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Understanding The Concept of Price Action Versus News (News Failure)

Key Takeaways

  • Betting markets predicted the 2024 election better than pollsters.
  • Price action reflects real conviction - stripping out bias and opinion.
  • News matters less than how markets react to it.

Want to Win? Follow the Money, Not the News

If there’s one thing that the 2024 Presidential election taught us, it’s that markets and real money on the line supersede opinions, predictions, and gut feel. For instance, the majority of polls, and highly followed political polls such as ‘The Hill’, ‘Silver Bulletin’, and ‘Real Clear Politics’, each had Democratic Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris winning the 2024 Presidential election. Conversely, betting markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket consistently had Donald Trump with an edge in the weeks and months leading up to the election.

In hindsight, betting markets beat antiquated polling methods which are often filled with opinion, bias, and the predictions from a handful of pollsters. The accuracy of betting markets such as Polymarket and Kalshi marked a turning point in how people set odds for elections, sports, and other events. In fact, Polymarket secured a $2 billion investment from legacy financial giant Intercontinental Exchange ((ICE - Free Report) ) as a result, along with investments from other prominent venture capital firms like Peter Thiel’s ‘Founder’s Fund.’

Price Action is King Markets. Markets Will Talk if You’re Willing to Listen

On Wall Street, as in betting markets, determining signal over noise means looking at price action. Price action leaves out opinions and illustrates real money being put to work. In other words, price action is all signal.

The Concept of Price Action Versus News (News Failure)

The moment when price action screams the loudest is when news hits a stock. What investors will find is that it’s not so much the news that’s important, but instead, the market’s reactions to the news.

Below are two recent examples:

1.      On July 18th, President Trump signed the GENIUS Act – a long-awaited legal framework for stablecoins. Circle Group ((CRCL - Free Report) ), the largest US-based stablecoin provider, had been rallying in anticipation of the “bullish news.” However, the day the news finally hit, CRCL shares suffered a nasty bearish reversal and never looked back. In other words, despite the perceived good news, the price action hinted to investors to be cautious.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: TradingView

2.      On April 7th, President Trump threatened further tariffs against China as the trade war escalated. However, the Nasdaq 100 Index ETF ((QQQ - Free Report) ) finished green for the session – a clear news failure or tell.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: TradingView

CoreWeave: A Bullish News Failure

On Monday morning, AI company CoreWeave ((CRWV - Free Report) ) announced it would raise $2 billion through convertible senior notes. Typically, stocks fall on news like this as it means dilution for shareholders. However, on Monday the stock finished nearly flat after initially falling ~8% on the news. Tuesday, the stock traded up 5%, and above where the news was announced – signaling a bullish news failure.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: TradingView

Bottom Line

Follow the money, not the noise. Whether in politics or equities, markets offer real-time truth-based signals from where capital is actually flowing.

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