Every morning before I head to the gym, I check the mirror. Not because I’m vain (though I won’t deny flexing once in a while), but because mirrors lie. Lighting, angle, posture — all can trick you into thinking you’re stronger or weaker than you really are.
Markets have mirrors too. Charts, analyst opinions, even Twitter threads are reflections, but they’re never the thing itself. They distort. They exaggerate. They flatter. Sometimes they humiliate.
The real danger? Confirmation bias. You’ll tilt your head until the mirror tells you what you want to see. A bullish investor finds a “cup-and-handle.” A bearish one sees a “head-and-shoulders.” Same chart, different reflection.
The discipline is learning to question the mirror. Step back. Change the lighting. Compare reflections across multiple sources.
Because if you invest based on the mirror’s flattery, you may not like what reality shows you when the shirt comes off.
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