What role do Fundamentals play in today’s markets?
Fundamental analysis is often considered to be a “top down” approach to investing. Specifically, look at what is going on in the economy or in the news, and then base your investment decisions around that. Personally, I have always enjoyed the study of fundamentals and their impact on the trading environment. Being an avid news reader and with an interest in current affairs, it does not feel like work – more simply personal interest. There in itself is an important message – find your niche – the area of the market that you enjoy. However, technical analysis is just as crucial a component for trading success too. If you like, one crude way of looking at them is that fundamentals tell you the why (try explaining the chart of 9/11 using technicals) while technicals tell you the when – the timing and levels of your trades. Over the past couple of weeks we have had events of the most gigantic proportion taking place in the world’s econ...