Good morning, traders…

I spent a few minutes this morning browsing trading message boards on Reddit, StockTwits, and X. 

And although I probably shouldn’t be, I’m shocked by the sheer amount of misinformation out there…

Scrolling through these forums, it’s clear that many retail traders are basing decisions on questionable chart comparisons, shaky catalysts, and outright falsehoods.

What’s worse, they trust the advice of nameless, faceless posters with no proven track record — only to end up on the wrong side of a trade (or the entire market).

I know it’s tempting to chase the latest meme stock or copy someone else’s setup…

But those threads don’t cover risk management. They don’t teach you how to scale out or when to cut losses. 

They hype a move, then disappear when it fails…

It’s a pattern I’ve seen play out far too often. I want you to steer clear of this dangerous trap. 

Let Me Show You How To Avoid The Problems With Online Trading Forums…

Random Chart Comparisons Are Almost Always Wrong

One of the favorite pastimes amongst self-ascribed Reddit trading gurus is comparing current charts to those from 2000 and 2008.

Spend a few minutes on trading forums and you’ll see posts like this…

Or this…

Or this…

Everyone wants to be like Michael Burry — predicting the next “Big Short” before it happens — without doing any valuable due diligence or research.

But in reality, market crashes are extremely rare events. 

Timely and accurate predictions of these events are even rarer. 

Yet still, these posts are littered with people commenting about how they’re following the random poster into some ridiculous short position. 

This is a prime example of four well-documented psychological biases:

Recency Bias

This is the tendency to give disproportionate weight to recent events when evaluating the future. Traders are comparing charts from 2000 and 2008 to today, believing that history will repeat itself in the same manner without considering differing circumstances.

Confirmation Bias

Traders might be seeking out historical patterns (like the charts from 2000 or 2008) that align with their pre-existing belief that a major market crash is imminent, ignoring evidence that contradicts their narrative.

Herd Mentality

The willingness of commenters to follow random guys into positions demonstrates the herd mentality. People tend to mimic the actions of a larger group, especially when uncertain, without verifying the quality of the information (or its source).

False Pattern Recognition

Many traders fall prey to the illusion of pattern recognition, believing they see meaningful and predictive patterns in random or unrelated data (e.g., comparing current charts to 2000/2008 charts).

If you look at charts for long enough, you can find patterns everywhere, in every chart, all of the time…

But that doesn’t mean the trajectory of the chart will continue exactly as the other did. 

Take everything you read on social media with a large grain of salt.

Think for yourself.

Even if you see a comment or perspective that intrigues you, NEVER put your money into a position without doing your homework first.

No, the Market Isn’t “Manipulated” Against You

I always see comments talking about “market manipulation…”

Traders complain that an asset is worth less than what they paid and blame it on some shadowy forces working against them:

But when traders cry about “manipulation,” what they really mean is:

“The stock did anything other than exactly what would’ve made me the most money. Therefore, the market must be manipulated against me!”

This is a fallacy. 

If a small number of orders is setting cheaper bids to mess with the market, that could be manipulation. (This is rare and unlikely, especially on blue-chip stocks.)

But if millions of orders are setting lower bids and asks, it’s not manipulation — it just means the asset is losing value because fewer people want it at current levels.

It’s somewhat ironic how many of the traders calling for historic market crashes are the same folks complaining about the minor downside on some individual stock they’re holding calls on. 

It’s as if they’re thinking, “The entire market deserves to plummet, but this one stock I’m holding should be up way more!”

Furthermore, if you’re trading less than, say, $10 million, you are not coming across the radar of any legitimate market maker or institution. I promise.

The Smart Money whales (who can move asset prices with a few keystrokes) are trading in such large volumes that it would be impossible for them to individually pinpoint your 30 contracts for manipulation.

That said, the psychology behind the “market manipulation myth” is a classic human trait — looking for anyone but yourself to blame for your errors.

But remember: personal accountability is a crucial part of being a successful trader.

Unlike most jobs, you don’t have a boss or manager giving you performance reviews, or any other employees to share blame with.

You must own your wins and losses. By doing so, you can maximize the steps that led to the wins and minimize those that led to losses.

The hypnotic pull towards taking random posts as gospel is a prime example of evaluating signal vs. noise in the stock market.

The stuff on the message boards is nothing more than noise. It can be entertaining to look at, but it should never be mistaken for a reliable signal (like technical analysis, positive news catalysts, fundamental earnings growth, or analyst upgrades). 

Stop worrying about what invisible traders are saying and doing. Most of them are wrong.

And start tuning out the message boards, thinking for yourself, and doing your own research. 

Happy trading,

Ben Sturgill

P.S. Since launching my OMEN Scanner, I’ve achieved an 89% win rate with a 72% average gain…*

My top 120 trades have all generated 100% or higher. 27 soared above 200%, and 12 exploded beyond 300%…*

But my biggest trade yet could be setting up RIGHT NOW.

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*Past performance does not indicate future results