It’s been a crazy few weeks in the global markets. I have seen both Euphoria (Dow 14,000) and Panic (Dow 12,500) in the span of a few weeks.

At Dow 14,000 there was an intense, transcendent happiness combined with an overwhelming sense of well being. THAN, just last Thursday market participants had a primal urge to run and hide in the face of imminent danger.

How? Why? Can it be Harnessed to ‘Do The Opposite’?

I say yes. Look at Costanza:

I think you have to find your own voice and risk tolerance by finding a handful of voices with expereince that you trust. When the markets are in Euphoric and Panic modes, you need to focus on less, not reading more. No one person has the answer and you won’t find it by reasing hundreds of opinions. You must limit the noise.

I agree with Cramer in this video – Panic does not pay .

The problem is, a week earlier he was creating panic with this:

To prevent panic:

1. ALWAYS have cash available and you do that by selling when you can. Margin is good but it is not something you use for extended periods of times. For me, as soon as I get on margin, I know that I either need to be off it quickly or we have entered a market where “‘I feel smart”, but it’s just a great market. I am prepared to get wupped at some point.

2. Turn off the TV and take a walk outside…Turn to your trusted sources.

3. Doing the opposite is not as important as doing less. If you do the opposite, don’t expect to be as successul as Costanza. You could get ‘Clavened’

On August 1st, as my favorite stocks were gapping higher again , I followed rule 1 – Sold when I could quite easily, 2. Farted around on YouTube and 3. While bankruptcy rumors flew about homebuilders, i did the opposite and bought. I would have been better off doing less. It turned out like a ‘Claven’, not a ‘Costanza’.