In the past few days, as the markets have swung wildly from the proverbial trees, I have had the occasion to be interviewed by a number of journalists. The questions underscore how much the general public has yet to learn about what the experts know about the brain. For example.

1) Your brain will NOT make a decision without emotion and 2) Emotion signals meaning – even to your eyesight.

These facts leave us with no choice but to get better at using our emotions as data. They tend to be the communicator between the unconscious (where according to some 95% of the activity takes place) and the conscious. So… why wouldn’t you want access to the parts of your brain where 95% of the thinking is being done?

I know it isn’t easy to do but the strategy should be to re-orient your perspective to one anchored in understanding your feelings and emotions. This is palpably different than using your intellect to try to override or change how you feel.

It also is NOT about just acting on how you feel. That is confusing actions with feelings and emotions.

Knowing your own emotional (social) context is your risk management key and predicting the emotional (social) context of key influencers (Central bankers on at least two continents as well as operating M.O of HFT traders (IE what is everyone else doing?) is a key to market predicting. Work with the first and the second becomes easier.

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