Commandment No. 9: Don't Trade Off Only the Headlines
Editor's note: Jim Cramer's new book,
Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World
, is available in selected bookstores now. As a special bonus to
RealMoney
readers, we will be running Cramer's "Ten Commandments of Trading." For more about the new book and to order it, click here. To learn his "Twenty-Five Rules of Investing," click here. Today, we present Cramer's ninth commandment. Read more about his trading commandments:
-
Keep It a Trade
First Loss Is Best
Take Your Losses
Trading Gains, Not Investment Losses
Tips Are for Waiters
No Sale? No Profit
Control Your Losses
Don't Fear That You'll Miss Anything
If I didn't know any better, I would think that headlines are written to pick off errant traders who don't know enough. Watch tonight, watch when
Intel
(INTC) - Get Report
reports. I guarantee you that whatever headline is written for the competing wire services, it won't tell you what to do. If anything, it will throw you off the scent.
That's because the headline writer's job is antithetical to the process of investing and trading. You trade when you have knowledge of outlook, but the outlook comes out
after
the raw number, which isn't enough to trade on.
That's why I always say (and why my ninth Commandment of Trading is):
Don't trade headlines.
Wait for the story. Believe me, you will rarely, if ever, make money if you do nothing but react to the headline.
How bad can it be? Consider
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Report
. I think that, looking back on the headlines after that company reported, you most definitely would have
taken
stock rather than sold it, because the headline was written with insufficient information.
Wait for the story. Don't trade the headline. Resist the quick trigger. You will do much better and generate far more winning trades this way.
Random musings:
Don't forget, I'll be signing copies of my new book,
Jim Cramer's Real Money
, at Borders bookstore this Thursday, April 21, at noon. I want to see you in downtown New York, at 100 Broadway -- right around the corner from Wall Street. Should be terrific!
At the time of publication, Cramer was long Intel.
James J. Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for
Action Alerts PLUS. While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column to
jjcletters@thestreet.com. Listen to Cramer's RealMoney Radio show on your computer; just click
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here to order Cramer's latest book, "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click
here to get his second book, "You Got Screwed!" and click
here to order Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict."
