] have actually moved the market in that direction.
So, to develop a winning trading strategy, one needs to research and understand:
- When a majority of traders, focused in one direction, can move the market.
- Why the markets sometimes move in the opposite direction of popular opinion.
- What causes so many traders to go along with herd mentality, even though the statistics show they will eventually lose these trades.
- How to effectively use this information to your advantage.
I trust that this was informative.
Wishing you all of the best, and much success in your trading career.